Teaching quarter and eighth notes is one of my favorite units to teach in Kindergarten and first grades! They think it’s so cool to learn a concept that professionals (or their siblings in marching band) use! I love the concept so much that I’m focusing this post on my four favorite songs and activities to teach quarter and eighth notes.
First, I highly recommend doing a pre and post-test to measure the students’ growth. Administrators love to see their music teachers tracking data, and the kids love hearing how much growth they made as a class! To get your FREE quarter and eighth note pre and post-assessments, click here!
Bee Bee Bumblebee
This is one of my students’ favorite chants. I use it to teach steady beat, beat vs. rhythm, and then I use it to teach quarter and eighth notes. We use rhythm sticks or drums to practice keeping a steady beat and rhythm. You can get a free download of this chant here!
The game is a blast. My second-grade students still ask to play! To play, have students sit in a circle. Walk around the outside of the circle and tap the students’ heads (or hands held up to be flowers) to the steady beat while saying the chant. My kids love when I use my bee puppet! On the word, “out” whoever you tap sits on the outside of the circle to help you keep the beat or rhythm while you continue the game. The last person in the circle wins! When students get out, I like to give them rhythm sticks to help me keep the beat or practice the rhythm. It turns into a great transition to echoing or improvising patterns with rhythm sticks!
COVID-19 Adaptation: This one has been tough to adapt! I have done it with the students sitting in their normal spots so they can maintain their distance and they still loved it. Full disclosure: it is a workout to try to keep the steady beat while covering so much more space than when the kids are in a circle. My watch actually counted it as a workout! It’s not a game we play often right now, but it is one the kids adore playing and it was worth doing once per class!
Cobbler Cobbler
This song is great for a little cross-curricular teaching. I sing the song and talk about some of the words they might not know, such as “cobbler” and “mend,” as well as talking about what “noon” looks like on a clock.
I also use this song to use what might be my favorite activity to teach quarter and eighth notes ever: Shoe Rhythms. First, we all take off our shoes and use our shoes to keep a steady beat or rhythm. Then, I put out four paper hearts to show the beat. We use our shoes to show the iconic rhythm of each phrase. Finally, I tell the kids that their feet stink and to put their shoes on and they laugh and tell me my feet stink, too. I always have a blast with this activity (but yes, some of their feet actually stink!)
Chair Rhythms
Chair rhythms is a great way to review and notate 4-beat rhythm patterns using any kind of rhythm. To do this, I put four chairs at the front of the room. I give the students a rhythm pattern and then call on students to come be the rhythm. I like to project flash cards on the board for them to have a visual of what it should look like. For quarter notes, only one student should sit in a chair, for eighth notes two students sit in a chair next to each other, and for quarter rests the chair should be empty. The visual is great, and they think it’s funny to share chairs with each other. I use this with my second graders when we learn sixteenth notes, too, and they think it’s hilarious when four kids have to try and share a chair.
COVID-19 Adaptation: My students sit in groups arranged by their teacher for contact tracing purposes. I called groups up at a time rather than choosing students at random.
Beat Charts
Beat charts are such a great visual for teaching quarter and eighth notes. I use them for almost every song! What are they used for? They show the lyrics of the chant or song with iconic or traditional icons for the beat and rhythm. They’re great for introducing beat vs rhythm and they work great for introducing new rhythms when you use the iconic and then traditional notation charts.
I like to print out a class set of both the beat charts and the rhythm charts for my students to hold and point to. While it’s not as physically active as some of the other activities I’ve mentioned, it helps engage all of my visual, aural, and kinesthetic learners while we sing, listen, and point. It’s a very well-loved tool in my classroom. I love them so much that I created beat charts for nine of my favorite songs!
COVID-19 Adaptation: Normally I would just print and go. This year I have had to laminate or put these papers in sheet protectors that you can spray or wipe down after the students are done with them. I like these– they’re sturdier than sheet protectors and they’re easy to wipe down!
I’ve even got some super easy-to-use quarter and eighth note pre and post-tests for you! Just click HERE and let me know where to send them and I’ll get them right over to you!
There are so many fun activities and songs to use for rhythm! I love it so much that I created a whole unit full of my favorite lessons, activities, and assessments! What are some of your favorite songs or activities for teaching quarter and eighth notes?
