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rhythm is math


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Keywords: Music is Math
Subject(s): Photography, Music, Video, Math
Grades 1 through 3
School: Guardian Angels School, Cincinnati, OH
Planned By: Holly Leach
Original Author: Tanya Wollenberg, Potwin
Introduction: Clap rhythms and have students echo. Start with groups of three beats, then four, etc. This helps students count, follow verbal directions, and identify patterns.

Song: There's a Beat in My Feet, by Teresa Jennings. (K8 Magazine) Students find a partner (buddy up), get a bouncy ball, and face each other a couple of feet apart. Bounce the ball back and forth (1 throw, the other catch) to each other on the steady beat.

Sing Row, Row, Row your Boat. Divide into 3 groups. Teach actions to the song and sing together, then as a round. Keep the steady beat with a drum or two sticks.
Then teach new words; skip counting to the 3's. 3,6,9 and 12. 15, 18, 21. . ..
24, 27, 30, 33. 36; that's our threes. Using manipulatives, group objects into those numbers; point to them and move them around as you sing.

We can use our flip cam to video things in our room that have those numbers; 3 xylophones, 6 drums, 9 maracas, 12 mallets, etc.

End with clapping partner playground game: Grandma, Grandma, sick in bed. She called the doctor and the doctor said; Let's get the rhythm of the head (ding, dong). Let's get the rhythm of the hands (clap, clap). Let's get the rhythm of the feet (stomp, stomp). Let's get the rhythm of the hot dog (swirl middle like a hula hoop).
Comments
Playground balls the size of a volleyball or soccer ball are ideal for bouncing to the steady beat. I make power points illustrating the numbers.
Cross-Curriculum Ideas
Tons of math ideas: worksheets, flash cards, and manipulatives. Also Schoolhouse Rock songs like "Three is a Magic Number".
Follow-Up
More addition songs such as the 4's set to Polly Wolly Doodle. Play "King of the Mountain", where students buddy up, each with two dice. They roll both dice, count the total, and see which buddy has the highest number. They win that round and a 'chip'. At the end of a timed game (4-5 minutes), the student counts their chips for which one has the most.
Materials: CDs and DVDs, Elementary, Whiteboards, Reading, Cause and Effect