As much as I love teaching rhythm, teaching half notes has taken some experimentation. While there are so many songs for teaching quarter and eighth notes, I’ve always had a harder time finding songs that my students and I enjoy for half notes. In this post, we’re going to talk about the songs and activities that we’ve loved in our classroom to learn half notes.
Teaching Half Notes
First, let’s talk about how I explain half notes before I go through my favorite activities. When I am teaching half notes, I make sure to really go into the difference between sounds and beats. For example, we know that a quarter note is one sound and one beat. Eighth notes are two sounds, but still only one beat in the music. So half notes are only one sound and are two beats long. To show this, I’ll play the difference between quarter, eighth, and half notes on the piano. Oftentimes I catch myself adding an emphasis in my half notes when I say, “ta-ah,” so hearing it on a piano or other instrument is helpful.
Favorite Songs with Half Notes
Hop Old Squirrel
Hop Old Squirrel is a good song for when your kids have the wiggles! If you need to get your kids up and moving, I recommend this one. Students can get up and hop to the steady beat, Then, let them make up their own movements! They could either suggest movements for the whole class to do, or you could have them partner up and come up with something that way.
Alle Meine Entchen
Alle Meine Entchen is a great German folk song to teach half notes with. First, it’s just a pretty song. I like to have the kids look at some of the words and compare them to English. Words like “schwimmen” sound very similar to swimming. Any time we listen to songs from other countries (and even several American folk songs that we listen to) I try to show students the country or area on the map. We talk about how far of a drive or flight it would be, what language we would speak, and any other fun facts.
Once they know the song well, I add in xylophones. I’ll have half of the class sing the song while patting the steady beat on their laps. The other half of the class play half notes to the song. I’ll point out that they’re playing slow and that the singers are patting two times for every one time the xylophones are playing.
Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear is a fun song for teaching half notes! It’s also a great time to teach or reinforce piano and forte. I love to read the book, “The Bear Snores On” with this song.
To play the game, choose a grizzly bear. This person will sit on the ground with their eyes closed. The rest of the students will circle around the bear and walk in the circle during the song. At the end of the song, the bear wakes up and chases the students. If the student gets tagged, they have to freeze. Students cannot be unfrozen. The bear then gets to pick a new bear.
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 flashcards 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. For half notes, one student should be taking up two chairs. 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.
Musical Toes
I was introduced to this game by colleagues and my kids just love it! To prep, you’ll need several rhythm patterns written out. I write them on foam sheets because they’re a little more durable. I typically do 30 for the game, but you need one per student. Then, you want to have smaller pieces of paper that have the patterns on them that you’ll put in a little baggie. These are what you’ll draw during the game to determine who is out. Pro tip: put a number 1-30 (or however many cards you have) on the back of the foam sheet. That way, if you can’t find who has the card you’re calling, they can look on the back if they absolutely need to.
To play, you’ll spread the cards out on the floor. Then, play some music and let the kids dance or walk around. When you pause the music, students have to put their toes against one of the cards. No sharing cards! You’ll pull out one of the small calling cards from your baggie, and whoever has that pattern is out. I let that student pause the music the next time and call the next pattern.
What are your favorite activities to teach half notes? I would love to chat more about it- comment below or DM me on Instagram (@caffeinated.j). Brainstorming ideas for new ways to teach concepts is one of my favorite things!
