Review “Playing in the House”

Teach the song "Playing in the House". This is a song to encourage students to improvise on instruments. It's a reading song, and students may be able to read the melody and the rhythms.

Option 1: teach this as a reading song. Read the rhythms. Read the notes using solfa notation.

Option 2: teach the song by rote. Sing or play a phrase and have students echo. Combine phrases. Sing or play the whole song and have students echo.

Improvise or write compositions and play with “Playing in the House”

Divide the students into four groups, and give each group one farmily of unpitched (u/p) rhythm instruments. The following instruments families are suggested: Woods, Metals, Drums, Shakes/Scrapes. The last repetition all groups should play.

Discuss what improvisation means and demonstrate how to improvise. Show that the person improvising listens to the music and tries to make music that fits in. (It's not just banging as loud as you can.)

This song is written in rondo form. The song is the theme, and the improvisations are the variations. The form is ABACADAEAFA.

As an extension to the activity, you could have students write their compositions on paper or use the Rhythm Composition tool on MusicplayOnline.

Sing and play along to “Playing in the House”

Divide students into 4 groups and give instruments out. (woods, metals, shakes/scrapes and drums)

Teach the A section as a reading song. (Playing in the house...)
Have students read the rhythms.
The solfa notes used are ls drm, so if you teach solfa, have them read the solfa as well.

Invite the students to improvise during their section.

Virtual: Invite students to find things at home to use for instruments. Have them improvise during the B C D E sections.

Optional: Review the Orff arrangement for “Playing in the House”

Creative Ideas: Divide the students into four groups, and give each group one family of unpitched (u/p) rhythm instruments. The following instrument families are suggested: Woods, Metals, Drums, Shakes/Scrapes. The last repetition all groups should play.

Review “Hide Those Eggs”

This is a fun game for children to play. If you have students who don't celebrate Easter, change that word to 'furry'. "Hide those eggs little furry bunny... " Teach the melody and the words of the song by rote and play the game. Have the students show the phrases in the song with arm motions. The phrase form is abac.

Review the game with “Hide Those Eggs”

Choose five to six students to hide Easter eggs in the classroom while the rest of the class hides their eyes and sings the song. Eggs must be hidden in plain sight. The children hunt for the eggs. Choose new students to hide the eggs.

Sing and play the game with “Hide Those Eggs”

Echo sing drm sl in F Major

Play Melody Hunt

Print and distribute the melody cards around the room. Have students hunt for them and copy the patterns onto the staff with the same number.

Complete the worksheet for Melody Hunt

Use scarves, plates, or hands to move to “Roses from the South”

Review “Stella Ella Olla”

Students may be able to read the rhythm and melody of the song.

Review the game with "Stella Ella Olla"

Play the game!

The students form a circle. Each student extends their hands, palms facing up. Each player puts the right hand over the hand of the person on the right and the left hand under the hand of the person on the left. The clapping moves clockwise around the circle. The player who begins claps the right hand of the person on their left with their right hand. On the last word of the song, “five,” the player who is about to be hit must pull their hand away before being clapped. If they pull away in time, the clapper is out. If they get clapped, they are out.

Sing and play the game with “Stella Ella Olla”