The year is just about winding down and it seems like a great time for me to share a recent find that I am loving (and my students are too!). It’s called Music Madness. It is an interactive whiteboard game created by Artie Almeida. What can that lady do that isn’t pure gold? I had to share this game with you all because it has been such a hit in my classroom.
It contains 8 games that allow kids to test their musical knowledge on subjects such as instrument families, note values or notes on the staff. I’ve only done a couple of games with my students so far and each class is just begging for more.
With my younger grades I’ve done “Percussion Penguins”. Think of the game Simon, but with unpitched percussion. Students hear percussion sounds and have to match them with the instruments. If they get one sound right, then they get two sounds, etc.
With my upper elementary classes I’ve tried “Football Frenzy.” Students get a picture of an instrument and have to match it with the correct family. And they can play on teams, so boys v girls is very popular.
I’ve also tried “Dunk the Teacher” with my fifth grade. The kids like it for the name alone. But it is great also because it requires students to name notes on the staff. Get three in a row right and SPLASH! The teacher on the screen is dunked into the water. Get it wrong? The teacher taunts you with “nah nah nah nah” type comments.
I look forward to trying the other games with my classes, but after sampling only three I already feel confident in recommending this to any music teacher with a Smartboard looking for end of the year review activities. In fact, I may not wait until the end of the year to pull this out next year. It’s great year round!
For a full write up and product details you can check out the product page on the West Music website.
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