LWJES Music


Hello Families and Students,


Here are some music activities to keep your creative minds sharp and engaged. They can all be performed alone but others can be improved by including a family member! Feel free to try something even if it goes outside the suggested grade level. If you’re stuck, have questions, or would like to share something awesome you came up with, adults can email me at:

eichoej@nv.ccsd.net

I am available for correspondence on school days from 9:00 AM until 3:30 PM.

Mr. Eichorst


FOR 5th GRADERS: getting ready for 6th grade band/choir/orchestra:

https://youtu.be/b7y75yjilrA

  • You are invited to watch this video to review the band instruments you can choose from.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/talking-rhythm-counting-101-2-3-4/

  • This page will refresh your memory about rhythmic counting and provide a chance to practice.


FOR GRADES K-5

Online Activities:

https://virtualpiano.net/ (K-5)

  • A great-sounding online piano keyboard. Use a mouse, computer keyboard, or touch screen to improvise melodies.

Musicplayonline.com (grades K-5)

  • This website currently offers free access to multiple games and content. In addition, it contains recorder pieces with accompaniment tracks.

Classicsforkids.com (grades 1-5)

  • This free website contains some games to practice already-learned skills. There is tons of information about composers and recordings of their most well-known works.

Rhythmrandomizer.com (grades 1-5)

  • Simple but useful, this website instantly generates rhythms based on the rules you choose. It doesn’t play them for you, though! Try patting, clapping, snapping, or stomping the rhythms while listening to your favorite music.

Tongue Twister Challenge (grades 3-5)

  • Type “tongue twister” into a search engine; the top two results contain many tongue twisters to amuse and challenge your mouth and brain. Compete with a family member to see who can repeat one the most without “tripping”.


Tech-free Activities


Dramatize a favorite song (grades K-2)

  • Act out, use hand actions, or use toys to enact a familiar song


Create new verses to a familiar song or rhyme (grades K-5)

  • We all know Mary’s little lamb followed her to school one day, but what if they stopped at the skate park first? (This is just an example, use any song you know)

  • Try to make the last word of each sentence rhyme. Don’t worry-- the results can be serious, silly, or nonsensical.

  • To show how rhymes could work, here’s my favorite Edward Lear limerick:


There once was a man from Leeds

Who swallowed a packet of seeds.

Within just one hour

His nose was a flower

And his head was a riot of weeds!

Choreograph music (grades K-5)

  • Plan dance moves that fit a song of your choice. Your movements should match the length of the song phrases (usually 8-beat chunks). Put four of those 8-beat movements together and you could be the next YouTube sensation!


Improvise (grades 2-5)

  • Improvising means to make up music as you go, with little planning. Narrate your chores as you do them: “Frere Jaques” could be changed to “Washing Dishes”, for example. Improvise your own melody by humming/singing neighbor notes (like we practiced on xylophones and recorders). If music is playing around your home, improvise some body percussion accompaniment.


Bingo Board, attached below (K-5)

  • Choose a line, row, diagonal, postage stamp, or four corners. Can you complete all the tasks on that formation? Or, perform your favorite ideas from the card and see how many lines you can complete.




Music Bingo.docx