Submitted by Patty O., Arkansas
Idea posted December 7, 2005
In my sixth grade classes, I am trying to teach a different idea/concept each day. Yesterday we learned about "melody." I thought I'd pass this idea along, as it worked well for my students.
I handed out an envelope to each individual student. In the envelope were 12 strips with titles on them. The titles were well-known melodies (I used the themes from: Batman, The Simpson's, The Jetson's, The Flintstones, X-Files, Free Willy, "Bad Boys" - from Cops, Pink Panther, Indiana Jones, Mission Impossible, Lion King, and Scooby-Doo. To make it easier, I had purchased a piano book of movie and TV themes).
The first time I played only the melody. I told them to put their slips of paper in order of what melody I played. We then checked our work. (They got about 60 percent correct.) Then, I played only the accompaniments. Students put their strips in order, noticing how much harder this was to do, and got about 35 percent correct. Lastly, I played the full version of the songs again. Many students received 100 percent.
They loved this game. Today we discussed "harmony." I could refer to yesterday's game, and they knew exactly what I was talking about. I figure anything that works for sixth grade, I should share!