Favorite Review Activity for String Orchestra Classes

 

I like to call Friday rehearsals 'Friday Fun Day!'  I want Fridays to be a celebration of all we learned during the week, but also serve as a meaningful review and reinforcement of material.  Last week one of my students said, 'It's funny you call Fridays 'Friday fun day' because every day is fun!'  Learning an instrument is fun...that means the pressure is off!  No need to spend hours and hours planning intricate games.

I've found my favorite Friday Fun Day is a review day using Ninja Belts as my theme.  Many music teachers use karate belts as a way for students to pass off tunes and achieve a certain level of playing.  When I taught small elementary string classes, I used the belt system and tied yarn on the scrolls of instruments and all of that.  While I feel it can be a good way to motivate students to practice certain exercises, the karate belt system can be leveraged in other ways.  I use karate belts as a review tool and self-assessment tool.  I adjust and change the belts as students progress. I don't give out any physical object - no real belts.  There's nothing I have to track or pass-off.  Students help each other and work hard just to achieve 'black belt' status. 

Here's how I do it...

I begin class with a short video showing some awesome ninja skills or a clip from 'America's Ninja Warrior' showing how people train and work to pass the 'obstacles' in the course.  Then I tell them we're going to see if students can pass each 'obstacle' in our training ground.

I made slides with each skill I want students to review.  Each slide contains a belt color and we rehearse from the simplest skill to the most advanced.  We rehearse some slides as a class...and some slides students practice themselves for a minute or so (all at once). Sometimes I give students a worksheet where they can track either progress as we rehearse/review the skills on each slide.  Sometimes students assess themselves and let me know with a simple thumb scale or finger scale how they are doing.  Other times I have stand partners assess each other and provide feedback.

Students learned how to switch from pizz to arco while holding the bow.

Each violin/viola student got a straw to put in the f-holes to use as a guide to keep the bow straight. Cello/Bass students practiced bowing in paint roller tubes on their instruments. After that, we all played the open strings with straighter bows.

We played 'Pandemic' with creepy music.  All students freeze in play position, but we decide on one thing they do incorrectly. A small group of 'doctors' walk through to try to find out what ailment is happening with left hands.

Pizz up and down the strings with great left hand placement (practiced in previous belt).

I called out any note in the D scale and students had to place the correct finger and pluck 4 times.

We played the finger twisters as a class...trying not to make a mistake.

I had to skip this one because of time..but will do it next time.

Concert music....review

Twinkle using pepperoni pizza rhythm - students are getting better and better!

I didn't give a written tracker/assessment to students this week...but here's the one I gave them last time we did a Ninja Belt review activity.

I've done this type of review twice this school year...and both time my students were engaged, focused, working HARD, and thriving.  It's easy to prep...helps rehearsals stay relevant and meaningful...and it's fun!  When students notice and understand how much they are progressing, they have fun and they are motivated to keep working.

Copy Cat Concerto - free music for very beginning string orchestra first concert

 Have you ever stared at your music library, trying to find something for your beginners to perform at their very first concert, and discovered all of your ensemble music is too hard?  I have a pretty good sized music library with lots of great beginner pieces, but none seems to be quite easy enough for my very near concert. I'm expecting students will just barely be reading notes on the D string.  We have had time for only very basic rhythms.  I needed a concert piece that will be fast to put together and simple to learn.

So, I wrote one:  Copy Cat Concerto!  It has LARGE print and notes in the note heads to help beginners learn it quickly.  I designed this piece to be a bit like 'call and response.'  The great thing about it is you can feature many different students as 'soloists.'  I plan on choosing a different student for each 2-measure solo.  That way many students will be featured as they stand up to play and the entire group plays after.  To add variety/fun, you could add repeats throughout the solo sections and allow soloists to play with different styles, volumes, and articulations for the group to follow.  In the middle, you could add an audience participation portion where a student leads them in call and response through various rhythms. You can be creative!

For a limited time, you can have the score and parts for free at my TPT site!