Something beyond description is happening in my 4th grade recorder class. Teaching recorder with a SMARTBoard + iPads is a magical way to differentiate learning in the Music Classroom. This is my first year teaching with 1:1 iPads in the music classroom and I was anxious to see how my lessons, and specifically the learning, would change because of the iPads. I want to share a the wonderful way I’ve been using a SMARTBoard and iPads to differentiate learning in the music classroom.
A bit of background:
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I use an adapted version of the Recorder Karate method. Kudos to Barb Philipak and MK-8! I love the concept and the accompaniment files make even the simplest songs sound important! I own all of the MK-8 Recorder Classroom Magazines and find these pieces to be the perfect supplement to the required pieces in Recorder Karate. Paul Jennings, of MK-8,  is masterful at orchestrating and anything he arranges is golden in my book!  Artie Almedia shared her teaching wisdom in the Recorder Classroom Magazines, and her guidance and insight on teaching recorder keeps me grounded and inspired. I feel very fortunate to have such rich resources I can use to create a plan for teaching recorder in my specific situation. |
30 minutes of frustration!
My music classes are 30 minutes in length and it is a challenge to manage the learning in that short amount of time – especially with recorders. (I’m sure you can read between the lines!) It has always been a frustration in such a short amount of time, to teach the concept, play through the piece, work with the little fingers, make sure they are actually reading the notes and not just memorizing, help the frustrated, and feed those who really “get it” and want to move on! Yikes!
This year is different!
Using the Interactive SMARTBoard to teach Recorder
I haven’t been posting much on this blog lately, mainly because I’ve been hard at work creating  a way to use the iPads and the SMARTBoard to bring a traditionally taught lesson into the 21st century. The SMARTBoard is perfect for projecting the recorder pieces. Students can see the music and I can link the accompaniment files to each page so that I don’t have to use my iPod  – it’s all right there on the SMART notebook page when I need it. That musical link alone makes the flow of my 30-minute lesson efficient.
The SMARTBoard is more than just a projector and music player!
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Those are just a few examples of how I turn the SMARTBoard projected image into an interactive lesson that grabs and keeps students’ attention. My students and I WORK things out together on the SMARTBoard. Music making on the SMARTBoard is alive… it changes… it gets in my students’ Â heads and HEART! The SMARTBoard gives my students a way to play together with the tiny pieces of musical notation that pencil and paper can’t duplicate.
It doesn’t stop there!
Using the iPad to Differentiate Learning in the Music Classroom
I’ve spent the last month creating a detailed plan for mastering the Recorder. Granted, I played the recorder in college (pretty nerdy!) and I don’t expect my students to get to that level. We only study the recorder for 9 weeks, so I also want to be able to move them through the belts quickly with options for remedial work when necessary. However, I needed to know where I was taking them and get everything ready because I knew that if the iPad did what I thought it would do, I had better be prepared! I needed a way to teach to the common level during class, but also manage those students who would be able to move along faster. I needed to plan for differentiated learning among my students. With only 30 minutes and no real options for after-school help, the iPad is the perfect way to reach my students at different levels. Here’s what I did:
- I created a QR code linked to the recorder song image
- To make an mp3 musical example, I played and recorded each song .
- I created a front/ back hand-out for each Recorder Karate level with QR code links to all the files needed for that level.
- During class, I have students scan QR codes to pull in the musical score on their iPad rather than use their camera to take a picture of the music.
- I created fingering activities  and students have to draw in the correct fingering for a song before they play it. This works especially well for the slower students who say, “I can’t play it… I don’t know the notes!) They actually do know the notes, they just haven’t associated them with the fingering yet. Students complete this fingering activity anytime they are struggling and it always helps! This fingering activity is in contrast to writing in the note names.
Students Make Videos on their iPads
- Students use Explain Everything or Book Creator on their iPad to record themselves playing the required piece. Sometimes, I have them work in small groups to make just one recording. They bring me the recording at the end of the lesson. If I don’t have time to hear every student’s recorded piece, they can easily pop in during their recess or lunch time and I can pass them off.
- For review, I have the students go back and re-record their earlier pieces so they can hear how far they have come. They listen to the “Yellow-Belt” piece and decide if they can play it better. If so, they make a new recording. I hear them saying, “And this is how it’s really supposed to sound.”
- Some students enjoy using the camera to record themselves playing their pieces… fine with me!
- I would love to create a final project on the iPad with all of their recordings… we’re not quite ready technically to do that… but next year, all of the kinks will be gone!
Multiple levels? No problem!
