M is for Melody Lap ~N~ Note
created by Luanne Angelo

 

M is for Melody Lap-N-Note Instructions  

Because Music is more of a thematic unit, I have not attempted to divide the items into typical subjects such as math, history, geography, science, etc., although there are subject tie-ins. For example, the time line activities are history. The styles of music are also historical whereas note values could fit under the heading of math. Rather, I have divided the activities into more of the musical subject areas or areas in which there are more than one lapbook or notebook components.

Answers to the majority of the questions in the mini-books should be able to be found by reading the book M is for Melody: A Musical Alphabet by Kathy-jo Wargin; illustrated by Katherine Larson. In the cases where answers are not found in the book, the answers can be found within the unit below.

Answers to some of the notebook pages may require additional research from the student. Most of these pages are also geared towards students in 4^th grade and up. This is because some of the notebook pages are intended as digging deeper type pages to extend the book to be a more multi-age unit. In some cases, answers are given in the unit below. Others, like the composer biographies, may require outside books or use of the Internet.

Occasional activities are included for younger children (ages 3-K) and are noted as such.

You can print the complete guide (found below) HERE.

Anthems

National Anthem “A Song of Freedom” Mini Book
Directions: Fold on lines facing in to the middle. Cut the small lines between questions. Write the answers. Original Name of the poem was “The Defense of Fort McHenry”; it was written by Frances Scott Key. The words were written on Sept 13, 1814 on a British Ship while the British were attacking Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. It finally became our National Anthem in 1931. The National Anthem should bring Americans closer together (unity) and help them to show how much they love their country.

National Anthem NB Pages
Find or make your own national flag and glue on the bottom of the anthem page of your choice (U.S. Or Canada). Two verses of each anthem is given.

National Anthem Copywork (U.S. & Canadian available)
Copy the 1^st verse of your national anthem in your best handwriting. Both lined and unlined, wide and thin, lines available.

All About National Anthem NB page (extra research involved)
Record the name of your anthem and the name of the composer and author. Find a photo of the author and paste it in the box. Write a brief history of how our national anthem came to be. Draw a picture about our anthem. Why is it important for a country to have a national anthem?

Instruments & Families

Instrument Family Matching Game
Instructions: Cut out cards. Glue or draw pictures of the instruments in the square. Write an interesting fact about the instrument on the lines using the back side if needed. Do NOT write what family it is found in. Put the cards in the Help Me Find? Pocket. Cut out the four family tiles and glue them, the title/directions, and the pocket to the lapbook or notebook. Take out the instrument cards from the pocket. Match them with their family by laying them on the correct family name. Use your Instrument Family Layer Book to help you check your answers. Put cards away in pocket when done.

Brass Uncurled Flap Book
Directions: Cut entire shape out. Cut on dotted lines. Fold in (fold is on left side). Glue title to the top. Write answers inside the flaps. If you wish, make a guess & record that as well as the answers. Answers: Trumpet—6ft, Trombone—9ft, French Horn—12 ft, Tuba—16 ft

Three Ways to Make Music on Stringed Instruments
Cut each parallelogram apart. Write on each one way to make musical sound with a string instrument (pluck, bow, strum). Layer together. Hole punch where indicated. Add a brad.

Design Your Own Instrument NB page & Activity
The National Orchestra of Musikland has commissioned the famous composer Leopola Mozartian to compose a piece for Orchestra and the Snarkizanaphonia. So what's the problem? The Snarkizanaphonia hasn't been invented yet! Thankfully, you are the world's foremost inventor in the realm of music. You have 30 minutes to draw up your ideas for the very first Snarkizanaphonia. Go for it!

Instrument Families Layer Book
Instructions: Cut out each rectangle and staple at the top. Write a brief description of the family (i.e. Brass instruments are made out of brass or other metal. They have curved tubes and a bell at the end. You make your lips vibrate (buzz) in the mouthpiece. etc.) Write names of instruments in the correct family.

Woodwinds: Flute, Piccolo Clarinet, saxophone, oboe, bassoon
Brass: trumpet, French horn, trombone, tuba, baritone,
String: violin, viola, cello, string bass, guitar, harp
Percussion: gong, snare drum, bass drum, triangle, xylophone, cymbals, tympani (and many more)
Electronic: synthesizers, electric guitar, computer
Keyboards: piano, harpsichord, organ

Note: some instruments could fit under more than one family. We're just putting them in the most commonly thought of family. Technically, “Electronic” isn't a family of instruments, but it's a growing group of instruments that have been created as technology increases.

