Pipe Cleaner Rhythms

Hello everyone!!!

I’m currently teaching Kindergartners and 1st graders about quarter notes and eighth notes. Fortunately, they seemed super excited to clap and shout “TA, TA, TI-TI, TA!!!!”. It has never been a problem for my students to learn rhythms by rote. But in the past couple of years, I’ve been trying to put an emphasis on recognizing note and rest symbols and having them compose their own rhythms. I don’t always have Kinder and 1st graders writing out rhythms with pencil and paper, but I find a great middle ground for these younger students is PIPE CLEANERS! Yes, I said it. PIPE CLEANERS.

First, I teach the students about eighth notes and quarter notes, aka: Ta and ti-ti, and have them echo-clap the rhythms. I use this video and the Hal Leonard rhythm flashcards. 

Then I pass out the pipe cleaners and we create the notes together. After this, as a quick assessment I will say, “Ok now create a quarter note for me. I will give you 2 minutes to figure it out silently. Do not hold it up until you hear the beep from the timer.” I just type in 2 minute timer on google and it works like a charm! 

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After we finish making notes, I have the students get into groups of 4 with pipe cleaner in hand. Each student chooses either “ta” or “ti-ti” to create, and then they put them together to become a 4 beat rhythm pattern. When they are done, we will tape it to a piece of paper and have them perform for the rest of class! This is so much fun, and an easy way to get students to start composing and creating!

Have fun with the pipe cleaner rhythms and post a picture of your students creations on my facebook page so I can see how much fun you are having!!

-Paige-

TEKS: K.1E/1.2A/2.2A-Read, write, and reproduce rhythmic patterns.