In my last post, I mentioned the MiniMusic kit by Paula Manwaring (Kjos Publishing) that I purchased while I was at the NCKP conference. The photos and description of this curriculum on the Kjos Publishing website do not do it justice! So I decided to show you some photos I took myself. I think many of the materials included in the kit are great resources for group lessons and games with students of ANY age.
Here’s a list of what is included:
- Teacher Handbook with 9 months worth of weekly lesson plans.
- Student Workbook (you can buy these individually for your students from the Kjos website)
- Staff/keyboard scarf
- Music notes printed on transparency sheets (to be cut out and used on the scarf staff)
- 2-sided Bingo sheets: music symbols or musical instruments.
- Plastic markers for the staff and the Bingo sheets
- Puppet friends (to be cut out and glued on wooden craft sticks)
- 6 different kinds of flashcards, all printed on card stock paper and laminated.
Here’s a peek at what the Teacher Handbook and Student Workbook look like inside:
And here’s a close-up of the two-sided staff/keyboard scarf. It’s machine washable!
Here’s a picture of all the flashcards. They are all printed on card stock and laminated.
- Rhythm Cards
- Interval Cards
- Key Cards
- Note/Rest Value Cards
- Instrument Cards
- Musical Alphabet Cards
What sold me is that this is a flexible curriculum. I chatted with Paula at the Kjos booth after the showcase that morning, and she encouraged me to modify the lesson plans in any way I choose. As is, the lesson plans are quite theory-heavy, and personally I’d like to begin with plenty of movement and listening activities before jumping into the theory right off the bat. But, to be far, I haven’t looked at the lesson plans in great detail yet. I’m just so pleased to have found a curriculum that I can completely customize to my teaching style, needs, and goals! I’m really looking forward to seeing how this works with my students. :)
11 Comments
I might have to check these out! It looks helpful.
It sounds like you might be thinking of a younger class than what this might be targeting, though. I highly recommend the Music for Little Mozarts “Classroom Curriculum”. I use that with my preschoolers with a great deal of success.
How big are the flashcards in that kit? I like to use small flashcards in private lessons, and I like the intervals, etc. that this set includes. I prefer to use oversized flashcards in groups, though (8 1/2 X 11 or bigger).
Hi Rebecca -- these flashcards are a quarter of the size of a piece of paper — about 4” by 6”. The print is fairly large on everything, though, so I do expect they’ll work pretty well in group settings.
I just want to tell you that I worked 30 minutes on a comment for this post, and your site marked it as spam -- told me “We hate spammers around here” and deleted my post. 30 minutes! I wish I would’ve copied it to my clipboard, but I didn’t. That work is gone.
It probably marked it as spam because I included about 10 links of places where people who teach preschoolers can go to find FREE resources for teaching preschoolers. I really hate the internet sometimes!
Carolyn — I’m so sorry this happened to you! I have a few WordPress plugins that help me combat spam (otherwise I would get a lot of it), and one of those most have caught your comment because I don’t see your comment in my “Spam” comment folder. Again, I’m sorry! It’s happened to me before too. It’s not a fun feeling to know you lost all that work.
I am curious. How much aural training is included in the material. Are there movement activities as well?
Ellen — I haven’t had a chance to look at the lesson plans very thoroughly yet. I will probably post an update on this topic once I’ve given the method a fair try!
No way -- I totally know Paula! We used to be neighbors and I grew up with her daughter. Small world :) Her kit looks awesome, I am going to have to check it out. Thanks for sharing!
Small world, indeed! :)
So, it looks like it’s been a year since you bought this curriculum. I am considering purchasing it as well, and wondered how you are liking it! Do you have to customize all the lessons to include more movement, or are the lessons good as-is? Thanks for any advice you may have!
Hi Holli,
I love all the materials, but find I don’t really use the lesson plans. The lesson plans are very theory-based, and I’ve come to realize that my goal with young students is to allow them to experience a concept first, see the symbol next, and put a name to the symbol last. However, I am still glad I bought it because of all the great flashcards, the staff scarf, etc.
Hope that helps!