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BEGIN THE YEAR BY BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS Part 1: CLASSROOM COMMUNITY BUILDING

7/31/2016

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​Steph is starting a new position in the fall and she is very excited, especially because she will be teaching at the school she attended from K-8! She has been brainstorming start of the year activities to do with her classes that are team building, reflective and will produce a product that she and her students can refer to throughout the whole year. 

Part 1 of our blog series is a project that Steph did with her Ryerson students, years ago when she started at that school. She wanted to get to know the students better and wanted to know what their favourite activities in Music were before finalizing any programming.
My Hands Make Music
Steph's theme for the community artwork that first year at Ryerson was "Ryerson Hands Make Music". Every student in the school ended up creating a hand outline with a phrase on it that began with "My hands...". Students had to finish the phrase with their own idea such as "My hands play the drums" and decorate the hand cut-out.
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Steph and her students brainstormed different activities that they did in Music with their hands and discussed which ones were their favourites. Steph also let the older kids share ideas that didn't necessarily apply to our Music class, but that still applied to music like, "My hands play the piano." It was great having sharing discussions about music with her new students. It immediately set a community feel in her classroom.
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After every student was finished their hand art, Steph took two long pieces of blue bulletin board paper to make the base of the community art. 
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The kids loved sharing their favourite music activities and contributing to the class. The artwork sure added to the welcoming, creative and safe environment in the Music room! 

We would love to hear any activities that you do with your classes to help build relationships! We are always looking for ideas!

Check out our next post - Begin the Year by Building Relationships Part 2!
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GLOW STICK FUN IN MUSIC!

7/28/2016

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We love fun, engaging manipulatives that enhance music learning experiences! Since glow sticks can only be used once, it's best to use them with several classes in one day. Here are some glow stick ideas that both of us use with our students!
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1. Glow Sticks as Mallets 
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Replacing mallets with glow sticks on the barred instruments is a favourite! Using glow sticks gives the ensemble a lighter, softer timbre. Use them for any song, but Halloween themed pieces are especially fun. Steph uses glow sticks with her grade 4 classes to play "Skin and Bones", making it extra creepy and Halloween-y, oooOOoooOo!
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2. Glow Sticks for Singing Warm-ups
Use glow sticks with students during warm-ups for vocal slides! A student leader can move a glow stick in the air as the rest of the class produces a vocal slide accordingly. So fun!
3. Glow Sticks as Batons and/or Beatkeepers
Glow sticks can be used for students to practice conducting (in a variety of meters) while singing or while listening to music. They can also be simply used as beat keepers during listening activities.
4. Glow Stick Freeze Dance
So much fun! Play your choice of music recording, turn the lights out and use glow sticks during a game of freeze dance! Your classes will love this!

Do you use glow sticks with your music classes? What fun manipulatives do you incorporate into your music programs?
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First Book Coming Soon!

7/11/2016

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We are thrilled to be working hard on our very first book! Tonight we hammered out some printing and design details. Soundscape Music will be launching our new logo in the next couple of weeks and we have almost finalized the cover of our book! We spent most of today designing a perfect cover that represented us, our ideas, and our music! We are so excited to be able to share it in the near future!
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Summer and composing!

7/7/2016

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Summer holidays, wohoo! The summer has begun with relaxing at the lake, a PRISM performance at the University of Manitoba and composing fun! We love creating music together and that's exactly what the two of us did yesterday at Sean's. From themes, word splashes, poetry, melody and then added harmony, comes a new piece- Boat Song! We love it. It is still in its early stages, but we are really excited about it! Stay tuned for when it will be available, but until then- a sneak peak at the rich, descriptive text.
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We can't wait to share more with you! Happy summer!
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    Sean and Steph

    Welcome! Soundscape Music provides creative resources and workshops for elementary music teachers. Here on our blog you will find sneak peeks, new ideas and updates regarding our workshops! 

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