Teaching Activities Archives - Donna & Andy

27 New Singing Games for Young Singers

Andy Duinker — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 17:43:32 +0000

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New Singing Games

for Young Singers

by Donna Rhodenizer

Vol. 1 Grades K-1, ages 5-7

New Singing Games for Young Singers Vol. 1 Grades K-1, ages 5-7

Donna Rhodenizer has written twelve original singing games for Kindergarten and Grade 1 students, singers ages 5-7. These songs focus on the early skill development of emerging singers including galloping, action songs, fast and slow, as well as songs with simple tone sets (mainly s-m-l combinations). Individual singing opportunities are built into many of the singing games. Students have the opportunity to work on discerning differences in pitch and pitch matching, leading to singing in tune with others. All of the singing games provide young singers with a play-based learning experience, inherent to their innate learning style and crucial to their skill development. All songs include scores and game instructions, plus adaptations for small group and individual instruction.

Vol. 2 Grades 2-3, ages 7-9

Donna Rhodenizer’s second volume of singing games focuses on singers in grades 2-3, ages 7-9. Eleven original singing games focus on providing practice for skills learned earlier and adding songs and skills with expanded tone sets and more complex rhythmic elements. Individual singing games are still a mainstay as students continue to hone their ability to sing in tune with others. Repetition is a key element of singing games, creating opportunity for internalizing musical concepts for labelling and practicing in future lessons. Games with movement, guessing games and even a few chasing options make these singing games interesting and motivating for students. All songs include scores and game instructions, plus adaptations for small group and individual instruction.

Vol. 3 Grades 4-5, ages 9-11

The third volume of Donna Rhodenizer’s singing games is created for singers in grades 4-5, ages 9-11. Ten original singing games delve into more complex musical elements such as minor tonalities, wider tone sets and complex rhythms. Singing games with individual responses include singing as well as rhythmic and melodic improvisation. Musical challenges for this age group are offered using a play-based learning style that creates a relaxed atmosphere for exploring and learning without pressure. All songs include scores and game instructions, plus adaptations for small group and individual instruction.

Print copies Available on Amazon

Print copies are available on Amazon.

Go to Donna's Amazon Author Page to purchase your print copy.

Also, click the "Follow" button to get notified when additional new books become available.

Composer's Notes

New Singing Games for Young Singers

My music classroom has been singing based from day one. Everything we did hinged on singing, and the best way to get kids to sing is to make it a game. Singing games were part of my music education courses and my approach was influenced by my training in the Kodaly teaching method, also founded on the use of singing games to teach concepts to children.

Over the years I have had certain singing games that I enjoyed sharing with my students. I knew they liked those particular games, it was exciting to play them, and they were motivated to participate. As time and political correctness became an issue in our classrooms, some of the singing games from decades (centuries?) ago began to come into question. Old singing games that were based on less than favourable past-times and ways of doing things began to be considered inappropriate and needed to be removed. Song context aside, the games that went with some of those songs were favourites of my students (and of mine as well) so I set about to create new songs that would fit the games that went with the old songs. I had collected quite a few singing games by the time I was chatting with Nikki Loney (Full Voice Music) about doing a question and answer online session with teachers about singing games. With my collection already started (sort of) it seemed like an opportune time to put together an official version of these songs.

What started out as a single collection across grade levels (K-5) started to get too large and unwieldy for a single book. We decided to split the book into K-2 and 3-5. Then THAT got too big so we revised and split the book into 3 volumes. Now there were not quite enough songs to make a reasonable sized book (in my estimation) so in addition to the songs I already had, I designed some new ones. Trying to figure out games that would work for each of the songs had us galloping, passing sticks to the beat, counting bars to match dance steps and having lots of fun! I also needed to think outside of my elementary classroom focus and create adaptations for singing games that could be used by private vocal teachers with small groups or just one student. That was a fun challenge!

I ended up writing six new songs in a week to insert into various age groupings. I was reminded of my days in the classroom when I needed songs for specific events and I ended up writing them. It was an intense, productive two weeks and I was exhausted but creatively energized by the whole process.

You Are Invited

When you have enjoyed doing these singing games with your students - please drop by again and leave a Review on this page. Thanks!

Please send us your performance videos - we might be able to post them on this page!

New Singing Games - Vol. 1 - grade 1-2 (age 5-7)

New Singing Games - Vol. 2 - grade 2-3 (age 7-9)

Also found in New Singing Games - Vol. 1

Also found in New Singing Games - Vol. 3

New Singing Games - Vol. 3 - grade 4-5 (age 9-11)

More Singing Games

Send us your videos of these New Singing Games and perhaps we can post them here.

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5 Valentine Singing Games

Andy Duinker — Sun, 28 Jan 2024 00:07:39 +0000

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5 Valentine Singing Games

by Donna Rhodenizer

Teacher Notes

Use singing games to create a play-based environment for students to explore using their singing voices.

Individual responses assist students developing pitch matching and singing in tune with others.

