Submitted by Gretchen Taylor, Pam Moser, Tara Derr, Illinois; Arlington, Washington; Maryland

Idea posted February 2, 2004

From Gretchen in Illinois

I present my Instruments of the Orchestra to my 4ths, then review with each progressive grade level using varied activities. Here are a few things I do to kick off my unit:

1. Present the four families of orchestra instruments with a game of Four Corners.

Write a family name (brass, etc.) on four different large cards. Mount on your four walls. Choose an "It" who will sit in center chair while others move silently to a wall of their choice (while I play full orchestra music). Stop music after a few seconds. "It," with eyes still closed, calls out a family. Those at that wall all sit down. A new "It" is chosen from the players who are out and the game continues. You can let the out kids back in after one round, or play a total elimination and give the last one standing a prize. I then give the students a handout of the entire orchestra's seating chart to color in the section of each instrument family as it is introduced.

2. Introduce each family group separately. I do this with a mystery family game.

I have eight to ten questions ranging from very vague, "We are the largest family in the orchestra," to very specific, "Some of us are played on the shoulder," in numerical order from one. The kids can only offer one guess. If the guess is wrong, the student is out. If the guess is correct, the student gets a prize.

Then, with this same family, we list the names and listen to an excerpt of each instrument. I also give a handout of line drawings of these instruments and they color in each one as they hear it on the CD. After this, I usually teach "The Orchestra Song" in our Share The Music text series, or the Plank Road Publishing piece "Let's Make Some Music Today!" (from Music K-8, Vol. 13, No. 4).

I may even follow up with a SQUILT activity featuring the day's instrument or instrument family. As a culmination of the unit, we watch a video on the instrument families.

From Pam in Arlington, Washington

My favorite way to teach instruments is using various books in conjunction with the Microsoft Musical Instruments CD ROM (I hope you have access to it as it's one of my "most valuable players" as a music teacher.). The books I use include: The Musical Life Of Gustav Mole and The Lost Music (for ethnic instruments), both by Kathryn Meyrick; The Remarkable Farkle McBride, by John Lithgow; Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin!, by Lloyd Moss; The Marching Smithereens, by Ann Hayes; The Old Musician, by Rita and Marit Tornqvist (not all orchestral instruments, but great, and it features the recorder); Orchestranimals, by Vlasta van Kampen and Irene C. Eugen.

Basically, any time an instrument comes up in the book, we look at it and listen to it on the CD ROM. I also think it's important to show the students videos of instruments actually being played in a variety of settings. I love The Orchestra, with Dudley Moore and Sir George Solti, though I think it's more valuable to show clips than the whole three video set. I also use a Bela Fleck and the Flecktones video because it shows traditional instruments being used in non-traditional ways. I even show Drum Corps, because they enjoy it, and because yes, I am a former drum corps member.

From Tara in Maryland

I like to have my 6th grade music students do a Make-Your-Own-Instrument project. They must pick an instrument family that their instrument is going to represent (string, brass, woodwind, percussion), and then make a draft (drawing) of the design with a list of materials they need to make it. They are responsible for bringing in the materials they need (box, cans, markers, string, etc). I give them a few classes to put it together (it is like a music/art project), then their projects are judged by the art teacher and me. I pick a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize winner and they receive a small gift (candy, cool pencil, etc.) The three prize winners are entered in our county fair to be judged. I have had a lot of nice projects and "so-so" projects (drums). You may make it a requirement to avoid drums. I also have my kids do a mini presentation on their project telling the class why they made it, what it is, what family it is from, materials used, etc.