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You may be interested in using these music grids to help your beginning composers learn to notate music. They are also very useful in aiding students to decode music. I have found them to be supremely useful for zillions of things in my classroom. Each grid is basically just a sheet with a bunch of boxes drawn on it. Each box represents a beat. And therein lies its usefulness. I call each box a "beat box", each line of (up to 4) boxes "a measure" and the whole paper a "score." For a half note, I have the students draw a line through the next box to show its duration. A whole note would have the note in one box and a line in the following three boxes. This has really helped them remember. Caveat: these are the "real deal," straight from my classroom to the scanner, warts and all. Maybe everything you do in your classroom is neat and tidy, but that typically fails to happen in my world. |
Talk about simple.
This grid thing is so simple I wonder why teachers don't use it
more.
I use it to plan out my Orff ostinati patterns to see how they
all work together.
I also use it to compose rounds and rhythmic accompaniments so
I can see the vertical relationships of sounds.
By making several blank transparencies at a time, I always have
a way to record an inspired happening in any class. When the need
for them is through, I can make a paper copy at the office copier
if I want to keep a copy and then erase and reuse the original
transparency. The more I've used them, the handier they've become
until now, I make them in units of 20 blank transparencies at
a time.
I run off zillions of the 4x4 grid on the risograph, using as much recycled/reusable paper as I can, and just keep stocking the pile. I also have the others available as well, but we use LOTS of 4X4's so I have to keep them stocked. I make the grids easily available to the students by storing them (the boxes, not the kids) in those flat boxes that the Pepsi guy leaves behind when he restocks our drink machines. I just write what is in the boxes on the long side of the box in big black letters and then I stack them all some shelves. I also like using those boxes for each class to put its paperwork in. They stack easily on each other and are movable and rearrange easily.
As an overhead transparency
1. Draw on the transparency boxes with permanent markers.
Use washable marker to change any additional information for each
class.
Example: if you want them to practice a certain rhythm pattern,
write the rhythm on the grid in permanent marker (like a black
Sharpie). Have the students decide which notes should go with
what rhythm. Perform it as a class composition. If you do this
a few times with them, they'll figure out how to do it independently.
I had every recorder class do this with the same rhythm using just G, A, B since we were beginning recorder players. There was a lot more variety than I had supposed possible. I told them that it was very common for the first line to repeat in the 2nd or 3rd line and gave them a choice to accept that practice or not (ABAC or AABC). Every time a class chose to make 4 lines without repeating (ABCD), they were not satisfied. When we changed it so that line 1 repeated somewhere, they were much more satisfied. Their personal compositions improved, too.
1. Here is an example of a 3rd grade class composition, complete with the mess I made when the kids wanted to change the words. This class was absolutely thrilled with their composition.
As a student handout
1. Your students can take dictation on printed sheets. You can decide how simple or complex you want to the patterns to be, whether to use iconic or traditional notation, whether to use letter or staff pitches. Make use of the different grids for your specific purposes.
2. Your students can work out their own rhythm word chains using the 4X4 or 8X4 grids. They can just write the words or syllables in the boxes. I used this is one of my units while I worked on my national board certification. I was very pleased how the kids took naturally to doing this especially if I'd done the prep work, exposing them to many uses before.
3. Your students can create their own compositions on the grid. Give them parameters such as "use B, A, G, quarter note, quarter rest and eighth note pairs" or "use the rhythm of Hot Cross Buns and sol mi la and do. End on do." These are easy to grade, by the way, because they are so specific. I'll upload some examples when I get back into my classroom. I had to blast out at the end of the year without grabbing any to scan and the room has been under construction all summer, so I haven't really gotten to be there.
4. Your students can play their own compositions when you give them appropriate parameters. I use the grids for all the levels of my Recorder Ribbon program. Not only do they have to play at a certain level, they have to compose an 8 -or later on- 16 bar piece using the new notes and complexities AND then perform it for me. This has been particularly gratifying to me as I see the real, authentic application of their skills in their own creations. It is also a very useful authentic assessment opportunity!
As a score
I've discovered that students can read a score from the grid easier because it delineates the beats so clearly. I notate almost all my recorder music on an overhead grid. I also run some scores off for take-home practice sheets. As the students become more proficient, they use the grid with staves on it, and eventually with no grid at all - just the regular staff.
Extra tips:
1. Use cool clip art! You can find cool clip art which
you can import into a word-processing document. Copy the document
onto a transparency. Cut out the pictures, words, notes, etc.,
and put them into the grid boxes. I have pictures of knees, and
fingers snapping, and spirals, and people and animals.... Check
to see that your picture will fit easily into the boxes. I adapted
this idea from one I got from Laurie Zentz. Popular, ain't she!
2. Make teeny tiny transparencies that fit in the boxes.
If you print out your transparency in a table (rows and columns),
you can make your pictures a lot easier and handle by doing this:
before you cut out the pictures, put 1/4 inch masking tape that
quilters use on all the lines of the rows and tables. Then cut
the lines of tape in half . The result should be little plastic
pictures all framed with tape.
This is particularly nice for two reasons: the little rectangles don't stick to each other, and the taped edges make a nice clear border that is highly visible either on or off the overhead light deck.
3. Print out your transparencies in reverse. If you make the transparencies with your printer, always print it in reverse (like you would an iron-on transfer). That way when you write and erase on the front side, your printed material on the reverse side will not get wiped off. This is also good advice if you make your transparencies using the office copier. Trust me on this.
More ideas coming....
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4X4 Grid - 16 beats .pdf |
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4X4 Grid with staff - 16 beats .pdf |
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8X4 Grid - 32 beats .pdf |
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8X4 Grid with staff - 32 beats .pdf |
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last updated April 28, 2006 |