Guitar Shape Book
Directions: Cut out the main guitar (this is the base of the book). Cut out the bodies of the other guitars. Fold the little flaps under and glue tabs to the back of the base guitar. You should now have the title, guitar body, and the plain guitar body glued to the full length guitar and can be opened downwards. Write information about guitars on the pages.

Kitchen Band Simple Fold Book
Cut out & fold in half. Write inside what a kitchen band is and how you can make one.

All About Keyboards Tab Book
Directions: Cut around each rectangle/tab. Place together in order with the longest tab page in back and the cover on top. Staple on the left side. Answer the questions. Most answers will be found using the text. Other answers will be found below.

How a piano works: When you press down a key, it makes a hammer move inside the piano. This hammer hits a metal string. The string vibrates. This vibration is what we hear. Pianos have a metal sound board that helps the vibrations sound louder. Shorter strings have a faster vibration and a higher pitch (sound). Longer strings are also thicker and have a slower vibration and a lower pitch to your ears.

Facts you may not know:

• There are 88 keys (both black and white) on a piano keyboard.
• Early pianos could only play loud or soft, not both.
• When the 1^st real piano was invented that could play both loud and soft was called the pianoforte (Italian words that mean soft-loud). Over time the name was shortened to just the piano.
• Pianos come in all shapes and sizes and colors.
• Learning piano in Victorian times was a way for girls to prove that they were well educated and cultured. It proved they were good candidates for marriage.

Make Your own instruments Activity:(ages 3+)
Here are some ideas for instruments so you can make your own band!

comb & wax paper “harmonica” -- fold a piece of wax paper over a comb and buzz your lips against it.

water glass “handbells” -- take 5 glass cups that are the same. Leave one empty. Fill one ¼ full, fill one ½ full, fill one ¾ full and fill the 5^th full. Lightly tap them on the side with a spoon or butter knife. What happens to the sound as you go from empty to full? Can you make up a song to play?

paper towel tube “clarinet” -- take a paper towel and blow into it, kind of humming and buzzing lips. Experiment with your voice & lips and see what fun sounds you can make.

pots & pans & lids “drums” -- place pots and pans on the floor upside down. Use a wooden spoon to play a cool beat. Use the lids as great cymbals!

tissue box & rubber bands “guitar” -- place rubber bands of different thicknesses and diameters around a tissue box. Discover the difference between the rubber bands.

paper plate & rice “shakers” -- take two heavy duty paper plates. Put a handful of rice inside. Staple shut. Draw decorations on it if you'd like. You could also staple ribbon or streamers to the edges.

plastic Easter egg “shakers”-- fill with rice, beans, lentils, etc. What difference in the sound does different fillers make?
 

Conductors & Composers

Be A Conductor
Directions: Cut out the pentagons. Staple together on the left-hand side. Color the circles for beat 1 red and all the other beats yellow.
Answers for fill in the blanks: The four most common beat patterns are for 2, 3, 4, or 6 beats in a measure. Practice each type of beat pattern using your right hand. Count out loud to help you really get the feel of the beat. The first beat is always straight down! The last beat always goes back up to the top. Now, sing a song and conduct along!

Be a Conductor of your very Own Orchestra Notebook Page
Answers for the top 2 questions should be found in the book M is for Melody. The rest is an activity. Pick a piece of music to conduct. It can be any music the student likes. Record the name of the piece and the style of music it is (rap, jazz, choral, waltz, orchestral, modern, sacred, etc). Listen for the beat. Clap the beats and decide how many beats are in each measure. For example, do you count 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3? Draw your beat pattern. Then figure out which pattern you'd use for “Are you Sleeping” and “Rock a bye Baby”

A Composer is…
Directions: cut out, fold in half, and write the answer inside.

The Three B's: Bach, Beethoven & Brahms
Directions: Cut out the outline and cut on dotted lines. This makes 3 attached match-book-like book. If desired, paste a picture of the composer (provided on the lapbook page) on the inside flap. Write a couple facts about each composer. Ideas: Place of birth, time period (like classical, baroque, etc), a famous composition, etc.

