Teaching is Like Cooking
Bear with me a sec: I love to cook. And I’m pretty good–give me a recipe and I can follow it to a tee to create whatever was intended. Early on, I often used to rule out a recipe if I didn’t have a specific ingredient on hand. Nope, can’t make that, I don’t have any limes. It wasn’t until I became a really solid cook that it even occurred to me to swap ingredients and play with a recipe. No lime. How would lemon taste? What about an orange? Get where I’m going here?
After years of teaching, I learned that I don’t have to follow a lesson plan exactly how it’s written out, but rather, tailor it to fit my and my students’ needs. I don’t have enough alto xylophones to make this arrangement work —> how would that part sound on a glockenspiel? That rhythm is too complex for this group —> what if I gave it as a challenge to a few and simplified it for others?
All this to say, when I make products for my TPT store, I rarely design them to be used in one, singular way. I always strive to create versatile activities that are flexible and provide opportunities for extension. Everyone’s schools, needs, and students are different–you may not have limes, but you might be able to find a way to incorporate that lemon.
How did my analogy go? Make sense? Hopefully.
With that said, let’s take a look at this Halloween Candy Composition (why this specific resource? Because Halloween is around the corner and your kids will have so much fun doing an activity centered around candy).
You can follow the included instructions to the letter AND:
Once a student has composed a rhythm, have them play it using body percussion.
Then transfer that rhythm to a non-pitched percussion instrument
Next (or instead) that student can move to Orff instruments for melody improvisation and mallet practice (you could set up a pentatonic scale and work with so-mi, so-mi-la, etc.).
After that, have your students share their compositions as a class performance.
Take your students rhythm compositions and use them as a station in centers: have students practice/perform their classmates compositions (again, body percussion, non-pitched, Orff).
These suggestions are extensions from one page of this resource and they barely scratch the surface on additional ways to extend this activity.
Frankly, this worksheet packet can take you all the way to the beginning of November (because you KNOW those kids are going to want to talk about all the candy they collected on Nov. 1st (a Wednesday this year!).
And the icing on the cake? It’s under 5 bucks.
Ready to see how these resources can work for you and your students? Take a look at my TPT store now and spark some creativity in your classroom! 🌟
Have a great week,
Joanna