Singing games encourage multiple repetitions, an important factor in skill development.

When asking for individual responses: Model the pitch for their response, but allow the student to sing their response at whatever pitch is comfortable for them. After confidence and trust is established, the teacher may ask if a child can move their voice to match a pitch. If the pitch is matched, congratulate their effort. If not, ask the class which pitch was higher and which was lower. Without any judgement, the different pitches are labeled. This teaches students to listen for differences and gives them the vocabulary they need to label what they are hearing. The student who has responded should not feel any pressure or anxiety with this process, and the game continues.

Use fun singing games as a “treat” at the end of a music class. Singing games are a fun way of reviewing concepts that have been learned, or preparing new ones that have not yet been isolated and labeled.

See More Valentine Resources

Have a look at Valentine Rhythm Activity for young singers.

More Tunes about Friendship and Love

More February repertoire suggestions - Songs about friends and love.

Review, free Download or Print!

Enjoy!

Composer's Notes

Donna’s childhood valentine memories include making her own valentines to give to her friends, and remembering the spicy flavour of cinnamon hearts. Donna still loves the taste of cinnamon and she loves the fact that Valentine messages and hearts can create an opportunity for her students to develop their composing skills. Donna is enthusiastic about promoting creative manipulation of music elements (composing!) with students from Kindergarten to Grade 6. Her personal composing efforts have resulted in well over 500 songs written for solo voice, choir, handbell, recorder, violin and piano.

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When you have enjoyed playing these singing games with your students - please drop by again and leave a Review on this page. Thanks!

Send us your videos of these Valentine songs and perhaps we can post them here.

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How Do You Say Hello to a Ghost?

Andy Duinker — Sun, 22 Oct 2023 21:01:55 +0000

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How Do You Say Hello to a Ghost?

arranged by Donna Rhodenizer

Lyrics and instructions

Song actions and instructions

Composer's Notes

How Do You Say Hello to a Ghost?

My students arrived at the music room after reading a big book with their classroom teacher, “How Do You Say Hello to a Ghost?” (This would have been in the 1980s!) With its repetitious text and the opportunity to use the patterns from the book as a vocal exploration activity, this became a favourite activity leading up to Halloween. I appreciated the chance to present the ghost as a non-scary individual, being a firm advocate of not adding unnecessary anxiety to the lives of youngsters. However, we did have fun trying out different kinds of voices. Often we are trying to help students find a singing voice and to sing in tune so we discourage silliness. Students need play-based opportunities to see what their vocal instruments can do – and silly voices are fun! I tried to find the original book that inspired this song, but I haven’t had any luck. If anyone has a copy, or knows where I can get one, I would love to add it to my library!

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Song starts at 5:00. Enjoy!

Send us your video of How do you say Hello to a Ghost and perhaps we can post it here.

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It’s Raining Cats and Dogs

Andy Duinker — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 19:53:27 +0000

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It's Raining Cats and Dogs

by Donna Rhodenizer

Audio & Lyrics

Follow along with the lyrics as you listen to the accompaniment with melody guide for It's Raining Cats and Dogs.

Teacher Tips

Add actions to the song to help students remember the lyrics and to create visual interest in the concert setting.

Students love being able to “meow and woof” the lyrics of the second verse. Soloists may also be assigned the meow and woof sections to show off their “theatrical talents”.

Use the rhythm cards provided with It’s Raining Cats and Dogs for rhythm activities.

Review simple quarter note/eighth note rhythm combinations
Have students use the rhythm cards to create their own rhythm combinations. They are composing!
Have students listen to a rhythm that is being clapped and then use the rhythm cards to create the rhythm.
Combine students in small groups to create longer rhythm combinations. Have them write their compositions on a piece of paper and share them with others in the class. Put all the group compositions together in one BIG class composition. Clap the rhythms that have been created, or read them using rhythm duration syllables. For a bit of cat and dog fun, read the rhythms using meows and woofs.

Expressive Singing

Follow the markings in It’s Raining Cats and Dogs and sing expressively.

The mood of this song is optimistic. The singer is hoping to find lots of cats and dogs AND be able to keep the ones that are collected!

Many instructions in music scores are written in Italian and German. These are standard music terms used in music created by composers around the world regardless of the language they normally speak.

Students will need to understand the following Italian instructions:

molto rit. – slowing down a lot (molto = much)
rit. – gradually slow down
a tempo – back to the original tempo (at tempo)
Fermata – hold or pause. The length of the pause is up to the performer, but a standard length for the hold is twice the value of the note with the fermata. (You may discuss how a “pause” in a song about dogs and cats with “paws” is a funny play on words!)

Encourage solo singers to add theatrical flair in bar 25, where you see the instruction to “sigh” during the rest (use the extra quarter beat created by the fermata). This can be a tired or loving sigh, or any emotion you wish to convey; or it can even be a theatrical “meow” or “woof”. The singer may add their own interpretation as they wish.

For fun, sing the whole song using only “woof” or “meow” and/or use a variety of woof/meow combinations.

