Back to school time is a lot like new years. It represents a fresh start, new beginnings and excitement for learning new things! Like many teachers, I have been lesson planning and putting together new games and activities for my students this fall. I have a lot of beginner level students, and I have been planning activities to reinforce rhythm and note reading.

I printed out some new rhythm patters and glued them to cardstock. I then cut them out. My plan is to have students build their own rhythm pattern, and then practice it. I have a fun tambourine drum that students like to drum out their rhythms on. But students could clap, or even play them using a key on the piano. You can find these rhythm flashcard free printables at https://laytonmusic.wordpress.com/2007/12/19/rhythm-flashcards/ There are different levels of flashcards too! This site has other great resources too! I’m excited to try out the music Candyland game!

I also created a magnetic music staff using a white board. I used painters tape for the staff lines, and I cut out the treble and bass clefs from card stock and put magnets on the backs. I purchased little round magnets to use as the notes. This board has been great so far to help students understand lines, spaces, steps, skips, and note names!