Flashcard Basketball

Cecilly has a new game and she gave me permission to post it here. I have used the nerf basket ball in my studio before and the boys really love it! I like Cecilly’s twist on the game. She always comes up with such good ideas. Here is her version in her own words.  I agree that flash cards are a lot more fun when you make a game out of them.

Flashcard Basketball

You’ll need a Nerf basketball hoop (or something to shoot the ball into),
ball, the piano bench or floor space, and the flashcards.

Mount the hoop on the door and position the bench at the spot where the
student will take their shots from (this is their free throw line so to speak).
Place the flash cards face up randomly on the bench. If you’re using numerous
cards, they can be placed in layers. The student stands at the bench and draws
cards one at a time, but only after answering 4 cards correctly can they take a
shot. Whether they make the shot or not, after they shoot, those answered cards
are set aside and 4 more are answered. Any cards answered incorrectly or
unanswered, can be retaught and then placed back into the mix of cards on the
bench. Allow the student to play as long as you wish, 4 cards at a time. Award
whatever you wish (points, bucks, treats, etc.) for each successful shot.

I played this with 4 different students and we got through about 25 cards or so in
just a minute or two. The kids liked it waaaaay better than my just flashing
the cards to them at the piano for them to answer.

Enjoy!

Cecilly

Cecilly’s Incentive Program with Composer Bucks

Cecilly, who made up the games in the category “Cecilly’s Games” plans to implement an incentive program in her studio this fall. She has given me permission to publish her plans here. The reason I am posting it is because I want to show other teachers an example of a well-thought out program. She has thought out who, where when, and why. While it takes time to think of something in this detail, in the long run it will save you time. Parents appreciate knowing all the details, too.

It is always helpful for teachers to see how other teachers are doing something. My incentive program is different from this one, but I hope I can organize it as well.  If you have an incentive program you would like to share, send it to me and I’ll post it.

Composer Bucks Incentive Program from Cecilly

Participating students: beginner, elementary, and intermediate piano students who are in the Basic and Standard Courses of study.

 Goal: to motivate students to develop more effective practice habits, improve skills, and increase self-discipline related to their piano study.  Also, to recognize and reward consistent efforts made to progress, and to encourage students to move beyond the studio in applying their developing skills at the piano.

 How the program works:

• Students will select a “composer” account from a given list to correspond with a composer statuette that they will be working to “buy”. They will also receive an info sheet with basic facts about their composer.
• Students will receive a pencil pouch for storing their earned composer bucks, their studio bank card, etc. for the program.  This pouch should be kept in the front of their binder for easy access.
• Throughout the teaching year at each lesson, students can earn composer bucks (money) for reaching & exceeding expectations, achieving goals, practicing, etc. (see below for details).
• Also, fees, tickets, and various citations will be given for careless or faulty preparation, execution of skills, etc. for which the student will have to pay a fine from their composer accounts. 
• Monies earned must first be put toward the purchase of their selected composer statuette.  Once this amount has been reached, any remaining monies earned can be used to purchase items from the studio “store” or “chances” for the recital raffle give-away of $20 (real money). Statuettes will be given out at the April recital.

 Monetary rewards: The following is a list of what will be rewarded and for what value:             

             $1 …

• For each practice day beyond the expected 5 days per week (parent’s initials required).
• For each assignment criteria met at a given lesson.
• For each technique skill securely demonstrated as pertains to the student’s level of study.
• For adequately completing any weekly theory assignment.
• For sharing 1 composer fact (limited to 1 per lesson).

$2 …

• For any assigned piece receiving a “Gold Star Pass”

$5 …

• For each 5-day practice week recorded with parent initials.
• For each 16 measure piece or section of a piece securely memorized.
• For each piece recorded successfully on the student’s “Studio Recording Club” disk.

$10…

• For presenting a private home performance concert of 3 learned assignment pieces for family/friends.  Student must list each piece played, date & time of concert and audience members present (with initials from each).

$15…

• For any “out of studio/home” performance before a public audience (church, school, community setting).  Student must record date & place of their performance, and the initials of 1 teacher or 2 other adults who heard the performance.
• For attending a local music concert (church, school, or community.) A program, ticket stub, or note initialed by parent or other verifying adult must be provided.

$20…

• For participation in a studio recital or adjudicated event during the year.

$50…

• For attending a professional Classical music concert performance (Symphony, Choir, Chamber ensemble, etc.).  A program/ticket stub must be signed by parent or other verifying adult.

 $75…

• For having your piano tuned/serviced. Tuner’s business card or invoice receipt must be dated and initialed by the tuner.

