Remarkable Rhythm
- Lauren Summa
- Jun 7, 2021
- 4 min read
My classroom is a bright and vibrant place! I love decorating and making the room a place the kids love to be. Over the last few years my displays have grown and changed into direct information displays classified by the musical elements. Rhythm, Melody, Form, Tone Color, Expression, and Harmony are all highlighted in a way that makes musical information accessible for my students.
The most important musical element takes a prominent place in my classroom - right in the front where students can easily check their work. My rhythm wall features note names and Keetman's rhythmic building blocks with a rhythm bank within reach. It's all topped off with the word RHYTHM in big red letters at the top.
I HATE HANGING DISPLAYS
While I love having a nice looking classroom, I hate the act of decorating. Probably because I am in Texas and the A/C is usually off when I go in. I also hate climbing ladders...I get dizzy once I am a few feet off the ground. And everything has to be all lined up straight. You think you are doing great, but once you get off the ladder, your life is ruined by crooked letters. I get angry and mad at life and want to stick my tongue out at everything.
But since I have started arranging by musical elements, I feel much more calm about getting my room ready. I know every poster that will go on my wall, what color it will be, and how I will use it in class. It is so easy. And if I space it out, I can get my room decorated without googling another job. Since I care about my readers, I am going to share my secrets with you.
THE RHYTHM WALL
First we have the title: RHYTHM. Every time I say the word rhythm in class, I point to the word on the wall. In kinder, first, and second, I always point out that the word is red. I want my students who struggle with reading to have a way to find the working wall even if they cannot decode the word. The musical element titles are spread around the classroom at the same height near the top of the wall, so students always know where to find them.
The Note Names are an excellent reference during centers and games! It's common for my kids to run over to the wall, check their information, and then head back to the group. Disputes are solved easily - the information is right there on the wall for everyone to see!
Next to the note names I have Keetman's rhythmic building blocks. These are super-useful when we are writing music in class! If we need an idea for a rhythm to play the tonic on, we pick one of the building blocks. If we are working on a chant and want to add a body percussion accompaniment, we turn to the building blocks. They are excellent, accessible, and part of my students' daily learning!
In addition to the building blocks, I have a Rhythm Bank that I keep in this area of the room. These rhythm cards are all simple rhythms using quarter notes, quarter rests, and paired eighth notes. They're used for classroom composition, centers, and games. They're handy and just perfect for games at the end of class! For my kindergarteners I have pre-rhythm cards - iconic representations of Short/Long Patterns.
Finally, I have coordinating Meter Signatures. While I do not have these displayed on the wall all year, I do have them printed with magnets and ready to display on my chalkboard whenever I need them. Perfect to pull in when I need them during a lesson, and color coding them red helps kids classify them as a part of the rhythm family.
Here is the controversial part of our working wall. I used to include Tempo Posters in this display, but I recently moved it over to my blue expression wall. While we use the other rhythmic pieces when learning and composing music, tempo usually comes into play at the same time as dynamics. While I switched it over, I feel like I have to mention tempo here in the rhythm post!
Just to make everything a little more fun, each musical element has a mascot. Rhythm actually has TWO - Red and Pink! Red is a loud and happy puppet who reinforces rhythm. Pink comes out in my primary grades when we are talking about beat. Red and Pink have awesome conversations about the differences between beat and rhythm! The kids love them!
Finally, I only use butcher paper and borders when I need to differentiate segments of the working wall that blend together. I also stopped laminating things that go on the wall and started printing on card stock. I only laminate things that get heavy use in kids' hands and are not replaced easily!
I started making my own posters for my classroom about five years ago. I knew what I wanted to display, but could not find coordinating sets that fit my teaching style. Soon after I started sharing them on Teachers Pay Teachers. Check out the Rhythm collection!
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