If a student is struggling, I can help them and direct them to a QR code of another piece on that level that will reinforce the concept without frustrating them further. I made extra pieces for each level and a QR code is all they need to get the piece on their iPad. If a student is ready to move on, I don’t have to fret with finding the piece to give them… it’s just a QR code away and they are off! Â Recording themselves on the iPad has made a world of difference in the quality of performance. The children don’t want it to be just good enough; they want it to be excellent because they are “Recorder Rock Stars,” and their recording will be heard by others.
Am I Flipping the Classroom?
Several of my students have home email addresses and iPads at home. With their parent’s permission, they are recording their pieces in Explain Everything and sending them to me. I created a class and gave the students the code to login from home. (Our students don’t take their iPads home in 4th grade) Just this weekend, three students sent multiple recordings of the highest quality. While most of my students are on the Blue Belt, these kids are already on Brown. I am able to listen to the lesson, Â send them the next piece to learn, and if the performance was not good enough to pass, make suggestions and even send an audio performance for clarification. It takes just a few minutes but what a difference it makes in these gifted students.
Exploration
They are FREE to learn and grow at their own pace. One student even made a recording of himself playing it first on the Recorder, then the guitar, then the piano!….. he needs the challenge! Another just sent me “Call Me Maybe.” She had figured it out by ear! How cool is that!?!
Magical Learning
Here is just one example of the magical learning that is going on with recorders. If students were brand new to musical reading – no piano lessons – they were given a special challenge to play their piece on the glockenspiel and/or piano. Check out this video of  a few kids  who were so excited they wanted to try it during recess.
2013-02-14 09.14.00
Using a SMARTBoard and iPads to Differentiate Learning in the Music Classroom is the way to go! It does take an enormous amount of work to set up everything; I’m not going to kid you! However,  the results and freedom can be experienced instantaneously.
I’d love to hear if there are others experiencing the same things with iPads and SMARTBoards. I think the combination just opens so many avenues for learning.
I can’t wait for the sun to come up…. it’s going to be a great Monday!!
Cherie Herring
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40 thoughts on “Using a SMARTBoard and iPads to Differentiate Learning in the Music Classroom”
Cherie you are so generous & amazing! I am incredibly impressed with the quality & quantity of your work! I just got ONE ipad for my music room & am planning to use it to control my stereo & Rhapsody through a SONOS system, but I’m interested in a full set for the classroom to use them like you do. Have you posted any of your the Recorder Karate adaptations anywhere? I would LOVE to try them!
Thank you, Stephanie, for the kind words. I know I am very blessed to have such resources for my classroom! do you have a SMARTBoard? You can do so much even with one iPad and a SMARTBoard if you use a projecting app like “Reflections.” You can use iMovie to record your students performances and then reflect it on the SMARTBoard. You can have the students create little lessons using “ShowMe” or “Explain Everything.”
In this blog post, I did make a link to the over all plan I came up with for Recorder Karate. It works for my school (this year), but you may have other ideas and pieces for your group of children. I don’t know how much I can share of my work without copyright issues… I’m still working on that!
Cherie
Wow!!! Absolutely brilliant my dear, as usual… 🙂 Thank you for sharing with all of us. I WISH I had an IPad or a SMART board! Geez! :/
Thank you, Nell! Your sweet comments always cheer me on! Maybe you could write a grant for the technology!I’d be happy to share with you what I wrote in my grant proposal. That’s how I was able to get my SMARTBoard! – Cherie
Cherie,
I’d love to get a grant for a classroom full of ipads. I’ve written a few for “in-district” technology, but would love to know what you did to get the set of ipads. I do have a SmartBoard & I actually have done workshops in Western NY area about using it for Music Ed. I would love to reference your work because it’s amazing! Too many people use it to learn ABOUT music instead of it being a tool to facilitate more music making!
Stephanie
I wrote the grant for my SMARTBoard and received funding from our “Friends of the ARTS” organization at out private school. I was the first in the Lower School to have a SMARTBoard, and the following year, our parents gradually donated enough money to equip grade by grade until the entire school has them now. I had my own personal iPad for a year and just this year, our entire school went 1:1! big shock!
I would love to share what I’ve done with others. Sure, send folks my way if you think they would be interested. Because of copyright issues, I can’t upload and offer most of my created lessons because they are built around purchased music. That’s the unfortunate thing about SMARTBoards and music: we can’t usually share our stuff! However, my goal is to blog about how I’m using the technology to engage my students. It’s changed my teaching completely! It’s a ton of work, but it isn’t boring! I just don’t think teachers have been shown or taught how to use the SMARTBoard correctly. You keep telling them!! – Cherie 🙂
Oh my goodness, would you? I would LOVE that and seriously be grateful enough to FEDEX your own private pan of my cinnamon rolls (which I’m known far and wide for, if I do say so myself) 😉 Btw, I’ve just launched a website for my teensy school’s fine arts program, wish me luck and send me some prayers! Lol! 🙂
Nell, I just emailed you copies of the grants I wrote for Orff instruments, Music Memory Curriculum, 40 Glockenspiels, and Professional Development training at Harvard. I’ll have to look for the SMARTBoard grant at school tomorrow. Its on my other computer.
