Submitted by Briana Gresko, Arnold, Maryland
Idea posted January 26, 2010
On my most recent rotation of sixth grade chorus classes, I ended up with about 15 minutes of free time at the end of our 86 minute long class period. Rather than pound our repertoire until the end of the class, boring the students and myself, I invited them to participate in a game:
Students were instructed to line up along the walls of the classroom. To the student at the front of the line, I showed Curwen hand signs, and the student was expected to sing the correct solfège syllables on the correct pitches for whatever pattern I demonstrated.
If he/she sang it accurately, he/she could go to the end of the line to participate in the next round. If he/she sang the right solfège syllable but on the wrong pitch (which happened often when I changed direction or for the kids who struggled to sing beyond a monotone), I usually gave him/her a second try. When a student was not passed to the next round, I gave him/her one Marlin Dollar (our school's behavior incentive program) for each round in which they had participated. We also talked about demonstrating proper audience behavior once they had reached their seats.
I always began each pattern on "Do," and I used stepwise motion. Do-Re-Mi-Re-Mi, Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Sol, etc. When students began reaching their fifth levels (4-5 students out of 35!) with each level becoming more difficult and lengthy, I began to incorporate skips within the tonic triad: Sol-Mi, Mi-Do, etc. Two students reached level seven before the bell rang!
This activity was fun (each participant got a prize!), and it served as a great assessment tool as well!