Title – Easter Rhythms

By – Rosemary Shaw

Subject – Music

Grade Level – 1-2

PREPARATION: Take three Easter Egg coloring cups and mark them with these patterns: ta ta/ ti-ti ta/ and ti-ti ti-ti. Make 20 or more (enough for your biggest class) Easter Eggs (I use Printshop) with a design on one side, a picture of an Easter word(s) on the other) and the word(s) written out. Laminate the eggs.

EXAMPLES:

Ta-ta: egg hunt, bunny, candy

Ti-ti ta: jelly beans, Easter egg, daffodils

Ti-ti-ti-ti: Easter basket, choc’late candy, bunny rabbit

PROCEDURE:

Seat kids in circle on the floor. Teacher goes first, says his/her egg’s words and taps on knees, then puts his/her egg in the right cup (all cups are in the middle of the circle). Play proceeds to the child on teacher’s left and around the circle. Only the child whose turn it is may speak, tap the rhythm on knees or floor.

When the game is over, teacher takes each cup and has the class answer “yes” or “no” to determine correct responses in each cup. NO ONE MAY POINT OUT INDIVIDUAL ERRORS; THIS IS A CLASS EFFORT,

AND THE WHOLE CLASS’S SCORE IS WHAT COUNTS. I USUALLY GIVE THE CLASS AN 80% GOAL TO ACHIEVE AND WRITE THAT NUMBER ON THE BOARD.

This number is always reached, and the children get quite excited when they exceed 80% correct responses.

After the game is over, I have the children as a group tackle all of the incorrect responses and put them in the right coloring cups.

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Rosemary Shaw

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