4th Grade Archives - Make Moments Matter

November 20, 2016

Over the River and Through the Woods – Thanksgiving Song

Lesson Ideas

“Over the River and Through the Woods” is an American classic that I think a lot of folks recognize and love. It’s one of those ubiquitous songs that pops up now and again and immediately feels familiar. However, it feels like “Over the River” is one of those songs that […]

January 31, 2016

‘t Smidje – A Dance to Make Your Students Go Wild!

Lesson Ideas

This is a GREAT time of year to be a music teacher. The kids may be bleary-eyed and overwhelmed with state/local/district/whatever tests but you are well on your way to a fantastic new semester. We are in prime workshop season and the ideas are flowing! Many teachers out there are […]

This favorite folk song is great for teaching song form.

October 10, 2015

Turn the Glasses Over – Playing with Form!

Lesson Ideas

I love teaching this fun little folk song, “I’ve been to Harlem” a.k.a. “Turn the Glasses Over,” to my students! I learned the basic version of the song at my Orff Level 1 training a few years ago and have been playing with how to teach the lesson ever since. This year […]

Tubano Tidbits - Ideas for a drum circle

January 24, 2015

Tubano Tidbits: Ideas from a Drum Circle

Lesson Ideas

Teaching drums to my kids is one of my favorite things to do! They can’t get enough of the drums and see it as a special treat. I love it because I can sneak in SO much content and so many concepts and the kids just think that they’re banging […]

December 13, 2014

O Tannenbaum! Teaching about a Tree!

Lesson Ideas

Holiday carols are so much fun! I love introducing my students to carols because they give you a chance to spark the kids’ interest and teach them about other countries, time periods, and (in some cases) different languages. In that regard they are much like folks songs because they open […]

February 8, 2014

The Recorder Briefcase!

Classroom Ideas

At my school students buy their own recorders and are encouraged to take them home to practice and play. That means that after music they have to take their recorders back to their classroom and put them in their backpacks to take them home. The question arose: How can we […]

A GREAT song to teach cumulative form and to get kids moving!

February 2, 2014

The Green Grass Grew All Around

Lesson Ideas

“Green Grass Grew All Around” never fails to excite and delight my students. No matter their mood when they walk in, this song bring out big smiles and gets kids excited about class. What’s more, this song is especially great for English Language Learners (abbreviated to ESL/ELL in many places) as it involves some […]

Monster Invasion: A fun composition game for third grade and above.

January 11, 2014

Music Monsters – Composition Game for 3rd Grade and Beyond

Lesson Ideas

This was a fun game that I happened onto with my third graders late last semester. I found these super cool die-cut monsters at the Dollar Tree and knew that I wanted to make something fun with them. I’m working on expanding my center materials/composition games because I’ll have my […]