$100…

• For subscribing to “Piano Explorer” magazine.

 

Fees, Fines, and Violations:

• Late fee: for arriving late to a lesson without notice. $_____
• Borrower’s fee: for not having all needed materials and having to borrow the teacher’s book(s) for the lesson.  $_____
• Speeding ticket: for rushing practice/performance tempos resulting in avoidable errors.  $_____
• Parking ticket: for careless or faulty execution of rhythm in assigned activities or pieces.  $_____
• Failure to yield ticket: for neglecting to observe expressive markings printed in the music.  $_____

             

Available Composer accounts and cost of statuettes: $_____

              Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Grieg, Handel, Haydn, Liszt, MacDowell, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Schubert, Schumann, Tchaikovsky.

X and O’s for Tic Tac Toe

 

When I was playing Cecilly’s floor Tic Tac Toe with my students, they suggested very *vocally* (in a nice way… all my students are super nice)   I make X’s and O’s to go with the game. So I got up early this morning and created these 2 pages to cut out. As long as I have them made, I decided to post them here in case you want some, too. If they aren’t aligned quite right, it is because I was trying  to get 9 on a page, but utilize the margins for maximum size. I really wanted to make the X’s in color with some fun borders or something, but my desire to get them finished this morning outweighed my sometimes *over-the top* instincts. They print out in black and white. The green will not print out. Click this link to print them out. x-o-cards_tic_tac_toe1

My students really had fun with this game, even though it only took a few minutes. I’m going to play it all week. Thanks for all the comments on this game. It seems to be popular with a lot of teachers. And thanks to Cecilly for letting me post it here.

If you come up with some rules that make the game extra fun, post a comment or send me an email. Sometimes these games just get more and more fun and teachers add their suggestions.

Tic Tac Toe Note Toss Game

 

My friend Cecilly has been busy creating new Games by Cecilly™.  She generously shares these games with all piano teachers. This is a simple game that is with directions so easy,  even I can figure it out! (Ive never been good at reading directions and I either need a picture or some other way to learn. Teaching is all about learning styles.)  If you have some seasonal  bean bag toys such as chicks or bunnies,  set them out and ask your students to pick their favorite to toss. You can play this game at a lesson, or it could be a fun group lesson game. I took the picture above with one of my bean bag toys I keep in the studio just for fun. 

You might wonder how this is any different from just doing flash cards sitting at the piano. Well, this gets the student off the bench and in a different frame of mind. It breaks up the routine and makes piano lessons more fun.

Here are the directions from Cecilly:

Materials needed: 9 note flash cards, a bean bag to toss.

Set up: Place 9 note flash cards face up or face down on the floor in a tic tac toe grid fashion.

To Play: The student stands at a distance and tosses the bean bag to the grid of cards. Which ever card the bean bag lands on is the one the student must name (or play on the piano). If correct, Turn the card over. If incorrect, remove the card.

 

Continue, having the student toss, trying to win a 3 in a row, or until all cards have been landed on and named/played.     -Cecilly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharps and Flats for Keyboard Toss Game

For lack of a better name, I’m calling the cards in today’s post,  Sharps and Flats for the Keyboard Toss Game.

Sometimes older students (or students who have been taking longer) see some of the activities I do with beginning students and want to play, too, so I try to think of ways to modify the game for them. With this in mind, I made some sharp and flat cards to go with Cecilly’s  Keyboard BeanBag Toss . 

Here are the directions.

Print and cut out the cards. Laminate them if you wish, with either clear self adhesive covering or a laminating machine.

Scatter the cards on the floor. Put a large size keyboard (which I posted last week) on the floor. The students tosses a bean bag to a card. Then he takes the card and places it on correct key on the floor keyboard.

Now you can get creative and make up the rest of the rules yourself. Most likely the student playing this game is about 9-11 years old. So I try to think of something that will appeal to that age. I like simple rules, so I might tell the student if he can finish all the cards in “x” minutes, he gets to choose the order of his lesson, or he doesn’t have to play one of his pieces, etc. Sometime I tell them that no student has done it any faster than “x” minutes, and they try to break the record, as they do in video games. Children (especially boys)  around the 5th grade and up aren’t that interested in stickers as prizes, at least around here. But they have a great and  quirky sense of humor. It is really up to the teacher to make this kind of activity fun.

If you play this and have an idea that works well,  pass it on to the rest of us. Thank you, Cecilly, for the idea.

