Check out St Teresa's Music Matters

I now post my school resources on one of my school blogs
St Teresa's Music Matters. If you found this page via the The Guardian Teacher network you would be better off going here!

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Hello Poplar choir!

Hello choir!

Here is the recording we made from todays rehearsal. You are very fast learners! Because we are performing it next wednesday and Mrs Bennet won't be in school to practise with you can you please listen to it and sing along with our recording. This will help you learn the words and you can practise the actions.

Who can remember which phrase is the quietest?

listen to ‘A long, long way to go!’ on Audioboo

Thank you choir for taking the trouble to find the blog and listen. I think we need to create our own choir blog to put up useful information and some audio clips. What do you think?

Happy singing!

Music resource for early years/KS 1 - meet Mr Greg!

I recently discovered Mr Greg's musical madness on youTube whilst looking for some resources on dynamics for my classes. Have a look on his website for more videos to watch

Musical pebbles

Sophie Thomas is an ex pupil from Poplar Primary school. When she was just five years old her Daddy and her twin sister Louise were killed in a terrible car crash.


 Sophie is now 16 and she has set up a project to raise funds for Winston's Wish - a charity that supports bereaved children, in memory of Louise. Sophie hand paints words or symbols on pebbles and presents them beautifully in little organza bags.

I have commissioned her to produce me a pack I can use in music lessons. My key stage 1 classes love passing them around and using them to mark the pulse. Why not ask Sophie to make some for you? She sells them on ebay - click here  They are very reasonably priced £1.20 per pebble and postage only  79p for a bundle!

Perfect present for teachers!

 Sophie writes an incredibly moving and honest blog about her life called "The Pebble Garden Project" Please share with anyone you know who may be coping with childhood bereavement.

Christmas at school

Have been trawling through christmas music to help teachers with the christmas concerts they are arranging.Having waded through lots of cheesy and cheerless "musicals" I asked for help on twitter. Within minutes @SteveBrooks13 tweeted me a link to this And that is why I LOVE twitter

Three apps I have used this week in music lessons

I have been using my own ipad with music classes and have amassed many apps that are very popular with my classes. I have decided to blog each of the apps I use each week So here are this weeks offerings


  Soundrop.

I often use this as kids are entering the room. They build up complex rhythms which they can predict and copy. I started with the free version but am now using the paid for version as you can change the balls to different instruments.


  Rhythm Sight Reader Trainer

This is a fantastic tool for teaching note value. I use the Kodaly system and then demonstrate it with this great app. The kids adore clapping along and are keen to demonstrate their skill by competing to get 100%. You can adjust the metronome and set the level very easily so you can adjust for your most timid learners and your most confident learners. it shows you exactly what you have played next!

  Madpad

This is a fantastic app to demonstrate to the kids that music can be created out of the everyday life all around us. You simply use the ipad to record the sounds that all around you and then use these to mix up some great music. You can share the sets on twitter and use other peoples sounds as well. Incredibly creative.

Skyfall - a vocal cover

Impressive or what?

Hello Reception classes!

I hope that you are enjoying "The Leopard's Drum"

Here is a puppet version of the book you have been looking at

Class 1E have been doing some work on this book. Click here to see the fantastic pictures they have created.

Children in 2C have created am amazing collage - click here to see

Here is 4 year old Issiah playing the djembe

Here is a little boy from the USA reading the book to his Mummy

Have a look here to see how traditional West African drums called djembes  are made

Poplar have started a choir!

We are very lucky to have Mrs Bennet join us to teach year 4 & 5. She has started a choir and they are are making great progress. Have a listen to them sing "Drunken Sailor" in 4 parts.

listen to ‘Drunken sailor by choir in 4 parts’ on Audioboo

No bad for a few weeks practise!

A song for Black History Month 2012

For last years Black History Month I did lots of work on the fabulous song


 "Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around"

with years years 3, 4 5 & 6



The children were incredibly enthusiastic and needed very little prompting to sing it with an atmosphere of determined defiance. year 6 boys (who can sometimes be reluctant to sing) were queuing up to sing it solo.

There is a brilliant version of this on the  Sing Up website that I would highly recommend for key stage 2.

