Monday, October 12, 2009

Proper Recorder Teaching

Today I was teaching a class. It was a group of, oh, let's say 5th graders (their grade level may or may not have been changed to protect their identities.) Well, anyway, I had not taught this class in a while, but of course, being the horrible teacher I am, I acted like they were on the same level as my other classes. I tried to be patient, but these kids wouldn't be quiet and as a result, could not play claire de lune on their recorders. Of course, my mistake, as I mentioned two sentences ago, was the fact that I was going way too fast with them. So here's proper recorder instruction people (I think):

(update: since I originally posted this blog, I taught another difficult class trying the method outlined below and got much better results.)
Claire de lune:

1. Write all of the notes on the board like dis:

GGGA B_ A_
GBAA G____

2. Have students say the names of the first four letters, while pressing the right keys/holes

3. Repeat step two until the students can finger the notes correctly.

4. Have students play the first four notes: GGGA-maybe get a couple of volunteers to play this by itself

5. Repeat steps 2-4 on each 4 beat section of the song

6. Combine all notes and have class play it together.

7. Give 1 or 2 minutes independent practice time.

8. Test individuals or small groups on the complete song and give out stickers.

---This is the way I'm a gonna try it next time....Maybe I've learned from my mistake this time???...We'll see.

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