Cherie,
I would also LOVE to see how you have written your grant proposals. I’m thinking there may be a chance to go 1:1 with iPads if I can word it well & find the funding! I’d also be happy to share some SB files if you’re interested. I should find out more about submitting them to the SmartExchange too.
Stephanie
Stephanie, I’m putting it all together for a post. I’ll happily share the wording with you very soon…I just found everything today. ~Cherie
Thanks – I can’t wait to see your post about grant writing!
Cherie,
This is awesome!! How do you create QR codes? I would love to do something similar in my class, but I don’t know anything about how to create them. Is there a reference link that you could give to those that would like to learn how to do this? Thanks!
Lennie, I am working on a post about using QR codes in my music classroom just this week, and I’ll include further links to great QR Code tutorial sites. Until then, here is a great site for you to visit asap to answer your question.
http://www.dontwasteyourtime.co.uk/qr-codes/qr-codes-the-nuts-and-bolts/
David Hopkins has a terrific blog site and I’ve been able to find answers to many questions there.
QR codes are so easy.. once you’ve created one and used it with your kids, you’ll be hooked for good!
Cherie
Thanks for taking the time to share! Keep up the great work!
Thank you, Lennie!! I hope you find something you can use in your classroom.
Enjoyed your website. I would love to read your grant proposals too. Will you send me them too?
Thanks,
Sarah Lumpkin
Kedron Elementary School
Peachtree City, Georgia
Sarah, I just sent you a link to a zipped file with several examples of grants. You can at least see the wording and format I used. I hope that helps you.
Cherie
I would also love to see how you worded your grant applications for iPads in your music classroom and the Music Memory ideas. I am on here looking for iPad ideas to write a grant tonight ;)) thank you so much for all of your awesome ideas!!
Beverly, here is a link to a zipped file with my grant examples. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/60941466/Grants.zip let me know if this works for you… Cherie
Thank you Cherie for the fantastic ideas! Do you link the QR codes to the dropbox files? Do you have all the music posted on a website somewhere?
Thanks again!
Hi Jennifer!
I created a “Recorder” folder within my PUBLIC dropbox folder. I saved everything to that folder and created a QR code using the “Public URL.” I use http://goqr.me/ to create my QR codes, but there are other sites equally as good. It’s a bit of an organizational challenge, but I keep everything related to the Recorder project in that public folder. It’s easy to get confused, but when you use Dropbox, if you want to create a QR code, the item has to be located in the PUBLIC folder/ or public subfolder. If you want the world to see it, it has to be PUBLIC. On the other hand, if you want to SHARE folder with someone, that folder must be located outside of the Public folder…. it’s shared privately.
I hope that helps… I will happily walk you through setting up the QR codes if you get stuck.
🙂
Cherie
You’ve put a lot of work into this! Very impressive. I teach overseas and I recently learned about an online program available called Charanga. It’s based on the British music program, but you can purchase whatever your school needs (for example, just recorder lessons). The lessons include the score, and back tracks. As the song plays it shows the fingering and also highlights the note you should be playing in the music. They say it’s meant to free the teacher from the piano or from the computer so you can go around and help students individually. We don’t have it at our school, but if I was staying her longer I would seriously look into it.
Sylvia, thanks for the comment! I had time yesterday to look at the Charanga site and it does look impressive. We are using the Quaver products in our school and my students have really been captured by the creative way music concepts are presented. It has 15-20min videos to introduce concepts and plenty of supporting activities included. It works so well with our 1:1 iPads and the SMARTBoard. There are so many great options for teaching….
Cherie,
I just wrote out my more detailed ipad proposal, so fingers crossed that that dream comes true. Thanks for all the info on ipads that you’ve posted because I definitely integrated some of your concepts in how I plan on using the ipads.
I’m so excited to hear that you’re using Quaver! In addition to my teaching job, I am now working with them as a consultant & writer. Quaver is a fantastic site & product & it’s going to expand to an entire curriculum! The same great content that you’ve been using will still be available, but it will be integrated with actual lessons that include a ton of new song material, Orff arrangements, a recorder section with integrated sound files & more. We’re even hoping to have apps available for the ipads. QComposer, QGrooves & some of the other creatives as well as some of the animations, songs, etc. should be available in the next year. If you have any suggestions for content please email me – we’ll be done writing in June & the new curriculum goes live in August!