Cards for Bean Bag Toss Game

Cecilly sent me a game that she made up for beginning students who are just learning the keys on the piano and she wanted to get them away from the piano with an off the bench activity. Yesterday I posted the floor keyboard, and today I am posting the Cards for the Bean Bag Toss Game. As I read the directions to this game, I decided that there are a lot of ways to use a floor keyboard, so that is why I made one and posted it yesterday. You might notice that she specifically made the game for middle C position, but I included all the music alphabet in order to use the cards for different activities. I have already posted alphabet cards, but they are in all different colors. This set uses two colors, because in her game, one color is the RH and the other color is the LH. So enjoy the game with Cecilly’s directions below, or make up your own.

  I included an H in the cards for the European teachers who like to print out material but use an H in place of the letter B. I also included a sharp and flat because I just hate to leave an empty space!

Over the weekend I am going to post alphabet cards with sharps and flats on them so the game can be played with more advanced students.

Here are Cecilly’s instructions in blue print:

Middle C Position BeanBag Toss Game

 Something I did today with my beginner to help
reinforce both the names of the white keys and the letter names of
the middle C position is a little tossing game…

I placed 2 sets of letter cards face down on the floor. Set one was in one color and included the middle C position letters for the RH (CDEFT). The other set was in a different color and included the LH (CBAGF). I also placed my movable paper floor keyboard on the floor.

My student tossed a beanbag to the letters. He took the letter card he
landed on and then placed that letter on its corresponding key on
the floor keyboard. The color determined the correct placement of
course. I had a C in each color since middle C is used in both hands.

My student seemed to enjoy the activity which was followed up immediately with the theory page that will require him to name the keys in the middle C position.

 

 

 I appreciate all your comments on my blog, but I would like to point out that Cecilly is the very creative teacher who has supplied us with a lot of the *off the bench* game ideas I post. I try to make it clear when the game is her idea. All I do is make the graphics to her games. You can find all of the games from Cecilly in the Cecilly’s Game category section on the right.

Stand Up, Sit Down Activity from Cecilly

This is a fun, helpful activity from Cecilly, and you don’t have to print anything out. Here are her directions:

Using a short piece or rhythmic pattern, (8 measures or so) choose what you want to have the student focus on (a specific recurring rhythm value, simple pattern, rest, etc.), and then explain  that every time you get to the item of focus you’ll change your body position.

For example, say the focus will be half notes.  Sing the words or count the rhythm. At the first half note, stand up (and stay up) continuing with the words/counting until the next half note when you’ll sit down (at stay down) until the next half where you’ll stand up again, etc. etc.

This creates a fun up and down movement activity and really gets the student to pay attention to the rhythm.

Cecilly said:

“I sometimes do this activity when I want the student to focus on
rests. We stand/sit on each rest. Sometimes I’ll just put the CD on
and we’ll respond this way simply as we listen to the music. Other
times we’ll chant the words. There are lots of possibilities.”

I have actually done this kind of thing with my students before and it is a lot of fun. The other day a beginning student kept missing (over and over again) a certain note. Since there were only about 5 notes in the song I knew I had to do something different, and quickly. I told him were were going to stand every time that note appeared.  In my version, we stood up and sat down immediately. Up and down we went, laughing and having fun. Amazingly, he didn’t miss that note again. It’s just a matter of narrowing the focus and it really works!

Thanks, Cecilly, for another very helpful activity.

If you do something quick and easy that really worked and you would like to share it, send me an email and I’ll post it here.

Rhythm Match Up Cards in 6/8

Today  I am posting the cards  to play Cecilly’s  Rhythm Match Up Game  in 6/8 meter. The time signature is not hard for students to feel and play, but sometimes they don’t see it on the page. Have you ever had students practice 6/8 meter all week in 4/4 time? Or half the piece in 4/4 and the other in 6/8? Sometimes that happens! Maybe this game will help students not make that mistake.

Here are the rules to the Rhythm Match Up Game from Cecilly. The cards from other meters were posted Feb. 4.

Objective: to correctly match up the rhythm patterns with their
corresponding time signature in 1 min. or less.

To Play: On a table or surface on one side of the playing area, place
the time signature cards face up. At the other end of the playing
area, on the floor, randomly place the rhythm pattern cards face
down. The player stands in the middle. At “go”, start the timer and
the player grabs a rhythm card, runs to the table and places it
beside it’s corresponding time signature card. Player then goes to
get another rhythm card, and so on until time is up or all cards have
been placed. After time is up, check to see that all cards have been
placed correctly. If not, help the student make corrections. Then
take all the cards from one time signature pile and have the student
lay out in a 4 meas. pattern to clap and count. Repeat with the
other pile of cards.

