Thursday 20 May 2010

R is for rhythm

Rhythm Helps Your Tired Hips Move

Last Friday, my Y5 children (age 9-10) spent a chunk of the day making musical instruments out of junk. We are in the middle of an African themed topic and so we spent some time designing, making and evaluating our own drums (djembes, doumbeks, kpanlogos and bongos); stringed instruments (koras and mangbetu); shakers and rainsticks.

This was the half way point. I love it when the classroom looks like this...



and this...



The children were brilliant at the making, but a bit less enthusiastic about the clearing up. (We got there in the end though - with a little persuasion).

The end results look brilliant.





Bring on those African rhythms!

Click here to see more really rather ripping Alphabe-Thursday posts.

21 comments:

  1. What a great idea! The final results do, indeed, look magnificent! Great R!

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  2. I love recycling. It looks like they did a great job.

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  3. oh those are great! Love the things teachers do with kids...and this one - I think we will do at home!

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  4. those are great drums - fantastic idea :D

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  5. looks like yall had a lot of fun! good work. :]

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  6. I wish you were my teacher. I have tired hips at this age.

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  7. It looks like you all had a great time creating the instruments!

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  8. This is wonderful! I love the look of the creative process, too --and am not so fond of the clearing up....

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  9. This was so great and looked like it was a lot of fun for the children to make. Eh, does anyone like cleaning up - I think not LOL. Great R post.

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  10. This looks like a really fun project. And I'm all for anything that gets kids interested in music :) Kathy

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  11. Great projects! Brings back fond memories of my days in the classroom. Cute Rhythm saying!

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  12. What colorful, fun instruments. Being in a room with children expressing their rhythm can be either a challenge or a blast. Great post.

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  13. That looks like fun! That's something I haven't tried with my kids, probably because I'm so unmusical.

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  14. What a great project - the instruments turned out way cool!

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  15. Awesomeness! I especially like the next to last photo ~ so colorful.

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  16. Now that is what I call creative thinking! Wonderful!

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  17. I think I would have enjoyed participating in your class, but I wouldn't have enjoyed cleaning up either. What a wonderful project for your kids.

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  18. Your project looks fascinating if a little messy. I can almost hear that drum beat all the way across the Channel.
    Thanks for visiting Normandy Life,
    Maggie

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  19. Wow. Absolutely fascinating post from a creative and innovative teacher! I wish my Grands had you in class!

    Such a fun and inspiring stop on our little journey through Alphabe-Thursday's Letter "R"!

    Thank you for participating!

    A+

    AND I would have helped you clean up, willingly!

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  20. I bet it was a blast......

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  21. Love this! My youngest did somethign similar about a week ago. She made a small hand held harp and a flute or whistle with items laying around the house. Nice project idea for your students, I'm sure they were very engaged.

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