The Three B's NB pages: For the notebook pages, students may need to check out library books or do a web search for more information. This is really more of an add-on for digging deeper for older students.

Blank Composer NB page: Your student will need to check out books from the library to complete as many of these as you'd like. Some famous women composers are: Clara Schumann, and Fanny J Crosby. Some famous American composers are Scott Joplin, Aaron Copeland, and Irving Berlin.

WANTED: Notebook Page
Choose a composer or performer from any time period. Write a “WANTED” poster about him. Include things such as physical description (and a hand-drawn portrait), and things known about him...such “dangerously quick & light-fingered on the pianoforte”. Have fun with this one!

HELP WANTED Notebook Page
Imagine that you are a conductor of a famous orchestra. The board of directors has decided to have a composer commissioned to write a piece of music specifically for your orchestra to perform along with a children's choir. You need a composer. Write a help wanted advertisement. Include a list of duties, qualities and skills needed, etc. Look in the Help Wanted section of your newspaper for ideas. Be creative.

Dynamics & Tempo

What are Dynamics? Shape book
Directions:  Cut out the shape book. Fold in half. Write the answer inside.

Dynamite Dynamics Accordion
Fold book-cut out the outline. Accordion fold. Either write or cut/paste the dynamics inside. Tie a piece of string around it to keep it closed. Tape the string down on the back.

Loud and Soft mini-book & Activity
Cut out the simple book. Fold in half. Cut around the title and glue on top. Draw, cut out from magazines, etc., pictures that fit either loud or soft and glue on to the correct side. Examples: Lion, mouse, feather, train whistle, etc.

Tempo Marks Scroll
Directions: Cut out the scroll. Write in four tempo marks starting with the slowest at the bottom and the fastest at the top.

Tempo Speed Zone T-Book
Directions: Cut out the T. Fold in however you desire. Paste the “Speed Zone Ahead” cover on the front flap. Paste on the metronome and conductor on the empty flaps, if desired. Fill in the answers. A metronome is a mechanical device that ticks back and forth to help a musician keep a steady beat. You can set the speed by moving the weight up (gets slower) or down (goes faster). There are electronic metronomes too.

Don't Speed Game (pre-school-1^st)
Write the tempo marks on 4 separate pieces of paper. Hold up one. Can your student move in the way the tempo marks tell him? What happens when the tempo marks change? Can you move in a different way?  For an extra challenge, try adding these words: ritardando, a tempo, and accelerando.
 

Note Names & Values

Name the Piano Keys
Directions: Cut out the rectangle and follow directions. No folding, just leave it as is. The music alphabet is a b c d e f g, then it repeats. An easy to figure out where the notes are on the piano is to remember the word “MIDDLE”. What letter is in the middle of “middle”? D How many D's are there? 2. Find a group of 2 black keys. In the Middle of them is a D. After that, just say the alphabet forwards or backwards.

Name the Notes on the Staff
Directions found in file.

Note: the reason we make up our own bass clef line notes mnemonic phrase is because the usually one is soooo similar to the treble clef that children often get confused. Besides, it's a fun activity!

Notes and their Names & the Six C's NB Page
The directions are found in the file.

Note Value Family Tree NB page
A whole note starts at the top. It gets 4-beats. This gets broken down into 2 half notes of 2 beats each. To draw a half note, draw a whole note and then a line going up on the right side (called a stem). Each half note gets divided into 2 quarter notes. A quarter note looks like a half note, but it is colored in. Each quarter note gets divided into 2 eighth notes. Just draw a quarter note and add a flag on the right side of the stem. Each eighth note can be divided into two equal 16^th notes. They look like 8^th notes, just add another flag (for a total of 2 flags). It would take 4 quarter notes to equal one whole note. (think fractions...or money...). It would take eight 8^th notes to equal one quarter note.

Music Math NB page
There are two pages available-- one easier and one more of a challenge (some involve fractions).

