Using the Marvelous Musician Reward Certificate, your student will feel celebrated and recognized for their marvelous musical skills.
Find the beat, make it yours
In 6th grade, music moves from singing along to understanding how songs are built. Students learn the parts of a song, like the verse, chorus and bridge, and they explore rhythm, melody, tempo and dynamics. They read basic music notation, compare different genres and styles, and many try writing a short song or rhythm pattern of their own. The click moment is when students listen to a favorite song and can point out the chorus and the bridge like real musicians.
Middle schoolers love music. These moves help them understand it.
Play a song about how songs are made and have students raise a hand when they hear a new section. Then label the verse, chorus and bridge together. Listening with a purpose turns music class into ear training.
Why it works: a catchy, repeating tune gives the brain a hook to hang words on, so sung text is remembered better (Wallace, 1994).
Try it withSong About A SongSongsOpen it →Give students a simple beat and have small groups write a four-line chorus about a school topic. Performing it for the class is a confidence boost.
Why it works: kids understand an idea best when they touch it, then draw it, then write it, the order the U.S. Department of Education recommends for elementary math.
Try it withMarvelous Musician Reward CertificateOpen it →Play short clips from different genres and have students guess the style. Then discuss what clues gave it away: instruments, tempo or rhythm.
Why it works: shuffled practice teaches kids to choose the right strategy, not just repeat one, and it improved test scores in research (Rohrer and Taylor, 2007).
Teacher favorites right now: Song About A Song and Marvelous Musician Reward Certificate.
They learn song structure, rhythm, melody, tempo and dynamics, read basic notation and explore different genres. Many also write and perform short pieces.
Most songs have verses, which tell the story, a chorus, which repeats the main idea, and sometimes a bridge, which adds a change before the final chorus.
Use body percussion, voices and listening activities. Clapping rhythms and analyzing songs teach a lot without any equipment.
Listen to different kinds of music together and talk about what you hear. Ask your child to point out the chorus or describe the tempo.
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