If you teach music to young students, you know that one of the first steps of reading notation is knowledge of note values (quarter notes, eighth notes, etc.)
In this blog post, I am sharing 5 activities for teaching note values that you can use in your piano studio (or general music class!).
- The first idea is a movement activity in which students use their ear to identify the note value, then move to show what they hear. Here’s how we play:
- Student comes up with an action for quarter notes, then a different action for half notes, and another for whole notes (or eighth notes, etc. whichever note values you want to practice). We have done actions like hopping on one foot, hopping on two feet, wiggle, tap head, etc.
- Teacher begins playing (or clapping) examples of these note values while student does the correct action. When you switch note values, students change actions.
Often in piano teaching we introduce symbols first, so I like that this activity can be done before even showing students what the note looks like. They just need to know what to listen for. Movement AND ear training, yay!
2. The next idea are these Music Note Mini Booklets. Not only do they introduce each note value one at a time, they are designed to help students practice early literacy skills such as reading left to right (they include simple, kid-friendly language with dots to follow along), writing, and fine motor skills. You can view the preview here:
We usually work on these booklets over the course of a few lessons, and they make great keepsakes for students to review what they learned.
3. These Music Note Playdough Mats are my most popular resource among piano teachers and elementary music teachers. Students love getting to use play-dough in their lessons! I have a whole blog post about these that you can find here:
4. The next is a free activity that you can find in my exclusive library (see password below). Once students have a bit of knowledge about note values, they can put their skills into a composition game! You can find all the steps to play here:
5. Last but not least, my students love getting to go on a Note Scavenger Hunt! In this Boom Game, students read riddles and hunt for hidden notes & rests as they follow the Leprechaun to the Pot of Gold (perfect for March!).
Heard about Boom Cards but don’t know how to start using them? I’ve got you covered with the info you need here.
Ms Emily Music 