You are an AMAZING teacher & I’m continually impressed with everything you’ve posted here & on the SMARTExchange.
Stephanie, how exciting! I sure hope the 1:1 iPads become a reality for you very soon. It is THE most exciting tool, and combined with a SMARTBoard, it opens up so many possibilities. For example, after we studied the Baroque section, we had a group of very gifted boys who wanted to do further research. They have a special time each week to work to their level and explore anything that interests them. Several of them chose to further explore Bach, Beethoven, why they wore wigs, how the wigs were made back then, how the organ produced sound without electricity, the clothes they wore, the games children played, the chores they did, the plectrum of the harpsichord, etc. It has been an amazing spin-off from the Quaver chapters. Do you know what they said their least favorite thing about the research group is? Having to leave! They were able to do individual research using their iPads.
How lucky you are to work with the Quaver product! I would give my left arm (I’m right-handed) to be involved in that exciting project. Obviously, the iPad app is huge on my list of wants. Even though we use the Puffin app to access the web site. We’ve tried and tried,but it doesn’t work well enough to use in my classes. In other words, we don’t even use that part of the product and it would be all the better if we could. Once we went to 1:1 iPads, we did away with our antiquated computer lab.
Hey, if they need a test kitchen, I’ll be happy to test their new creations in my classroom!
Happy Spring to you, Stephanie!
Cherie
I found this site when looking for articles about using iPads for differentional in the classroom for a class I am taking in gifted education. My degree is in music and I was so excited to the site. It is wonderful!
Thank you, Naomi! I’m glad you found me. We’re all newbies learning how to use technology so the more we share with each other, the better for all. I look forward from learning from you aS well!!
Hi there! THANKS SO MUCH for sharing your information! You’ve inspired me to give QR codes in the classroom a shot. I’ve been researching how to start, and I have a few questions:
I’d love to know which programs you’ve found to work the best for you (i.e. QR creation and reading). I’ve looked into Kaywa, but I really like the color choices you have for different songs! What creation program are you using?
I LOVE LOVE LOVE how you put little boxes of fingering…with a QR code….in the corner of your music! Are you writing the music in Music Ace? Then, how are you importing the box and QR code in the corner?
I LOVE LOVE LOVE how you are recording recorder parts at home and linking them to the QR code!! Awesome idea!!! I’d love to do that with Choir parts! I noticed in Kaywa that you must like the QR up to an http:// link. Is that working for you….linking it up to your hard drive? I foresee a problem with that.
I’m a little stymied as I’m changing Districts and opening a brand new school. I do not know what brand of smart board we will have, etc. I *do* know that we will have a system where students can click on a letter to answer a question. I wonder how I can integrate that into SMARTboard technology???
Again, I *really* want to say thanks for the time you put into your site! You’ve totally inspired me! I…could just use some guidance on the how and where! LOL
Crystal, Thank you for the kind words! I’m so excited to help you. QR codes are super easy to make and use. Briefly, here is how I create them: It sounds like a bunch of work, and it is! But, the good news is that once you have created a “Bank” of images and sounds, and have them in a permanent folder, you can do so much with them over and over again.
1. On my desktop computer, I use Audacity to record myself playing the recorder solo and accompaniment. Audacity is a free program and very easy to figure out. Sometimes, I use my iPad to create the music. Once that musical example is created, I save and export it as an mp3 to a folder in my DropBox. Mp3 example made: check!
2. I use Finale to create the musical examples and save the image to that same folder in my Dropbox. Music Image made: check!
3. In Dropbox, there is an option to share the public link. I copy the url link and paste it into http://goqr.me/ > This site is very easy to use. There are options for size and color. Once the QR code is generated, and you’ve changed the color like you want it, download the QR image, name it, and save it to the shared Dropbox folder. mp3 QR code created: check!
4. I use SMARTNotebook software to create my pages. It is so easy to import images, create fingering charts and make clever titles and drawings, etc. Everything you see on that page in the picture was created in SMARTNotebook. Even the fingering! I just open a blank page, make black circles, copy the image and place it on the page. Once I’ve created the page with all the components, I use the “Snipping Tool” on my computer to take a picture of the entire page. This page image is saved as a .png and sent to that shared Dropbox folder. Page image made: Check!