Rhythm Time Match-Up Game

This Game by Cecilly™ called Rhythm Time Match Up will help students recognize meter by looking at rhythm patterns. I look forward to playing it with my students. I made cards for 4/4 and 3/4 meters. The first 2 cards are easier than the last two, so print out what you need. Then laminate if you desire, cut them out, and have fun!

Here are the directions in Cecilly’s words:

RHYTHM TIME MATCH-UP RACE:

Materials: 2 time signature cards (3/4 and 4/4), 8 rhythm pattern
cards with 4 in 4/4 time and 4 in 3/4 time, 1 min. timer.

Objective: to correctly match up the rhythm patterns with their
corresponding time signature in 1 min. or less.

To Play: On a table or surface on one side of the playing area, place
the time signature cards face up. At the other end of the playing
area, on the floor, randomly place the rhythm pattern cards face
down. The player stands in the middle. At “go”, start the timer and
the player grabs a rhythm card, runs to the table and places it
beside it’s corresponding time signature card. Player then goes to
get another rhythm card, and so on until time is up or all cards have
been placed. After time is up, check to see that all cards have been
placed correctly. If not, help the student make corrections. Then
take all the cards from one time signature pile and have the student
lay out in a 4 meas. pattern to clap and count. Repeat with the
other pile of cards.

Feel free to change up the time signatures to include 2/4, 6/8, etc.
Just make sure you have rhythm pattern cards to match those meters.

Quarter Note Hunt

Cecilly has a new game called Quarter Note Hunt and I’m posting the directions today. This is such a simple activity and so easy to prepare, that it will be easy to play at a lesson.  It might be good to have this activity ready when lessons start to drag a little. Boys, especially, need to move around some. 

 The picture above is a set of cards [ quarter-note-hunt ] to go with her game  in case you would like to print them out.  Be sure to print in landscape format. I hope these cards are  what Cecilly had in mind.  It will also be very easy to just  cut up index cards and draw them yourself.

This game can be played with any rhythm value, but the following directions are for quarter and half notes. I went ahead and put in some other note values on my cards, too,  in case you want to play it when they have learned more notes.   Here is the game in her words:

Quarter Note Hunt

Materials: Timer, a basket, and several small cards folded in half with a quarter note drawn on the outside (vary the stem direction)and 1 short dash drawn on the inside. The card is to sit with the open ended side down and the folded side up (like a triangle). The note is on the side facing toward you and the dash on the inside so when the card is flipped up, the dash is revealed.  Also, make several half notes.

Set up: Place the cards all over the room where they can be easily seen, mixing up quarters and halves. I have mine on the floor, on the shelves, on my desk, in the corner of the piano keyboard, on my table, etc.

Objective: to retrieve all of the quarter notes in the time allotted (30 sec).

To Play: at “go” the student begins to hunt for the quarter notes while I play some exciting music on the piano. For each card that is found, the student should bring it to a central location (on the floor, in a basket, on the table, whatever you’ve chosen). So this becomes a back and forth kind of race against the clock. When time is up, stop playing. The student stops hunting and counts all of the quarter notes he has gathered. Take a moment to have him lift the front flaps up to reveal the dash and thus the number of pulses for each quarter.

Variation: Play again, but have student gather all the half notes. Then after play, allow the student to arrange his notes into rhythm patterns to clap and count/play and count on a given piano key.

As new rhythm values are introduced, I just keep adding new cards and having the student race to gather the newest value first. This helps them visually differentiate between all the different rhythm values.

Have fun.
Cecilly

Thanks again, Cecilly!

Don’t forget to draw the dash and dashes on the inside. I might draw hearts above the dash (one heart  for each beat) because I use the Kodaly system method of teaching beat and rhythm.

Cecilly’s “Who Am I? Swat Game” with “fly” flash cards

When Cecilly sent me her “Who Am I? Swat Game” idea,  it gave me an idea to make some fly graphic flash cards to use just with that game. I intended on just making a few but I got carried away and made a full set. There are three pages, but if you use these with beginning students, you don’t have to print the last page. You can use just the cards your student knows.

In addition to Cecilly’s game of spot placing the notes, I have also used the game to  learn the notes and not play it as a timed game.  I put out just some landmark notes to a student who is just in the process of learning them and we used the fly swatter to identify them. Now that you have the fly swatter idea, you can also make up some games of your own that will work with your situation.

If you have a student who is easily distracted, these cards might just be too much, so use the flash cards I posted the other day.  But for the right student, I hope that someone finds these  fun.

