Recorder Game: Tic Tac Toe

Long time, no see! I know....I have not blogged in forever!  But it is my personal goal to get back into blogging to share ideas and resources with you.  However, I do promise that I have a very good excuse for my lack of blogging.  I was a little busy growing and bringing a human into the world! 

Welcome Finley to this big beautiful world!  She has stolen my heart, and all my time, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

  

Now that I am back into the classroom, I have been trying to do new activities with my students!  When I returned from maternity leave, it was time to introduce high D and high C on the recorder for my fourth grade students.  To get in some practice on high D and high C, I introduced a tic tac toe game to my students. 

I have came across numerous tic tac toe games on Pinterest for rhythms, but not one for melody.   As a result, I decided to create my own.  For this game, you will need the following:

- tape

- melody cards

- bean bags (two different colors)

To begin, I created 9 melody cards that all featured high C and/or D.  You can get these cards by clicking above.  I chose to keep the rhythms very simple on these cards so they could focus more on note reading.  Tape the melody cards onto the floor to make a tic tac toe board.  Also tape a starting line on the floor.  

To prepare the game, I displayed the melody cards onto the board one at a time.  We then played through each card as a class to get them ready for the game. 

Next, divide the class into two teams.  Assign each team a team name and a bean bag color. To begin the game, one student from a team goes to the tic tac toe board.  They pick one card to play.  I just had my students tell me what color card they were going to play since each card is a different color.  The student then plays their selected card.  If they play it correctly, they can then throw a bean bag.  

To throw a bean bag, the student goes to the starting line and tosses the bean bag.  If the bean bag lands on the card they played, then that team claims that spot.  If the bean bag does not make it onto the correct card, then the team can not claim that spot.  Continue with the game going between teams until the team has three bean bags in a row. 

This game was a HIT in my classroom, and the students were begging for more.  Each class got very competitive with their tic tac toe skills.  Many students tried to block the other teams from getting three in a row.  The game was very fun, and it allowed the students to get in a lot of practice on high C and high D. 

Hope your students enjoy it as much as mine!