Printed from the MusicK8.com Idea Bank

Teaching Music With Characters

Submitted by Tami Mangusso, Aurora, Colorado

Idea posted 2004-06-18

Here are my characters and what I use them for:
1. Mr. Glissando (stuffed teddy bear): Toss him in the air and students make siren sounds.
2. Mr. Embouchure (tennis ball): You can use any tennis ball and cut a slit about half way through the ball. As you squeeze the sides of the slit it will open like a mouth. I also add eyes. (You can get them at any craft store or even at Wal-Mart.) I get most of my tennis balls from Petsmart. They have several different styles and sizes. (Some are polka-dot, multicolored, confetti colored, or a solid color - usually yellow or green. They also have small tennis balls for the small breeds of dogs). I use Mr. Embouchure to help get students to have nice open mouths when they sing. It really does help the student to get them to open their mouths.
3. Staccato and Marcato (twin brother sharks): I know sharks have a reputation for being scary, but mine are not. They are large rubber sharks I bought from Toys R Us. To make them look cool, I painted musical notes and symbols all over them with puffy fabric paint. I also cut their teeth out and repainted the inside of their mouths pink. These sharks are vegetarian and can only gum you. I use them as reminders for making good choices. They hang from my ceiling, but I move them throughout the year. Whenever a student begins to make bad choices, I tell a story: Once upon a time there was a little boy/girl who came to music class and thought that they could (insert behavior), but they were wrong, etc. I improvise these stories, and they include Staccato and Marcato coming over to them and gumming on them. Eventually the student has to walk (or skip, or jump) to my door and change their behavior card (green=good, yellow=warning, red=recess). You should know your class and the student before attempting this. Staccato gums first (yellow card) and Marcato gums second (red card). My kids love the visual behavior reminder of Staccato and Marcato.
4. Solfia solfège (Toucan bird puppet): I got Solfia from the Oriental Trading Co. She likes to hear good singing (singing on pitch), especially when we do solfège activities. She is learning how to talk, but mostly she squeaks and dances whenever they do a good job. I do daily Sight-Singing exercises. (I use the book The Sight-Singer Vol. 1 by Audrey Snyder.) I also make some of the solfège exercise up by pulling phrases from songs we are working on.
5. Candida "Can-Dee-Da" (A bright pink, stuffed monkey with long arms and legs): I attached hair scrunchies (big cloth ones) to her hands, and I slip my hands through the hair ties. In this way, my hand movements become Candida's hand movements. I use her for echoing rhythm patterns. If the students echo the rhythm patterns well and with lots of energy then she will do a flip or two.
6. Jonas "Joe-nas" (A little boy/troll puppet from Folkmanis): I put my hands into his hands. I use him for echoing solfège phrase with hand signs. He also helps with steady beat activities. The kids copy his movements. I use him mostly with the primary grades (kindergarten through second grades) but have had the higher grades ask to see him as well.
7. Mr. Pooch (a little stuffed dog): He likes to hear the students' answers to SQUILT questions. I also use him for singing. We stand in a circle and I play the CD accompaniment to a song. As everyone sings, they toss him around or across the circle. When I pause the music, the student who has Mr. Pooch sings the next phrase. Then I push play and everyone sings the phrase. This works well for assessments.
8. Mr. Tweety: This is one of those old-fashion type toys where you push the bottom of it and the figure goes limp (plastic pieces attached to strings). You can try to make them dance or fall down, etc. I use Mr. Tweety to discuss posture.