Props and Presentation

Students may wish to add a few props to add visual interest to their performance. Some suggestions are:

Hold an empty box while singing, or place it on the floor as a visual prop.
Hold a toy dog or cat during the performance. (A prop can also be a helpful “security item” for a shy singer to hold onto for support if they are nervous about performing.)
Use face paint to create dog and cat faces for your group performance.
Add a few colourful umbrellas for a “splash” of colour.

Add actions to the song to enhance the concert or recital presentation. A list of suggested actions is included on page 10 of the PDF document.

Additional Music Activities

Keep the beat

explore steady beat
discuss rit., a tempo and fermata
conducting (silent beat keeping)

Rhythm reading

Clap, tap and say the rhythms for the whole song

Composing with simple rhythm elements (quarter notes/rests and eighth notes)

Have students compose their own original rhythm patterns
Use fun printable rhythm element cards (provided in the PDF document)
Read, tap, and play the simple rhythms created by the students
Combine 4-beat rhythms to create longer songs
Create rounds and canons with student rhythm patterns

Practice and reinforce understanding of rhythm patterns

Use “call and response” activities:

Use the rhythm patterns created by the students
Clap or play patterns, reading from flash cards
Clap or play patterns by ear
Create call and response “conversations”

Cross-curricular Extensions

Create a rain circle

Explore the science of the rain cycle

Read weather and rain-related books

Read along with Donna It's Raining, It's Pouring

Sing other Donna Rhodenizer songs featuring cats and dogs

Computer Cat (Computer Cat CD)

Cool Bob (Computer Cat CD)

I Got a Sister (but I wanted a dog) (Blue Skies and Pirates CD)

Pretty Itty Bitty Kitty Unicorn (tongue twister warm-up) Full Voice Music

Sing other Donna Rhodenizer songs about the weather

Splashing in the Puddles (Computer Cat CD)

Get up in the Mornin' (Blue Skies and Pirates CD)

Composer's Notes

It's Raining Cats and Dogs

There are many phrases that we use in our conversations that could be confusing to those who take us literally. Phrases like, “I have a frog in my throat,” or “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse,” might need some explaining! “It’s raining cats and dogs” is one of those expressions and it stuck in my imagination as worth investigating with my composer’s point of view. If one takes this phrase literally, and if one also likes cats and dogs, this might seem to be a perfect opportunity to bypass the usual parental permission to get a pet; just go outside with a box and scoop up what you want!

I jotted down the idea for the opening phrase and repeated it (that makes it easy to learn!) and the melody followed quickly. The rest of the song worked its way along with melody and lyrics coming together. Many times natural accents of the language of the lyrics dictate how the melody will go and in turn, the melody line starts to define how many syllables will fit into the phrase. The second verse I wrote expanded a bit on cat and dog characteristics: their fur and claws, their tails and paws. By repeating the last section of the song, it allowed me to write a complete verse without so many words for a young singer to learn.

I knew my students were going to LOVE singing this song when I thought of adding the verse where they get to meow and woof for the lyrics. I inserted this as a second verse and suddenly I had a three-verse song! When I introduced the song, my students had a great time debating the merits of cats and dogs. There were very stalwart fans on both sides of the fence and some who couldn’t decide and put some of both in their imaginary box. We added actions, we sang the meows and woofs with great theatrical affectation, and the premiere performance (at our school spring concert) was a hit with our delighted audience.

I have not yet written any songs about the frogs and the horses I mentioned earlier, but you never know when inspiration is going to arrive, and when it does I will “strike while the iron is hot” and get a song written!

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Valentine Rhythm Activity

Andy Duinker — Sat, 27 Jan 2024 04:54:03 +0000

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Valentine Rhythm Activity

by Donna Rhodenizer

Teacher Notes

Using the Valentine chant and/or rhythm templates provided, make musical choices to create a composition:

Use each rhythm only once. (How many unique rhythm compositions can be created with the rhythms provided?)
Create a composition that repeats selected rhythms.
Write your own rhythm(s) and use it instead of the rhythms provided.
Create your own Valentine chants and combine them to create a Valentine chant composition.
Create a composition mixing rhythms and Valentine chants.
Add an accompaniment for your composition (bucket drums, classroom percussion instruments, etc.)

Write down the rhythm/chant compositions that have been created and share them with other classes.

Students are keen to read the chants and rhythmic compositions THEY have created and will be engaged and interested in repeating the activity in multiple combinations. This is an early stepping stone into the world of composing. Students are empowered when they are able to organize sounds as composers!

Enjoy creating, having fun and experiencing the wonderful world of music through play and exploration.

Composer's Notes

See more Valentine Resources

Have a look at 5 Valentine Singing Games for more Valentine musical fun. Thanks!

You Are Invited

When you have enjoyed practicing these activities with your students - please drop by again and leave a Review on this page. Thanks!

Send us your videos of this Valentine Rhythm Activity and perhaps we can post it here.

The post Valentine Rhythm Activity appeared first on Donna & Andy.