At last week’s GAME-IFY class we outlined some activities that practice DYNAMICS. We discussed a few games that have similar structures. “Closet Key” and “Teddy Bear Teddy Bear” are two of them you might have heard of. One of our GAME-IFY all-stars, Heather, explained a game she uses in her string classes of “Hide the Rosin.” At any rate, the games are all about using dynamics as a “Hot or Cold” signal to guide one participant to find the hidden item. There’s a lot to like about these games and I came up with my own MusicXT spin on the idea! This post will lay it all out for you including a great song. My students absolutely loved it. But first…
Housekeeping:
I’ll be in KENTUCKY on Oct 28th giving a workshop for the KOSA at University of Kentucky. If you’re interested in that, message me for more details!
If you’re looking for some affordable professional development and you are following my work, you should sign up for my Music ConstructED sponsored webinar called COSMIC EXPLORATION! It’s only $15 and will be a great opportunity to experience a series of SPACE THEMED lessons that I developed.
I was just talking to a dear colleague of mine about the mission of MusicXT and how successful it has been in only a little over a year in existence. This community is rapidly growing and we’ve even been able to offer more programs because of the interest that folks have had in joining the TEAMM. Being a free subscriber is great and I’m glad you’re here. But, TEAMM subscribers get a much deeper experience and also really help to support the mission of this platform! Check out the ARCHIVE of LESSONS which you can access with the TEAMM Subscription. If you believe in movement-based teaching from the Dalcroze tradition, then upgrade your subscription now and get serious!
One of the keys for a successful GAME-IFY game is the way we build up to the activity with a clear sequence. TEAMM subscribers have heard me talk about the POWER SEQUENCE before. This is the key to building an effective lesson and getting the most mileage out of these little game ideas. This lesson was no different. We start out with the “movement vocabulary.” In this case it is practicing the “quack” sound at different volume levels. Each quack also has a gesture that pairs with it, getting gradually stronger and larger as the quack gets louder.
Now I’ll move to the piano and accompany the quacks with some chords. Soon the students are following my dynamic levels with the gesture and the quack sound. When ever I feel that they are responsive enough and thoughtful with their gesture, we can introduce the Ninja Duck song.
The notation is written in D minor but I found F minor to be a slightly better key for my kids to sing in.
Once they can learn the song, I’ll make sure to play with the dynamics in the “quack” section and try different patterns of dynamics. Then, an important and oft neglected step, it is important to let the children lead the quack section. Allow a student to decide how long to do each quack, using the proper gesture, and decide when they are done by doing the “big finish.”
Now we can introduce the game. Use a small rubber duck. Ask a student to wait out in the hallway. Hide the duck somewhere in the room. Make sure all of the other students see where you hid it. Explain to the students that we will sing the Ninja Duck song, when we get to the quack section the student who is waiting in the hallway will step around the room looking for the duck. The closer they get to the duck’s hidden location the LOUDER we will quack. Make sure they’re using the gesture as well!
Now… for TEAMM subscribers only, here is an explainer video that lays out the whole sequence for you and your students. Make sure you upgrade your subscription to get this content as well as other lessons like this!