Submitted by Gretchen and Monica Autry, Missouri and Ft. Bragg, North Carolina

Idea posted April 13, 2004

Suggestion #1 - What I thought of about reading in three was this:

We're used to halfing things, but in three it's a whole different feel. To help visualize the "feel," I first demonstrated twos and fours. I folded a piece of paper in half, and then in half again, and asked the students how many sections would there be when I opened it. (Most knew it would be four.) I then asked if any had folded a paper in thirds, and most looked puzzled. I took another piece of paper and folded it carefully into thirds, showing them that it's a completely different process, and when opened you have three equal sections. (I saw light bulbs blink on.) I demonstrated this for dividing the beat into twos, fours, and threes, using the pizza reading idea: "pizza," "pepperoni," and I added "So cheesy" for threes. I used this with fourth and sixth graders. - Gretchen in MO

Suggestion #2 - There are several activities I do to help students "feel" triple meter:

1. Pat-clap-clap and hand jives where beat one is the strongest movement
2. Bounce a ball - bounce-keep-keep
3. Rhythm instruments - drum-maraca-maraca
4. Conduct - Monica Autry in Ft. Bragg, NC