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If you’re looking to spice up your quarter rest lessons, then add some listening lessons! We tend to focus on singing when it comes to teaching new concepts, but there are also classical pieces that include elements that we teach in elementary music. This lesson, quarter rest with Beethoven, includes movement, instruments, and introducing quarter rest along with Beethoven’s 7th Symphony Movement 2.
I have a whole lesson pack in my store that provides the visuals, the music, the audio, and everything you need to teach this lesson. It will make your life so much easier, because it has everything you need in a ready to use lesson pack.
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Using Movement to Prepare Quarter Rest
Before we start, I show the students pictures of statues around the world and have them pretend to be each one.
To teach this lesson, we start by looking at the rhythm. It’s pretty simple:
I have my (usually) second graders read the rhythm. When we get to the statue at the bottom, I ask them what they think that means. Someone will say that you should make a statue.
We will play the rhythm on our legs, then make statues.
Then they whisper the room and play it on their legs, and make a statue.
Then I ask them if they can put the beat in their feet and play the rhythm on their legs, whisper the rhythm, and make a statue.
Finally, we play along with the song. I typically only have them listen to about a minute of it.
We do this one day at our seats, and the next day moving around the room.
On the next day, we will do the same thing, but moving around the room. We will talk about what happens on the statues. I will ask until someone says something along the line of, “The sound stops.”
Next, I introduce quarter rest by showing what it looks like and talking about what a rest is.
We will practice a few rhythms with quarter rest on the board.
Next, we will get rhythm sticks and play the same rhythms with the rhythm sticks. Then we play along with the full rhythm of the piece with the music playing.
Finally, the student sight read the rhythm of a new piece with their rhythm sticks– some of my favorite ones for quarter rest are Ickle Ockle or Quien es esa Gente.
(You can learn about Ickle Ockle here!)
Super simple, but super fun!
Have you used this piece or other listening pieces in your lessons for quarter rest? Let me know how they went by sending me a message on Instagram @beccasmusicroom. I can’t wait to hear from you!
Happy teaching!
Becca