Musical Math Answers:

1. 5 musicians
2. 3 beats
3. 8 beats (under normal circumstances a whole rest gets 4 beats. Traditionally, a whole rest means to rest for the whole measure. Therefore, in ¾ time, a whole rest would only get 3 beats as there is no one single rest that gets 3 beats.)
4. 6 singers
5. 6 beats
6. 3 beats
7. 3 players
8. 3 musicians
9. 7 beats

More Musical Math Answers

1. 12 musicians with 3 on a part
2. 3 beats
3. 16 beats
4. 15 singers
5. 3 beats
6. you need 1 ½ beats to make a full 4-beats. 1½ beats are taken away, so that's how much you'll need to add back.
7. 3 brass players left: Tuba, Trombone & French Horn
8. 6 musicians
9. 9 beats (4 + 2 + 1 + 1½ + ½ )

It's All Accidental
Directions: Cut out the octagon shape. Fold the four word flaps on the line in towards the middle. This should leave an empty square in the center. Cut out the title square and glue this in the empty center. Open flaps and write the definition of each item. Draw a picture for the sharp, flat, and natural signs (given on the mini book page for your convenience).

Accidental: An accidental is a sharp, flat, or natural sign placed in front of a note to change the notes sound by a ½ step, either higher or lower. A note that has an accidental placed in front of it keeps that new pitch for the whole measure. Sometimes, people forget to play them by “accident”.

Sharp: Raises the pitch of the note by a ½ step. I teach my piano students that when they sit on a sharp tack, they would jump up, so when you see sharp, play the next piano key up (to the right) on the piano.

Flat: Lowers the pitch of the note by a ½ step. I teach my students that if their car had a flat tire, it would go down, so when they see a sharp, play the next piano key down (to the left) on the piano.

Natural: This makes a note that was previously given a flat or sharp go back to normal. It naturalizes it back to its natural state.
 

Fundamentals of Music: Melody, Harmony & Rhythm

Fundamentals of Music Layer Book
Directions: Cut out the four rectangles and stack together.Staple at the top. Write about each fundamental on its layer.

Fundamentals of Music NB page/activity
Describe each of the three fundamentals. Clap and sing the melody and rhythm of “Are You Sleeping?” Find a friend and sing it in a round. You've added harmony. Can you write the rhythm for it?

Harmony & Melody Circle Shape books
Simply cut out the circle shape books and fold down the middle. Color in the M & H if desired. Inside the books add the definitions for melody and harmony.

Melody & Harmony NB Page
The student describes both harmony and melody. Read about intervals (on the page). Answer what is a chord. Using the information on the page and information that you already know, answer the rest of the questions on the page. A chord would be harmonic (more than one note played/sung at the same time). To draw it on the staff, think of it looking like a snowman, each circle stacked on top of the other. There can be a 3-note chord with all space notes or with all line notes (you'll see the line go through the middle of the notes).

Climb the Solfege Ladder
Directions:  Cut out the rectangle around the ladder. No folding needed. Starting on the bottom rung, write the Solfege syllables. You may remember them from the song “Do-Re-Mi” from “The Sound of Music”. Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do Re mi... The three Do's are actually the same “alphabet” name on the scale or keyboard, just one octave (8-notes) apart. The have the same sound. For example, 2 different C's played at the same time. They are both C's and sound the same, one is just higher than the other.  Try to demonstrate this for your student if you have a piano or keyboard available. 

Time Signature Hot-dog
Follow these instructions.

Tell what each kind of time signature is and what each number stands for. The top number tells you how many beats in a measure. For instance: 3 beats, or 4 beats. The bottom number tells you what kind of note gets 1 beat. Think fractions for this part. A 4 on the bottom means a quarter note gets 1 beat (if you think of the fraction 1/4^th , that's a quarter of a whole, and there are 4 quarters in one whole). An 8 at the bottom means an eighth note gets one beat. The signature that is just a C stands for common time. The most common time signature is 4/4 time. The C with a line in it stands for cut time (the line cuts the common time in half). This means that it is 2/2 time OR  2 beats in a measure and the half note gets 1 count/beat. It's like a super fast 4/4, but it's easier to conduct 2 beats than 4 really, really fast beats! :)

Listen to music and clap the beat Activity (age 3+)
Find a song and clap along to the beat.  Be sure to clap the beat, not the rhythm of the words,...1 2 3 4)

Time Line

Time Line Directions
Cut apart the 4 time line elements and glue together to form one long time line. Cut out (or make your own) title to put on the front (opposite side as the very 1^st time line piece.