Let’s thank Cecilly for sending us this game idea!

“Who Am I? Swat game”

Place various note flashcards face up on a table or the floor. Give
student a flyswatter and have her stand or sit in front of the cards
so they are in clear view. This is a timed game, so allow 1 min. to
see how many notes the student can correctly identify by slapping.

Ok, at “GO”, you, the teacher do the actual spot-placing out loud but
without naming the note. For example: say you’re looking at F in the
treble clef. You would say “treble G down a 2nd” quickly and wait
for the student to mentally do the spot-placing, find the note, and
then swat it and say it’s name. If correct, you say “Point!” and
immediately go on to another. If incorrect, make a Bzzz sound and
repeat the spot-placing for another note.

At first I thought I’d turn the answered note card over, but then I
thought otherwise because that same note could be spot-placed from a
different direction (Mid C up a 4th for example).

Anyway, this could be a game that’s repeated in subsequent weeks so
the student can see if she can beat her previous record.>

Slap Game from Cecilly

You’re sitting at the piano bench with a student saying “up a second, down a second”, on and on and it’s getting kind of tedious. So just get off the bench and go over and play the Slap game for a few minutes,  just enough to add some vitality to the lesson.

This is another game from Cecilly. It is a game for students who can’t seem to “get” intervals. I think it can also be successfully used for students who are just learning intervals in their primer level book.  If you use my alphabet cards,  you will have to print out more than one page unless you want to stay within an octave.  (Look for the July 27, 2008 posting to see my original posting on the alphabet cards.) I went ahead and laminated mine with clear book covers, so they are going to be slippery. It was suggested by other teacher to used removable putty on the back to help them stay in place. It was also suggested to use a flyswatter and swat the interval rather than slap.  Like all of Cecilly’s games, you can modify it to work for you. If you play it, let us know how it worked out!

Interval path “Slap” Game:

Either on a table or on the floor, lay out 2 sets of ABC cards in a
straight line,  row, or slightly curved (like a rainbow). Have the
student stand or sit facing the cards.

Much of this activity is “silent”. The teacher calls out “Starting
note” followed by a letter (ie “Starting note: C”). The student
places his pointer finger just below one of the C’s. Then the
teacher dictates a simple 5 or so note interval path saying the
direction and interval (ie up a 2nd, up a 2nd, up a 2nd, down a 2nd,
etc.). The student may follow the path with his finger after each
interval. Then the teacher, when the path is completed, calls
out “Slap!” The student then slaps the final note as fast as he can
(ie “Starting note:C, up a 2nd, up a 2nd, up a 2nd, down a 2nd,
SLAP!”) AT THE SAME TIME, you, the teacher, also go to slap the
correct letter card. Whoever slaps first earns a point.

You can make the path as complicated as you wish depending upon the
student’s level. Also, you can play it as a SECRET Interval Path
game where the student CANNOT use his fingers to mark the path as you
dictate but must follow the path with his eyes only in silence. When
you call “SLAP!” you both go for the letter.

You could also require that the final letter name be called out along
with the slap. If the student fails to call the letter, even if he
slaps first, no point is awarded.

Sharp and Flat Race to Middle C

 

Cecilly has  another game that she has said I can post here. This is a great idea to teach sharps and flats and the direction they move. I can’t wait to try it out with my students.

I made some cards to go with this game that I plan to use, and I’m posting them here to share with you. There are 2 pages, one for flats and one for sharps. Cecilly didn’t have a lot of time to proof these cards for me, but she gave me some quick suggestions for the natural cards. I made them rather quickly, so let me know if you see any mistakes. These cards are not on my web site, but you can print them here: alphabet-cards-sharps-and-flats

 

Here are the directions for this great game, in her own words:

 

Sharp/Flat race to middle C:

Materials: 2 pawns and 2 sets of music ABC letter cards, one marked
as A# B#, etc., the other as Ab Bb, etc. Shuffle each set separately
and place the Flats set to the right side of the piano, the Sharps
set to the left. Have the student choose one set with you having the
other. Sit one your respective side of the bench as your set.

To play, hold card sets face down and place pawns on the highest &
lowest C’s on the piano. Players take turns turning over the top
card from their set and moving their pawn to the nearest key
corresponding with the letter ALWAYS in the direction of middle C and
never going back toward the player’s end of the piano. After all
cards are played, the player who ends up closest to mid. C is the
winner. Switch sides.

The idea is to not only become familiar with identifying the keys as
flats/sharps, but to become more aware (with play always directed
toward center) that flats move down and sharps move up. Get it??

