This is a cute activity I am doing in a few conference sessions this season that I wanted to share. I used to do this when I was in the classroom and have evolved it as the years have gone by. I know I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I’m a sucker for a good story, and what’s a better experience than creating a story with your students. I used to use Freddie the Frog as the main resource because my students were so familiar, but I began creating my own stories and having students create ones with me that made this activity even more fun. So here’s what to do,

Staff Stories

Purpose: The ultimate goal of this activity is to bring the concepts of solfège together with the introduction and understanding of notes on the staff. As a bonus we integrate improvisation and literacy techniques into this activity.

Resources: Projector with Google or Microsoft Doc, whiteboard with staff lines, whiteboard markers, piano, student instruments (boomwhackers or xylophones recommended.)

Recommended grades: 1st – 3rd

Prior Knowledge: Solfège, Curwen hand signs, rhythm.

Directions:

• To start you need to put this activity in the context of a story. I usually picked a story where the character would travel to multiple places. That way we could equal each place to a position in the musical alphabet.
• For example, A = Airport, B=Bakery, C=Coffee Shop, D=Dog Park, E= Ecuador, F=Firehouse, G=Grocery Store
• The story doesn’t necessarily need to have places that only equal to the musical alphabet, but it will be a great foundation for the activity going forward.
• Read the story first to students, remember to ask questions about what is going on in the story so they have an in-depth context of the plot and characters.
• Start the activity with “Let’s write the character another story together! Let’s draw a map of where they go during the day and describe what they do there.” Before students start giving ideas, make sure to let them know they can only give ideas on places they go that start with the letters A-G.
• When they are giving their story ideas, write the story down in a doc where you do it on pencil and paper, typing in a doc file, or summarizing on the board. When the class agrees the story is complete, retell it, and every time the character goes to a new place, mark it on the board by drawing a quarter note in the musical staff.
• When the story is complete, have students look at the “map” you have drawn on the board. Ask them if it looks familiar. Hopefully you’ll get the answer “music” or a “melody.” Once it has been identified, sing it using solfège with the Curwen hand signs and then play it on an instrument. Teach students how to sing and sign it with you after to make the connection.
• If you feel they have a great grasp on the melody with singing it, move that to instruments and learn it and play it together.
• After they have learned it, go over the story again with students retelling it while you point to the notes. Have a discussion on how they connect the two.
• As a bonus, use the Book Creator app to create a book from the story, you can collaborate with the visual arts teacher to have them illustrate it with the students. Make sure to put the melody at the end. You can then share with the school community and families!