Write in the names of the musical time periods on the time line.

Medieval 300-1450

Renaissance 1450-1600

Baroque 1600-1750

Classical 1750-1820

Romantic 1820-1910

Modern 1910-present

It is important to note that they did have music before 300 A.D. It's just that you don't find much of it other than words. You will find examples in the Psalms and other Old Testament books. What you won't find is written music until the 7^th century (which is when musical notation was invented). Even then, not much from the medieval time period survived except sacred music as the only ones rich enough (or with enough literacy) to write down the music were monks. Medieval music was, therefore, mostly church music, and mostly performed by males (monks were males). Nuns would possibly sing their offices as well. All other secular music was handed down from generation to generation. These often got lost as they were not written down. If someone younger didn't learn it and remember how the words and/or melody went, it got lost in history.
On your timeline, write in the names and birthdates famous composers (include a mini picture if desired that you find on the Internet and listen to a sound byte of their music. Wikipedia is a good source for photos). Here are a few notables from each time period.

Pope Gregory the Great – 590
Leonin- circa 1150
J.S. Bach – 1685
Ludvig von Beethoven – 1770
Johannes. Brahms – 1833
Antonio Vivaldi -1678
Claude Debussy – 1862
Woodie Guthrie – 1912
Elvis Presley – 1935

On the Time Line page, write in the names of the time periods on the left side.

Write in one composer for each time period and whatever else you'd like to add (pictures, other important events in music history, etc). Your student doesn't need to do both the NB time and the mini-book timeline.  Pick the one you think is best for your student.

Time Period NB Pages
Students may need to check out other books from the library on music history or do web searches to complete the individual time period notebook pages. These are provided as a source of digging deeper material for older students and not really intended for children younger than grade 5.

Styles of Music

Folk Music Tri-Fold Flap
Cut out the book. Tri-Fold it, making sure the cover is on the front. Cut flaps on the dotted lines. Answer the questions under the flaps.

Write your own folk music NB page/Activity
People write folk music every day, and may not realize it. Have you ever sung a song and made up your own words as you went along?

You were creating a form of folk music. Have you ever made up new verses to go along with an old song? You were adding to a folk song. Now, think of a children's song (most of which are folk songs). You could pick “Yankee Doodle”, “Skip to my Lou”, “Are you Sleeping?”, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” or any other one you can think of. What song did you pick? Now, come up with a new set of words for it. Remember, folk songs are typically about work, life or love. Write down your new folk song.

Illustrate a folk song activity
Choose a folk song. If you can't think of any off the top of your head, search the internet or your local library for one. Then, divide it into “pages” and illustrate it. Make it into a book. If you want some good examples, look at books by Nadine Bernard Wescott.

A Song is…
Directions: Cut out and fold the simple fold book. On the inside, write the definition of a song. A song is music with words. A song has a beginning, a middle, and an end.

JAZZ
Directions: Cut out the simple fold book and the title page. Glue the title to the front of the book and color, if desired. Answer the questions inside the book.

Jazz NB page
NOTE: This notebooking page is for older students and requires a bit of extra research materials. The student needs to record a brief history of Jazz (a very brief history can be found in the book). He also needs to list 5 great jazz musicians and then write a brief biography of one of them. This will require either the Internet or the library. Wikipedia provides some quick easy access to biographies and sound bytes. If possible, it would also be beneficial for the student (and parent) to find recordings of some of the jazz greats. Free sound bytes can be found on the Internet or CDs can be borrowed from the library.

Let's Scat, Cool Cat
Directions: Cut out the speaking bubble and fill in the answer. Cut around the picture of the little girl singing into the microphone. Position the singing bubble to look like the girl is saying the words. Scat singing is singing nonsense words; it is usually associated with Jazz.

Lullaby Mini Book
Cut out and fold the mini book with words inside. Cut out and glue on the cover. Answer the questions in the book.

Cowboy Music NB pages
The first page gives a little history about cowboy music and some questions to fill in. The second page has room for the student to draw a picture relating to cowboys in the Wild West. The third is copywork of the song “Red River Valley”. A harmonica would be a good choice to bring with because it's small and could fit in your pocket. It wouldn't take up precious room in your saddle bags. You would sing soothing low-pitched songs to the cattle because it would help keep them settled down and not as apt to stampede; this was especially true if there was rumbling thunder or scary predators.