5. I keep everything related to this recorder project in the same labeled Dropbox folder. Once things are in the folder, I don’t move them around because that would mess up the links. It keeps my work organized if it’s all in the same folder and I can access it anywhere. You are correct! Don’t keep this stuff on your hard drive!!! You cannot create a QR code to things on your hard drive. You have to have a url to do that. A url is a link to something stored or found on the internet.
I hope this helps you. I think I’ll do a post and show this process again on a webcast. If you are like me, it helps to actually SEE this happening in slow-mo! I’ve a very visual learner. Let me know if you need me to walk you through it or if I can further explain anything. I’m happy to help!! Cherie
Cherie,
Love this post! I would love to see a webcast on this!
~Aimee
Such a great resource! (AS ALWAYS!) I was trying out EduCreations last year for my recorder kids to have personal help from me at home. I would record a 10 minute lesson for them with “press pause here and practice that measure 5x.” I am SOOO excited to try your version of recorder karate+EduCreations. My principal is THRILLED with the differentiated instruction possibilities and she is even more thrilled with all the ipad ideas you give me! THANKS A MILLION!
Thank you, Alison! When I use the QR codes, I have the students save the image to their camera roll and open it in Educreations. This works great and it’s a free app so they can get it on their home iPads. The latest update to EduCreations is so much more child-friendly. Some students just record and send the audio. Once I started putting the pictures of students on the Wall of Fame and linking them to Aurasma (the next post), they all started filming themselves. Plus, they get a thrill out of making a video good enough to be linked on the wiki. I like your idea of the lesson with built in practice time… I need to try that too! Thanks for sharing, Alison!!
Cherie
NICE! I use the SmartBoard and Smart music for recorder as well. This year I am going to go with the Recorder Express Book, because it correlates with Samrt Music. A few years ago I took the time also to write out many of the songs on the SMART board using color coded notes, and keep them the same each time. So Blue is B and Red is A (apple) and g is green, so on and so forth. That also really helps the kiddos to make note associations as well!
Great ideas, Noelle. I do something similar with my third graders but I color them based on the Boomwhacker colors. In a perfect world, the kids would be actually reading the notes by the 4th grade. For me, the one problem of having the kids record at home and send it via email, is that I can’t actually see what they are reading.. Just today, one little girl proudly showed me the web site she has been using to “read” the notes. Her mother (a Ped. Dr) had found a “Recorder Karate” site with all of the note names written on each piece. ugh!I guess some kids are ready to “READ” and others need help. In the real world, we do what we have to do to reach the children. 🙂
I haven’t used Smart music… I’ll check into it. I do love the Recorder Express book though!
Thanks for the ideas, Noelle!
Cherie
Cherie, This is great! We have a new school and we all received a SMART board and all students K-8 have 1:1 iPads. It is very overwhelming to say the least right now. Would you be willing to share your file until I get my feet wet with all of this? We do Recorder Karate with the students and right now I use my Elmo to project the music on the board. Each student has their own copy of the music but half the time they forget-they do recorders in 3rd grade. Thanks for any help you may be able to give. I plan on researching this and doing more of this during the summer!
I love this idea! It would save so much paper to just have the QR codes posted in the room to the songs. Besides the songs in Recorder Karate, what other songs do you use for each belt color? Can you write up a list?
You’ve put a ton of work into developing the materials to use on the Smartboard. There is an app available that has all the audio embedded (you don’t have to create the links), it’s sequenced very carefully so all students can be successful, and students can use this app at home to practice with. All you have to do is project the app to use in class with your students. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/learn-and-play-recorder/id543660617?mt=8
Inspiring! So many of the how-to-differentiate-in-the-music-classroom articles are really not helpful and don’t get past the beginner level…ironic, don’t you think? Anyway…I have a question for you. I love to have my recorder students choose their independent practice pieces based on their own levels. However, I am constantly dealing with the students’ complaints about not being able to concentrate with the chaotic noise of 28 children practicing independently. On really nice days I sometimes send some students outside with music stands and clothes pins, but most days we are confined to the same room. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
Hi! My school has recently moved to one to one ipads so I would really love to star utilizing then for my recorder program like you have. The links no longer work so I was windering if there was anyway to share or purchase some of the resources you are using to allow the student to differentiate on the ipads. It looks amazing! Thank you so much for anything you can share!
Hi Kelly,
Tell me what you need and I’ll send you links directly. I’ll double check my links and fix them. check out my https://sites.google.com/site/recorderkids15/
This Google site has all of the pieces and tutorials as well as Explain Everything files for students to access at the bottom of each page. Explain Everything is a paid app, but you can get it for half price with the Apple education discount. We use ExEv for every class in our school!! Its a must-have app!
Let me know what you are looking for and I’ll help you more.
Cherie