Episode #189: Halloween Spooktacular!

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Announcements:

Carrie and Tanya will both be presenting at the OAKE Western Division Mini-Conference on November 7th and 8th in Denver. Tanya will be presenting a session on Friday, Carrie will be presenting on Saturday, and we'll be doing a live podcast recording on Saturday. We are looking for questions to answer live on our podcast. If you have any questions, we love for you to submit them here. If you plan on attending the conference, you can ask your question live if you would like to!

We will also both be presenting in January at the Colorado Music Educators Association state conference in Colorado Springs. Be sure to say hello if you go!

Main Theme: Halloween Spooktacular!

Here are some of our favorite songs and activities for Halloween and Día de los Muertos.

Going on a Goon Hunt by Michael Rex: A great Halloween twist on the classic chant Going on a Bear Hunt. This is a great book and chant to use with primary students to practice loud/soft or different ways to use the voice. You can also make a sound story by adding non-pitched instruments for each section of the book.

Two Rubble Tum (Click here for notation and game directions) A fun solo singing song and game that is excellent for practicing la (so-la interval) and also preparing do (so-do interval)

Estaba La Caravela (click here for notation): A great song for Day of the Dead since it's all about a skeleton. This is a fun vowel song (like Apples and Bananas) that is really engaging for intermediate students or could be a great choir warm-up. This would also be a great song to pair with the chant El Reloj de la Calavera or either of the Musication skeleton-themed play along videos: Percussion Skeleton Dance or Boomwhacker Skeleton Dance.

In the Hall of the Mountain King: This is a great listening piece to practice reading ta/ti-ti/rest rhythms with younger students or older beginners. Click here to check out Tanya's FREE TpT resource! This is also a great song for upper elementary students to do the cup game with. Musication has two videos for this piece: a Percussion play along and a Boomwhacker play along.

For more fall and Halloween ideas, check out MTCT Episode #25: Autumn Songs and Activities.

Know Better, Do Better

Tanya reminds us about the importance of giving students space and time to process big feelings, especially neurodivergent students. For example, if a student is upset and struggling to participate in class and you want to talk about it with them at the end of class, we need to recognize that they might not be ready to have that conversation at that moment. You may need to wait until the next day when they have had time to regulate.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Carrie shares a strategy for giving students more time to put bars back on a barred instrument after playing. After most of the students have finished putting the bars back on the instrument, she asks them to tap with the fingers on the bars going up while speaking or singing the letter note names. Then they tap and speak/sing going down. This gives students more time if they need it to get the bars back in the right spot, and gives the students who are finished quickly something to do. Bonus tip: Dr. Musik has a virtual xylophone that shows a great visual of the bars. You could set up a document camera pointed towards your barred instrument to help demonstrate.

Coda

Tanya recommends the movie Timer on Prime Video

Carrie recommends the TV show Murdaugh: Death in the Family on Hulu

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