Monday, July 29, 2013

"Back to School" Treble Clef Matching Game

Another great way to review musical concepts (or assess what your students know if you've moved to a new school) is to pair students up for a matching game.

I use matching games ALL the time with grades K-5.  Although I've used cute bunnies and even flowers in matching games before, my older students love them.

I've come up with many different ways to use the same set of materials (other than just matching) so that the students are truly getting enough practice on the concept.

Here's my latest creation.  It has a "back to school" theme.  Here's some ideas on how to use it:

1. Basic Matching Game: Students (in pairs) match the word spelled musically on the chalkboard to the word on the teacher.
Note: When playing this way, the students are seated in a large circle next to their partner.  I "challenge" them to complete the activity three times before they call me over to check their work.  This eliminates mistakes and gives my struggling students adequate time to at least complete the activity once.  It also allows me time to walk around and observe how the students are doing and how they are working together - and to help out when I need to.

2. Memory matching game: Students (in pairs) turn the cards over.  One partner turns one teacher and one chalkboard over.  If it is a match, the student keeps the pair and continues.  If not, the other student takes a turn.  The student with the most pairs at the end (when all cards are gone) wins.

3. Whole-class matching game: I distribute the materials to pairs of students (or individually if I've made enough).  Using my projector and document camera, I show the students a chalkboard and ask them to find the corresponding teacher.  This can get competitive if you break the students into little teams and award points for teams that get the answer correct.  If you're not sure that your students will be successful playing ways 1 or 2, try this first so they see what you're asking them to do. 

Download this game here: Back to School Treble Clef Matching Game

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