Fourth and Fifth grade students have been working on a poem from books by Kriske and Delelles. The poem is "Words of Advice." It is a great limerick with a great lesson: "No matter what life throws your way, take what you've been given and make it into something better."
This past week we moved the xylophones, metallophones and glockenspiels into a large circle in the room. Each instrument was assigned a part. Students were chosen to decide which instrument played which part of the poem. We then rotated the entire circle and students were then having to remember which instrument they were playing and what part went with that instrument. May not sound that difficult, but when you're rotating regularly and quickly, your brain is forced to think through many things at one time.
To rotate, we used a simple phrase that I believe I learned by Artie Almeida:
1-2-3-4 mallets down get off the floor
5-6-7-8 hurry don't be late
As we spoke this poem, students moved from one instrument to the other seamlessly. No time is wasted getting them around and they are speaking the poem which keeps unnecessary talking from happening. (I love great transitions!)
It was great to watch students perform the parts and have the opportunity to play every instrument!
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