You can also mark some of the letters with a natural sign, just to
mix things up a bit and keep ‘em on their toes (to see if they really
understand that naturals are always white keys)!!

I played the game on a flat paper floor keyboard with each pawn on
the last white key at each end. They were both 18 white keys away
from mid. C. I also placed a little piece of colored highlighter tape
on the mid. C key to make it more obvious what we were both moving
toward. So if you use the actual piano, just count 18 keys away from
mid. C. That distance made the game go quickly and we played “best
out of 3″. I won 2 of the games so the kids definitely want a
rematch next week. Fun fun.

Skittles Board Game

 

skittles-game-cards

skittles-game-board

This is a fun game that Cecilly thought up. I only made the cards and the game board. The objective is for students to identify notes on the grand staff. She thought it best to have a black and white staff because the game is colorful enough when the boards are covered with Skittles. Also, a lot of you have black and white printers. Be sure and  laminate the game boards with clear book covers or Contact paper and I highly suggest using card stock for everything. I made the game cards so there would be less cutting on your part but  you may have to adjust it for your printer. Print the game board in landscape and the cards in portrait mode. Print one game board for each student.   These cards are not hard to make, so you might want to make your own, with your own variations. Thanks, Cecilly for another great game.

Here are her directions in her own words.

SKITTLES STAFF GAME:

Prepare a grand staff board on poster board or something similar for each player. Prepare a deck of cards with Clef & letter indicated (Bass F, Treble G, Treble D, Bass C, Middle C, etc.) making multiples of these. Along with these cards, throw in some cards that say: Loose a turn, Take away 2 Reds (make a few of these cards with different colors too), Remove a Treble (or Bass) line (or space) note, Eat all the C’s from the player’s board on your right, Reverse, Skip, Eat a Skittle from each player’s board, Steal a line note (space note) from another player’s board and put it on your’s, etc. etc. (as far as your imagination will go).

 Give each student (or you and the individual student) a king-size individual bag of Skittles. Or you can buy a big bag and place them in a dish for all to draw from.

 To play, players place their boards on the table or floor in front of them with the Skittles & shuffled deck of cards in the center of the playing area (If your staff boards are on copy paper, secure them on a clip board for support. Decide who’s to start with that player drawing the top card and placing a Skittle as directed by the card or following whatever other direction is given. The card is then discarded beside the deck, and play passes to the next player. Reshuffle the discard pile into the deck as needed.

 To win, the first player to have a Skittle on all their lines & spaces wins. Or the player to have the most covered at the end of the playing time wins.

 This is a great way to test their note naming skills.

 Have fun.

Four Corners Christmas Game

Ceclilly has a new game that you can play at a holiday group lesson. This might be a good way to choose who plays  at the group lesson. Sometimes I unimaginatively choose names out of a basket. This sounds like more fun. Thanks, Cecilly.

 

FOUR CORNERS CHRISTMAS GAME (sit down version)

Materials: a basket or bag with four different seasonal icon pictures (tree,
star, bell, candy-cane) each equal to the number of players, Christmas
music to either play yourself or on the CD player, and a chair.

Set up: Place the chair in the center of the playing area. Mix up
and place the seasonal icon pictures in scattered fashion face up on
the floor around the chair. Players sit around the periphery of the
playing area.

Objective: to avoid elimination.

To play: Choose someone to be “It”. “It” takes a seat in the chair and
hides her eyes during play. When the music starts, players all at
once get up and quickly but quietly pick an icon picture from the
floor and return to a spot around the periphery of the area. When
the music stops, It keeps head down and eyes closed and covered and
calls out one of the icons. Whoever has that icon is “out”, but
first must perform a Christmas selection at the piano. As they come up to
perform, they return their icon face up on the floor and then return
to their spot. After those players have performed, all icons are
placed back on the floor face up. A new “It” is selected from the
group of performers, and another round begins.

For the second round, when the music starts, all except those
performers, get up to select another icon picture. It could be a new
one or the same one, doesn’t matter. And again, when the music
stops, It calls out one of the icons revealing the next group of
performers.

Now, if It calls out an icon and NO one has chosen that picture, then
no one is out, no one performs that round, and ALL previously
eliminated players are back in (this means they better have a 2nd
piece ready to perform)! A new It is selected from someone who was
previously out.

Continue. playing until either everyone has eventually had an opportunity
to perform, or there’s only 1 player left. If that happens, let the
final player perform.