Sea Chanteys NB page
Sea chanteys were the work song of the great sailing ships during the 1800's. The word chantey comes from the French word chanter, which means to sing. Sea chanteys were typically very rhythmic and kept a steady beat to do heavy work to, such as pulling on oars or heaving a heavy, wet, thick rope and anchor out of the water. It was meant to make the work not as mundane and boring. It was also to help keep every man working at the same speed. It's much easier to pull in a heavy anchor if you all pull at the same time. If you all pull at different times, there's not as much force working together. Try it sometime.

Some sea chanteys are also ballads. These story songs kept a historical record of events. They also tell of the hardships of life on board ship or tell tall tales. It was a way for sailors to sing their feelings without too much fear of punishment by the captain. Eventually, many of these sea chanteys became sources of work songs for loggers (swinging axes or doing two men saws), railway workers, blacksmiths and gold diggers.

Spirituals and Slavery
Spirituals started in the 1700's with the African slaves in America. Even now, long after slavery ended, these songs remain an integral part of American song history and repertoire. You may have even sung one. A spiritual is a sacred song taught to the slaves and sung by the slaves as part of their religious training. It was part of the white slave owners way of spreading Christianity. Also, because slaves were not allowed to read and write, singing Spirituals was a vehicle to teach the Bible and hand it down from one generation to another. Work songs were sung for a couple of reasons. First, it provided a steady rhythmic beat for the slaves to hoe the field to, or to pick cotton to. It also was a way to let the slave owner know where his slaves were. If he could hear them singing, they couldn't be getting into trouble. Legend holds that some spirituals were secret codes about the Underground Railroad. For example, the song “The Gospel train’s a’comin’” was sung to alert other slaves that a group was preparing to escape and travel north to freedom. “Gospel Train” was code for the Underground Railroad. Plantation owners would be unaware their slaves were planning to escape; slave songs were part of the day’s routine. A plantation owner would simply hear the religious and Biblical references and assume the slaves were singing for spiritual reasons.

Miscellaneous Musical Lapbook and Notebook Components

Encore Simple fold book
Cut out and write what encore means.

Drum Major mini book directions
Cut out the simple book, and write inside who a drum major is & what a drum major does.

Band/Orchestra Venn Diagram
Cut out the book's outline. Fold in half. Cut on the dotted lines. Under the band flap list things that are unique to a band. Under the Orchestra flap, list things unique to the orchestra. Under the both flap, list things that are the same in both (they both have a conductor and instruments and play music!). Bands can march, orchestras don't. Orchestras have strings (violins), bands don't. Bands have a lot more brass instruments than orchestras. Orchestras don't have saxophones (usually), bands do. Orchestras are older than bands (have been around a lot longer—about 200 years longer!) Orchestral music is longer than band music. Most band music will last only 15 minutes or less. One piece of orchestral music can last up to an hour (usually not though)! Orchestras have harps, and often pianos, but bands don't.

Organizing our Voices/Instruments Tab Book
Directions: Cut out each page of the book.  Layer so that the cover is on the front, the “1” page is next, and so on. “5” should be the last page. On page 1: Write “Solo” and define (a solo is a song played or sung by just one person). On the page with a 2: “Duet” and define (2 people or 2 instruments playing/singing together. The instruments do not have to be the same). 3 is Trio and define. Answer the question using the pictures of the instruments to help (oboe, flute, clarinet). 4 is quartet. If desired, also write about a barbershop quartet. 5 is quintet. If desired, the student can also add the following: 6 = sextet, 7 = septet, 8 = octet

What is a Virtuoso
Cut out, fold and write inside what a virtuoso is.

Use Your Voice Shutterflap Book
Cut out the main square. Fold on solid lines, keeping the title pages on front. Cut apart at dotted lines. Write about each item (using your voice, singing in unison, opera singing, choral singing) under the folds.

