I recently went through some of my Christmas pre-reading solos and revised them. I changed some of my art, tracking color, and anything else that I thought would help beginning students. Some of the finger numbers have been changed, too. I hope you enjoy the new look!
If it’s not too late in the season, here is a worksheet for first year students to draw lines to match up vocabulary words and symbols. Sometimes students arrive at group lessons early and it’s a good idea to have something to keep them busy! Or maybe you would like to do something different at the last lesson of the year.
When I drew this red and green border, I intended on making many levels of vocabulary words for all my students. But I think I got carried away drawing the border and ran out of time! I was interested in making something seasonal, but suitable for all ages. Maybe next year I can add to the series.
If you are looking for a simple game for beginners for the holidays, you might be interested in this game.
There are four cards in this PDF. I suggest laminating them if you want to keep them, because home printer ink will smear. The teacher calls out a letter and the students cover it with a bingo token. Students can win by covering all of one color or row. Younger children like to play several short games. Older beginners will want to play “black out” and cover all the ornaments.
If you have a few students in your group who are not beginners, make it more difficult for them. Give them a big staff and let them place a token on the staff note as well as the piano key. I have many big staves on my website you can use. There are always ways to make music games more difficult if you think about it.
I used to have some students who had trouble learning piano keys, no matter what cute little ideas I used at the piano. But once I started playing games like this, they learned the keys very quickly. It is a fact that if something is fun, students learn faster. Maria Montessori showed teachers a long time ago that children learn through play.
You know what’s fun for a Christmas group lesson? Instead of using bingo tokens, use green and red M&M’s.
Are you tired of seeing material that I make for my own students and wish you could make a quick worksheet for Christmas that suits your own needs? Now you can! You can use this one to match vocabulary words, rhythms, symbols, and even non-music concepts. You can make a lotto or bingo type game and call out words or rhythms for students to cover with magnetic chips and swoop up with a magnetic wand. You can have students color various concepts. Print on the back what colors should be used. You make an individual worksheet for each student, if your students are at different levels. My advice if you want to make one that you will put through a photo copy machine is to use a dark, not-to-thin marker, such as a sharpie. Otherwise it will not show up.
As long as you leave the copyright notice on the page, feel free to use this in your classroom. However, you may not make a worksheet out of PDF and post it on your own website, or publish it yourself, or put it in a collection for others to use.
Once you have made your worksheet, post a comment here to share your ideas with others. You might come up with something I have never thought of. Or take a picture and email it to me. You do not have to register to post a comment here, and your comments are anonymous. However, I do moderate comments to make sure I don’t get spam, so you might not see your comment right away.
I have so much on my website, www.susanparadis.com, that I have trouble keeping up with it. If I posted it and can’t even remember what I have, it must be really hard for someone new to navigate through all the material I’ve posted over the years. While there is a category on my website for “seasonal” music if you are looking for easy Christmas music to play, there is no seasonal category for my worksheets and games, so you will have to scroll through it all to find things. To help you out, today I am posting a list of worksheets, activities, and games you can use during the Christmas season. Some of this material is really old and needs to be updated, but for now I hope you and your students will forgive some of the wobbly art and odd layouts. All of the links below take you to the original blog post. From there you will have to click on the link to my website and then click on “preview” to download the PDF document.
Ornament notes This is very simple for beginning readers. Students color the ornaments that contain notes around middle C.
Christmas Worksheet I give these types of sheets to beginning students over and over to help them learn the notes on the staff. It takes a several years for notes to be secure in a student’s long-term memory. Beginning teachers often don’t realize you have to review this constantly.
Ornament Notes mixed up on a staff. Some teachers thought the worksheet above was too easy and asked for one with mixed up notes. Don’t use this with young beginners. It will take the entire lesson!
Color the Chanukah Gift We don’t want anyone to be left out when it comes to learning note names. My box is out of perspective, but it gets the job done! This one has hardly been downloaded at all. There is also a Chanukah composing activity on my website.
Peppermint Notes You can use any kind of candy with this one. I had some peppermints on hand and that’s why I made it. You can play many games with this PDF, however. You can even use magnetic bingo chips and write scales, chords, and key signatures.
Musical Christmas Lights This is a game for up to 6 students at the beginning level. Students learn rhythm values and some simple vocabulary words.
Draw the Ornaments This one is a little more challenging than the Ornament Notes above. There are more notes and the entire staff is used.
Gingerboy Keys I made this one for a student who just started lessons right after Thanksgiving. You might have some pre-school students or beginners who can use it.
Light up the Tree I made another note worksheet with more notes than Ornament Notes shown above. You can pick and choose which one you want to use. This one works well when printed in black and white.