Urge players to select their icon and return to their spots quickly
as they won’t want to be caught in between when the music stops. If
that happens, they’ll be considered out too and will have to
perform.

VARIATIONS: if you don’t want to incorporate the performing of
prepared pieces into the game, simply assign a silly group perfomance
activity for the eliminated group to do on the spot together. For
example, have the group “Laugh heartily like Santa (HO HO HO),”
or “Sing the first verse of Jingle Bells while standing on 1 leg,”
or “Hold hands and walk in a circle as you sing Jolly Old St. Nick.,”
or “March and sing Deck the Halls,” etc. etc. letting your
imagination go.

Just remember that there needs to be 4 different icons and 4 icons for each  player.

Three Strikes, Toss a Card, and Uncover

Good morning, teachers.   Cecilly has some more ideas to use with flash cards that I’m posting today. If you don’t have any flash cards, there are several sites you can get some. D’net and Wendy have a set (see my links) and I have a set, too, on my web site. I am going to expand my set over the holidays with ledger line notes.

The first game is called Three  Strikes. I plan to use this with some students who love base ball but all student should like it.

Place flash cards in a bag along with 3 cards that are marked with an X on them (strikes). The student pulls a card hoping to avoid a strike. Answer the non-strike cards as long as possible until there are no more, or the student has pulled all 3 strike cards and ultimately “strikes out.”

The next game is called Toss A Card. If you want to use the clap the rhythm variation, you can get rhythm flash cards from D’net.

Scatter the flash cards  on the floor randomly. Toss a bean bag and do whatever the card requires (name/play the note, clap the rhythm, etc.).

Cecilly’s last game I”m going to post today is Uncover.

Lay whatever flashcards you want to use on a table or floor with another colored piece of paper on top of them. Place 1 additional colored piece of paper on the table but with no flashcard underneath. This is the one to avoid. Ask student to “uncover” a card and answer it. If they can successfully uncover all the cards while avoiding the empty one, they are the winner. The game stops when the empty one is uncovered.

The Dynamics Hide and Go Seek Game

I thought I would post another game from Cecilly that you can play if you have a Christmas party. This is semiliar to one I used to play when I taught school and I remember the kids really having fun. However, I had totally forgotten about it and I’m grateful to Cecilly for sharing.

 

Now, after the active games, the kids should be ready for a sitdown kind of game. Here’s a fun one:

          The DYNAMICS HIDE & SEEK Game

Using some kind of small music object or flashcard (like a quarter note), select someone to be the “hider”

and someone to be the “seeker. The “seeker” must leave the playing area for a brief minute while the “hider” hides the object somewhere in the playing area (it cannot be completely hidden, but must be visible upon discovery). Then the “hider” goes to his seat with everyone else seated about the room.

 Go get the “seeker” who comes into the room and begins to look for the object. Now, the group can help the seeker by chanting the name of the object over and over, but if the seeker moves away from the objects hiding place the group uses a quieter voice. If the seeker begins to move closer, their chanting grows louder. The groups “dynamic” level literally steers the seeker to the object.

When she’s right on the object, the group will be chanting in full fortissimo voice. When the seeker finds the object, everyone yells “BRAVO” and applauds.

 After each round, choose a new hider and seeker. This allows for just about everyone to play the more active roles.

Four Corners and Musical Chairs (for group lessons)

I’ve been so busy making Christmas worksheets that I have neglected Cecilly’s Games category. Cecilly is a creative teacher who has been posting “off the bench” games on message boards for years. She is letting me try to collect and publish them here for the benefit of other teachers. Selfishly, I wanted to be able to have a reference for myself, and I thought maybe you would, too. Other teachers who generously share their ideas are listed in links on my side bar.  

Cecilly sent me some more games to post and I’ll try to be better about getting them up. Some of the games use pictures, and everyone who comes here regularly knows how much I love to make graphics. Now I have a back log that I hope to work on during the holidays. I’m still working on the fish for her fishing game. I should probably spend more time at a gym and less at the computer!

Here are two games that will be fun if you either teach in groups or have a group lesson coming up. I like the idea of having a student play the piano for these games.

 If you have never tried movement activities like these, start with just one and see how it goes. If you’re not used to working in groups , it takes a little experience.

                                        4 Corners Game

 First choose 4 music related things: composer’s names, music elements like Rhythm, Beat, Pitch, Melody, etc., or something else you’d prefer to use.

Make large cards with each of these words written on their own card and mount each on a separate wall or area around the room (where everyone can see).