A Capella Mini-book
Directions: Cut out and fold the simple book. On the inside, write about a Capella. A Capella singing is when it is only voices singing; there are no instruments accompanying you. It means “In Chapel Style” in Italian. Chapels were usually quite small and didn't have the room for an organ like a big cathedral-style church did. So people had to sing their hymns, the antiphonals, the responses, the chants, etc, without accompaniment. Today, choirs still sing a Capella as a way of providing a clear way to hear all the vocal parts. Most of the early church music was written for a Capella voices.

How has the way we listen to music changed?
Directions: Cut out the main square. Fold each corner in to the middle with the pictures on the outside. Fold the square in half to make a triangle. Write under the flaps a bit about each type of media.

Cassettes: can also include 8-tracks (remember those?) Music/voices are recorded on a thin piece of metallic tape and wound reel to reel. The first ones were huge. This was the first way to do home recordings economically. 8-tracks were made originally for use in the car.

Record: Music is played using a needle in a groove while the disc moves around on a turntable. Different records needed to be played at different speeds. They were later called vinyls (because they were made out of this chemical) after CD's were introduced

CD: Technically, these fall under digital media. These made the sound quality of music much higher than the record or the cassette tape. It also made it easier to go directly to the song you wanted to listen to.

Digital Media: I-pods, MP3 players, laptops, mobile phones, etc.  (modern day music). It can be downloaded from the computer and put into tiny devices for listening to later. You can include on your mp3 player music from several of your CDs so that you can listen to a variety of music. It is easy to change songs or find the one you want as well.

The Juke Box
Directions: Cut out the simple shape book and fold in half. Write about juke boxes inside the book. A juke box was a fun way to play records in cafes. People would put in a quarter and select a song or two from the list given on the juke box. The juke box would pull out the record, lay it down, and play the song you selected. These were popular in the 1940's and 50's.

Make a Music Acrostic
Using the five letters of the word Music, write an acrostic where each letter starts a word or phrase about music. The student can make this as simple or complex as desired or age appropriate. For example, M can simply be “Melody” or more complex like “Making a Merry Melody”. The phrase doesn't need to be alliterated (like I did), but it adds another dimension for older students.

Music maps & Music listening NB pages
Three pages are given. The two Doodle Maps have one with writing/instructions and one without. The third is for drawing a picture about the piece of music you listen to. Write the name of the piece & the composer at the bottom of the page.

Directions: Draw/doodle as you listen to a short piece of music. Does the music sound sort and tapping? Draw lots of little dots during that time. Think of Beethoven's 5^th: Da Da Da DUM...maybe draw 3 shorter lines for the 1^st three and a heavy thick squiggly line for the DUM! What it made you think of, or how it made you feel? Did you feel like flying? Or dragging your feet around? Did it make you think of springtime and daisies? Did it feel like sliding on the sled in winter? What colors did it sound like? Cheery yellow? Red hot? Cool blues and greens? Change colors as the music changes feelings.

OR: Listen to a piece and then draw a picture about it. Add your pictures to your notebook.

A good source for classical music for younger students is any Baby Einstein CD (can often be found at your local library). Any classical music is a good choice. Some pieces you may want to consider using are:

“The Syncopated Clock” by Leroy Anderson (1908-1975, American)

“Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson

“Aquarium” from “Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921 French)

Any other “Carnival of the Animals” pieces

“Surprise Symphony”-Theme & Variations by Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1809 Austrian)

“Chinese Dance” from the “Nutcracker” by Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893 Russia)

Music in the Bible Notebook Pages
There are many references to music in the Bible. Have your student find five samples in Psalms. Write down their references. Pick one and write it in the space provided. Psalms are manuscripts that are meant to be sung. They are the lyrics for songs. Some psalms listed the tune (melody) that the song was to be sung to.

Known writers of the Psalms are: Asaph (12 Psalms), David (72), Ethan the Ezrahite (Psalm 89), Jeduthun (Psalm 39), Heman the Ezrahite (Psalm 88), Moses (Psalm 90), Solomon (Psalms 72 & 127), and the Sons of Korah (11).

Some instruments recorded in the Bible include: shofar, trumpet, lyre, 10-stringed harp, flutes, cymbals, horn, shakers, bones, bells, psaltery, timbrel. Can you find more? Depending on your Bible's translation, some of these may be different. The shofar was a wind instrument made out of a ram's horn. It was played by blowing it like a trumpet and only makes one pitch. Therefore it was not a melodious instrument, but used by the priests to summon the people to worship. It was also sounded for important events: war, holidays, and especially the annointing of a new king. It is said the Shofar will sound with the return of the Messiah. It is the only instrument from Bible times still used in the Jewish Synagogues today.

