Submitted by Kelsi, Texas

Idea posted October 27, 2008

My students LOVE musical chairs, but the regular game has no use in the classroom, so I made it educational by using "Mardi Gras Madness" by Duke Ellington.

The song has two solos: a clarinet solo and trumpet solo. We go over what a clarinet and trumpet sound like. The kids are instructed to walk while they hear the clarinet solo and they sit down as soon as they hear the trumpet solo; when they hear the clarinet solo again, they stand up and continuing walking.

I use large pictures of each of these instruments and quickly switch them when the music changes. However, after listening to the song three times (two kids get out each time), I take the cards away and the remaining kids have to simply listen. While kids are standing out, they hold the cards and flip them when they hear the music change or they swing dance with me and other students who are out. This would work with teaching form too, as long as the song only uses verse and chorus. The students would walk during the verse and sit during the chorus or vice versa.