This is a tough time of year for everyone. In our school it is finally spring weather after a long winter with more snow days than anyone can remember. We’ve just started our state testing window, right after spring break. My final concert is done and I’ve moved through my end of year growth assessments with the upper grades, which is fortunate because right now They. Are. Wild. My sweet fifth graders have turned into disinterested, snarly tweens who have a lot of fears about leaving elementary school life and like every other teacher I’m struggling to keep them engaged.

Obviously the best solution to this problem is to put together some fun activities that will appeal to my fussiest friends. Even better is if it could contain elements of review or enrich a topic we have covered this year. My biggest hits in the past have been ukulele play-along videos and a handful of games, but this year I needed more so I turned to some recorder materials I composed for our recent spring concert. These pieces are NOT what I would consider “great” music. The accompaniments are a bit gimmicky and designed for kid appeal. Melodies are standard and either BAG or up to an octave with a few accidentals. I found it much easier to rehearse concert music this year when students though their pieces were fun! Now that the concert is over each class has the opportunity to learn the pieces I had written for other classes.

I have these pieces posted on my Recorder page and both music and accompaniment is available for download. Hopefully your students will think they are fun too!