Worship God in Song (Bible Verses)
~Colossians 3:16-17 (KJV) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
~James 5:13 (KJV) Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

Use Bible verses about music as copywork.  Student can copy them on any of the blank notebook pages.

Instruments of the Bible Circle Book
Directions: Cut out the six circles. Layer them and hole-punch them. Either use a brad to hold them together, or use a piece of embroidery floss to tie them together (leave slightly loose like a key chain, not tied tight so they can't move easily). Write the names of five Bible instruments on the five circles. Draw or paste pictures of the instruments, if desired.

Ancient Instruments of the Bible

You could print off this page and then cut out the instruments to use in the “Instruments of the Bible circle book.

A variety of blank notebook pages for your use are included. There are six (6) designs. These can be used for research, miscellaneous information, copywork, etc.

Library List

Note: None of the below resources are required to complete the lapbook or notebook pages. They are included to expand your unit to all age groups, provide extra activities, and additional information.

Bill Nye the Science Guy DVD's
Sound
The Science of Music

Mr. Holland's Opus
Not suggested for elementary students due to some situations. I would suggest viewing this first without children so that you can decide whether it is appropriate for your child and what scenes (if any) you would like to skip. It speaks of the power that music can have in a young person’s life.

Wee Sing Songbooks and cd's. These are fun songs for preschool through elementary aged children to listen and sing along with. The books have the lyrics with melody line and chords as well as other quotes and tidbits. Many different ones available. I like the “America” and “Around the World” ones best. My younger children like the “Silly Songs”. Go figure!

Stories of the Great Composers by June Montgomery and Maurice Hinson. Published by Alfred's Publishing. This resource has short sessions on the lives and music of 12 composers with a short historical fiction story about the composer. An activity page is provided as well as a companion CD of music to listen to from the selected composers. This is primarily for elementary students. Two books are available. There is also a similar resource for older students using different composers.

Kids Can Listen, Kids Can Move! By Lynn Kleiner. Published by Warner Bros. This is written for children pre-school through elementary ages (the music is great for ALL ages to listen to). There are 25 orchestral pieces on the accompanying CD and lessons for moving, listening, playing instruments and having fun. My children love to listen to this CD during the day. These are great pieces to do the Music Map activities with.

Eyewitness Books: Music

The Star-Spangled Banner illustrated by Peter Spier

I've Been Working on the Railroad by Nadine Bernard Westcott – she has done several folk song books. I love her artwork.

Baby Beluga by Raffi  (this is just one of many Raffi Songs to Read books)

Orchestranimals  by Vlasta van Kampen & Irene C. Eugen

Coppelia: The Girl with Enamel Eyes adapted & Illustrated by Warren Chappell. Based on the famous ballet about a remarkably lifelike doll.

Beethoven Lives Upstairs by Barbara Nichol. Illustrated by Scott Cameron. Also can be found as a movie. Both are excellent. There are several movies in this series about composers lives.

Links

Cowboy music: Includes “Lone Ranger Theme” and “Home on the Range”

Large list of lyrics for cowboy folk songs.

More about folk songs and to hear some folk songs:

A good source for more information about chanteys (and to read some chantey tunes): 

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Website

Print out orchestral seating charts to add to your notebook!  Great pictures of the instruments and hear the individual instruments alone and with the orchestra!  Listen to excerpts of music from famous composers and get their brief biographies

Layton Music Games and Resources: This is a blog for music teachers, but lots of things can be printed out and done by parents who want to teach more about music to their children. Many fun ideas and games. Have fun browsing this site.

Music Matters Blog: Creative, Practical, and Up-to-Date Resources for the Independent Music Teacher. Even though this blog is geared towards music teachers, there are still plenty of things for parents to do with their children. Spend some time surfing this blog. She has a cute coloring book to use for “Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saens (a French composer). This piece is a great piece to listen to and see if your children can figure out what animal the music is portraying.

This is a site by a piano teacher. She has many music teaching activities for children. Print off some puzzles and worksheets to include in your children's notebooks!