 To play the game (which is an elimination game of sorts) have either recorded music ready or something you or another student could play on the piano. Choose someone to be “it” with this player sitting in the center of the room. Everyone else stands around in the open space.

 IT closes her eyes and the music begins. The players SILENTLY move to one of the word cards (walls) and waits. They need to get there quick making their decision and sticking with their wall choice.

When the music stops, IT (keeping eyes closed) calls out one of the words. All players at that wall are “out” and simply sit on the floor. A new IT is chosen from the “out” group and the old IT joins the others still in the game. Then play continues with the music and players moving again. Any player caught mid-stream between walls when the music stops is out as well.

 Variations:

 1. Play a total elimination with a final player left standing.

2. Play a temporary elimination with the “out” group sitting out for just one round. They can come back in after this 1 round.

3. Play like total elimination, but with one catch…should IT call out a word with NOBODY at that wall, then all previously “ousted” players are back in.

 This is a great party game, and the trick is for the players to move silently so as not to give away their location. This makes for a more controlled, yet active game.

 Plus it’s good for all ages AND you can reinforce some terms or whatever depending upon your word choices.

 I’ve always used recorded music, but you could have a student play part of a piece for each round. They can determine when to stop the music too which would be fun.

 

 

                                      MUSICAL CHAIRS (sort of):

This is a great game to really mix up the younger kids with the older ones.

 Divide the group into 2 equal teams (if it’s an odd number, someone could be a referee or control the music). Here you would need to have the younger kids be in one team, the older ones in another.

 Pair up the kids with one player from each team forming a pair. The older kid will be the “chair” and the younger one the “sitter.”

 Form 2 circles with the younger team in the center circle and older team in an outer circle. The teams will move in opposite directions in a circular manner when the music begins.

 Ok, so with everyone in place, the music is started and the players begin to walk in their circles. When the music stops, the “chairs” immediately stop and go into a chair position with one knee on the floor and the other knee up (creating the chair seat). Their partner must find them and “sit” on their partner’s knee. The last pair to be in a secure sitting position is out. They then can become referee’s for the rest of the game.

 Now, expect a little more craziness with this game as the kids must move quickly to find their partner. There may be some bumping, falling, etc., but if you warn them to be careful, it should go well.

 Continue the game like musical chairs until only one pair is left and is declared the winner.

 The kids really LOVE this game.

Cecilly’s Tic Tac Toe

The thing about Cecilly’s games is that they are so versatile. You can play them in many ways and ability levels. I tried this tic toe game using flash cards from my goofy piano card game and played it on a table. (I don’t get down on the floor very easily these days.)  I used colored chips from Staples. It was a quick game and broke up a lesson that was getting intense. Here is how Cecilly plays it: 

Place flash cards face down in a tic tac toe grid formation on the floor or table. If your cards have the answers on the back, then cover them with colored squares of paper slightly larger than the cards. Give the student nine single colored poker chips or something similar. Give yourself a few of a different color. The student chooses a card to identify.  If they are correct, they place a token on that card, and continues with another card choice trying to get a 3 in a row. Only if the student makes a mistake do you put your token on the card. See how many 3 “in a rows” can be earned up to a full “cover the card” result.

Cecilly’s Fishing Game

Cecilly is a very experienced piano teacher who has posted many games for piano students in different message boards over the years. She has graciously consented to allow me to collect her games and post them here under the category “Cecilly’s Games”.  I thought it would be helpful for other teachers to see the creative ways piano can be made fun. In addition, if you have lessons that are over 30 minutes long as I do and you teach young children, you need to move around a little bit.

The first game of hers that I plan to post is a Fishing Game. While I have been busy drawing flash card fish, because I love the draw, the game can be successfully played with any kind of flash card. I played it last week with an older student learning the very high and low ledger line notes. It can be played with intervals, symbols, or any kind of flash card. And you can make up all kinds of variations.

After I have finished all my Christmas material, I’ll post the fish flash cards. I think it will be a fun activity to do when students come back from the holidays. In the meantime, try playing it now when your students get the holiday fidgets!

The following is what Cecilly posted:

Fishing for ?

Place a paper clip on whatever cards you want to use and scatter randomly on the floor or table top. Make a fishing pole (I use a mini blind rod – the thing you twist to open the blinds-and run a string through the end hole and then tie a magnet to the other end. You could also use a dangling cat toy and replace the feather with a magnet).

Place a basket to the side of the cards. Allow 60 sec. for fishing. When a card is “caught” it is quickly placed into the basket. After time is up, take all the “fish” and have the student ID each card (play the note, ID the interval, clap the rhythm, etc. depending on the card).