Pitch Publications Blog - Elementary Music Education Blog - Pitch Publications with Shelley Tomich

Pitch Hill – Some Quick Thoughts

I see conversations all the time on various music chat-boards about how to teach elementary students solfége. Pitch Hill works because it is a story-based method. Children are enthralled by the silly stories and come back every week asking to meet new characters!

Tech Talk Tuesday: Intro to iPads in My Music Room

Elementary Music, IPads, Technology

I am so excited to bring you Tech Talk Tuesday! I just got back from attending the Georgia Education Technology Conference (GaETC) and I am in a techy mood! I am inviting all my educator friends to link up to discuss something you love pertaining to technology in the classroom! Maybe it is a teacher tip, maybe a student tip, or maybe it is just something amazing you hope to do one day! Either way, check out the links below and join the party!

Five Favorite Pins – October

Favorite Pins, Linky Parties

Sorry I have been so MIA! I have been super busy with fall family fun and creating amazing resources for my classroom (and to share with you of course!). Today I’m linking up with Mrs. Miracle’s Music Room to showcase 5 of my favorite pins!

Rhythm Basketball – Great Lesson for 4th and 5th!

4th Grade, 5th Grade, Elementary Music, Ideas by Grade, Rhythm

Rhythm basketball (or bouncing to the beat) is an AMAZING way to reach kids who are just too cool for school. Plus it is a great kinesthetic way to practice rhythms!

Magical Moment of the Day

1st Grade, 2nd Grade, Class Procedures, Ideas by Grade

I have been trying to be more reflective in my teaching this year. This is year 12 for me and I have to find ways to keep it fresh! I have had success the past couple of weeks posting something special that happened each day. Sometimes it is a great thing I want to remember and other times it is something I need to change for the next time I implement that lesson.

Rhythm Centers – Freebie!

Centers, Elementary Music, Games, Rhythm, Sub Plans

Success! The past two weeks I have implemented music centers successfully for the first time in my career. Any previous experience doing centers resulted in students simply playing games with no purpose. I was determined to succeed this time! Rhythm Centers are a GREAT way to offer differentiation in the music classroom AND students have a great time practicing their rhythm skills.

Beat Buddies, Part Two

Class Procedures, Classroom Management, Elementary Music, Kindergarten

I recently posted about Beat Buddies and how amazing they were for classroom management. I think classroom management is a huge component of being a teacher and I am always looking for new methods for managing my class. However a reader let me know I failed to explain properly what musical activities I do with Beat Buddies. For that error, I apologize! I was mostly excited about how they really got my K’s to calm down!

Hook them from the first day! Fabulous First Day of Music Lesson Plans

1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, Class Procedures, Cup Games, Elementary Music, Games, Ideas by Grade, Kindergarten, Pitch Hill, Tempo

The first day of music class can be hard to plan! You want it to be great, but also cover important procedures. It is crucial you get this day right – it can set the tone for the whole year! Get some tips and tricks (and lesson ideas!) in this post!

Tomatoes and Beat Buddies

Ideas by Grade, Kindergarten

A few months ago, I read about the idea of BEAT buddies on Mrs. King’s Music Class. I had already taught the series of lessons where I would use them and pretty much forgot about it. (I have a ridiculously large file of “Cool Ideas to Look At Later.”)

Back to School Bulletin Boards

Bulletin Boards, Freebies, Music Room

Preplanning is crazy! Usually it is Friday about lunchtime of preplanning week when I get around to making bulletin boards for the first day of school. Here are a couple of quick ideas that will get you started to make some back to school music bulletin boards!

The Simple Stuff!

Music Room, Random Tips

My simple item is electrical tape! (In a variety of colors). I am REALLY into color coding things for my classroom. I have a color for each grade level based on the colors of our music series book (Making Music). When we switched years ago from Share the Music to Making Music I was devastated because the colors weren’t the same! ha! 🙂

My room isn’t going on Pinterest but….

Music Room

I see all these rooms other music ed bloggers are doing and I am impressed! They have cute graphics, organized bins, and even new paint on the walls! I have permission to paint my walls, but just haven’t found the time. Plus I have 20 ft ceilings. Oh my. I taught in a trailer for 7 years so I think I’m still getting used to the “big room.”