It was 8:30 at night on a day-ending walk through my neighborhood where I realized I had grossly miscalculated.
The text read:
Miss Paula, this is D. Can you tell me which note my hand starts on for Three Wishes?
D is a fourth grader and absolute theory expert…or at least he was 6 months ago. (facepalm). Sometimes when you think that knowledge is permanent, it’s not. Everything needs an insane amount of review for even the brightest kids. The ones who practice 5 days a week seem to get it with little help but those who don’t need so much more special attention. I failed to adjust with the fact that this student had spent most of the summer out of town while other students were in lessons.
And for those students faithfully in lessons all summer…was their brain at the lesson with them? Needless to say, most of these students need a tune up with note identification and fluency. In my quest to make everything fun, I’ve added a couple of games to the toolbox.
Spaced Out Staff is inspired by all the students coming in talking about space. There is one local school whose science teacher for 5th grade is apparently the G.O.A.T. because she has them hooked.
This double layout game has planets for notes. Students simply roll, move and name the NOTES, not the planets. (Nice try, Wesley.)
The erasers shown to the left were found at the dollar tree.
The next game, Robot Roundabout, has been a hit the last couple of weeks in the studio. This game board has accompanying boards with notes displayed at many different levels, including ledger lines.
To play, students roll a die, move their marker, and cover the note on their staff board with a flat backed marble or other item. The first person to fill their staff wins. But there is a wrench thrown in this game. When a player lands on a geometric tile, they can STEAL a note from an opponent’s staff.
This usually results in a “Bruh!” moment and a rematch.
