The ChimeWorksTM library of lesson plans is not just for those who use handchimes! While these lesson plans have been developed as an ever-growing resource for those who have access to handchime sets in the classroom and rehearsal, they are easily adaptable to be used with KidsPlay® bells, Orff-style instruments, Boomwhackers®, handbells and other pitched percussion instruments. You can even double a melody with recorders!
In fact, the lesson plans using Icons and Chords have been developed using a system incorporating colors so that users of KidsPlay Bells and Boomwhackers will now have a new dimension of resources available to them. Handchime owners can purchase colored bands here to wrap around the chime tube to give your students another feature in the learning process of becoming music literate.
In these lesson plans, we use a second component (shapes, pitch names, etc.) for those who suffer from color vision deficiency along with the Chroma-note® colors so that every child can be engaged in learning, developing eye-hand coordination and ultimately, music literacy.
Who are these lesson plans written for?
- Music Education teachers who want to energize their classrooms and concert stages by increasing music literacy, creativity and collaboration.
- Choir Directors who want to create meaningful rehearsals by implementing music reading, rhythm and exploration into their choral rehearsals leading to greater participation.
- Music therapists who desire more resources in teaching non-music readers and giving them profound experiences.
- Home Education leaders who are looking for resources with which to create musical experiences for smaller groups and will accommodate your educational needs at any level.
Are you one of these leaders? Here’s what’s in the store for you – lesson plans using:
Icons
Icons are non-traditional symbols used to notate music. They allow students to quickly “read” music without the worry of not knowing standard musical notation. They also allow students to quickly express themselves at an early-learner stage with known symbols rather than struggling with music notation. The use of icons develops eye-hand coordination rapidly allowing students to quickly adapt to numbers, pitch names, solfege and then standard music notation.
The ChimeWorks lesson plans use a standardized group of icons combining shapes and colors. The shapes have been adapted loosely from those used in shape-note singing.
Since icons are used with non-music readers, they can be utilized with younger children. These same children may not yet be literate and understand how to track from left to right. We suggest that great success will be met when the icon chart is presented through a computer-generated slideshow presentation or interactive whiteboard so that the teacher may point to each shape tracking for the students in tempo and rhythm.
Once the students master the melody using icons, they may continue with the Chroma-note score. Several methods may be used to achieve success in helping the students to associate their handchime or other instrument with the appropriate pitch. Older students may meet success by just having the location of the pitch on the staff on the note designation label which is standard on all brands of handchimes and may be able to move quickly to the handchime score which is in standard music notation.
Chords
Students may quickly harmonize the songs which they sing by using chords. The ChimeWorks chordal lesson plans using two to seven chords are adaptable to lower and upper elementary school students alike.
Each lesson plan includes the melody and text of each song with chords indicated over the melody. For older students, the text of the first verse is presented with chord names and associated colors over the text. The students may sing the text and chime the associated chords as they progress through the text. For younger children, a chord chart with associated colors is included which may be displayed through a computer-generated slideshow presentation or interactive whiteboard so that the teacher may point to the appropriate chord while singing tracking tempo and rhythm.
Ostinati
Harmonize your songs with ostinati patterns. All the ChimeWorks ostinati lesson plans are easy to teach by rote. Each lesson plan includes the melody and text of each song along with a series of patterns that can be taught on any number of pitched instruments. Distribute non-pitched percussion too and have your students improvising rhythms in no time. This is creative music-making at its best!
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