This year I am going to be teaching

"I wish I knew how it would feel to be free" - (also on the Sing Up website)

Here are the lyrics (as sung by Nina Simone)

I wish  I knew how it would feel to be free
I wish I could break all the chains holding me
I wish I could say all the things that  I should say
say 'em loud, say 'em clear
for the whole round world to hear.

I wish I could share all the love that's in my heart
remove all the bars that keep us apart
I wish you could know what it means to be me
Then you'd see and agree
that every man should be free.

I wish I could give all I'm longing to give
I wish I could live like I'm longing to live
I wish that I could do all the things that  I can do
though I'm way overdue I'd be starting anew.

Well I wish  I could be like a bird in the sky
how sweet it would be if I found  I could fly
Oh I'd soar to the sun and look down at the sea
and I'd sing cos I'd know that
and I'd sing cos I'd know that
and I'd sing cos I'd know that
I'd know how it feels to be free
I'd know how it feels to be free
I'd know how it feels to be free

There are some great versions on YouTube to show your classes but here are a couple to get you started.

Another musical poem for National Poetry Day

I have only just discovered 'I hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman. I love this photo story of it



I am going to challenge my year 6 class to write a verse for " I hear London singing ". It seems particularly apt after the Olympics when there was such an intense focus on London and some of our more hidden communities got a chance to have their voice heard.

Still looking for more poems about music so please share your suggestions!

National Poetry Day 2012 - ideas for music

This Thursday 4th October 2012 is National Poetry Day. The theme is 'Stars" and there are some fab lesson plans and resources on the National Poetry Day website

However as I teach music I have decided to use this Pie Corbett poem

When I heard the music by Pie Corbett

I am going to play "Say Ladeo" from Vocabularies by Bobby McFerrin and then see what it inspires the children to write!

 

I am going to start collecting poems about music so if you have any suggestions to get me started please leave me a comment!

My music room displays

Using class music lessons to teach maths

One of my schools is concerned that some of their able girls are under performing in maths so they have decided to have a whole school focus on improving maths standards. I believe music lassons can play a real part in improving kids maths so the challenge is on for me to do just that. I am going to start by looking at what attributes successful learners have and try to identify some of the barriers that stop some children making progress are. Then I am going to have a go at seeing how they can be explored in our music making.

 More ideas:

1.I am planning to create a "Maths loves Music" display. Tweeter @DWar has very helpfully suggested I put up 2 lists of maths and music words and get the children to draw the links between them as they occur in lessons.

 2. I shall be listening to this In our Time radio 4 episode exploring the relationship between maths and music

 3. Explore the nrich website which makes the kinks between maths and the real world explicit and is a fantastic celebration of the power and beauty of mathematics. Here is an example of a music maths problem from them

 4. Find out more about the "Count the beat project"

Playing for Change Day 2012

Just come across this organisation - it looks fantastic. They have picked 22 September to be a creative day of musical action to create positive social action. Will have a little think about how I can get my schools involved. Have a look at their website. Some fantastic videos to show classes. Play for Change.

The joy of wordle

HMI guidance for anyone observing music lessons

Guidance From HMI Observing Music Lessons I was very pleased to find this document! It can be quite traumatic having a music lesson observed by a member of the senior leadership team that has a template approach to what makes a successful lesson. Music teaching needs to deviate from the set piece lesson formula which may (or may not!) work for other subject. The document above makes clear that we DON"T have to start with sharing objectives or put unnecessary stress on literacy objectives. It gives real clear guidance for staff who may not be familiar with teaching music about what makes a successful music lesson. I found this document on the Teaching Music website. I would heartily recommend signing up if you are a music teacher. Lots of interesting discussion forums and some brilliant teaching resources to be found there.

Does good music teaching make kids better at maths?

This year one of my schools is focusing on raising attainment in maths. It has got me thinking about how music lessons can contribute to children's mathematical development. I can see immediately how a number of the activities we do in lessons are very mathematical but the challenge is how to make it transferable to other situations other than music games. I am going to go in search of some maths experts and see if I can get some ideas. I plan to create a corridor display for the children showing how many mathematical concepts we explore during our music making. Plan to get in touch with Nrich - and get some advice from them Watch this space!

The Simpsons theme tune by Nick McKaig

Found this via pinterest. Plan to use it with year 6. Nick McKaig is definitely worth looking up on YouTube. He has done lots of vocal arrangements of well loved shows and films. His Star Wars is awesome!