Many music curriculums teach quarter rests in first grade. However, if you are relatively new to a school (as I am), your older students may be learning quarter rest along with your younger students. Today I’ve gathered some of my favorite songs for teaching quarter rest, and I’ve brought some that work for kindergarten through third grade.
These songs:
Are satisfying to sing
Have great accompanying dances or games
Can be used as a creative springboard to inspire student-created ostinati
Work for a variety of grades
Can be used later in your curriculum to highlight other rhythmic and melodic concepts
Let’s jump in!
Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow is an American folk song with an accompanying partner dance.
You'll probably love it as much as your students do!
How to Play the Game:
Create a single circle, with partners facing each other.
Measure 1 - Stamp three times (right, left, right)
Measure 2 - Shake finger at partner in steady beat
Measure 3 - Partners clasp hands and quickly trade places
Measure 4 - Stamp three times turning away from partner and facing neighbor (new partner)
I love watching students’ faces light up when they turn to see a new partner!
Other reasons to love this song:
Mi Re Do
La
Sol-Mi-Do
Ta, Ta-di
Bluebird
This is an African American folk song with a great game to go with it!
My students love playing this game, and I’ve used it successfully with first, second, and third grades.
How to play the game:
Formation: Children stand in a circle with hands joined and raised to form "windows."
Measures 1 - 4: One child “flaps wings” and weaves in and out the "windows"
Measure 5: The bird taps one child on the shoulder in a steady beat.
Measure 6: The bird taps a second child on the shoulder in a steady beat
Measure 7: The bird taps a third bird on the shoulder in a steady beat
All three chosen students get in line behind the head bluebird and the game begins again. Continue singing until all students are in the bluebird line.
Other reasons to love this song:
Ta, ta-di
AB form
La
Half note
High do
Bell Horses
I’ve written about Bell Horses here, and how I use it to teach sol and mi. It’s also great for teaching quarter rest, and since my students are already familiar with it, all the better!
How I use this song:
I combine this song with the rhyme, My Little Pony. As we sing the song, Bell Horses, some students prance in open space around the room. To accompany us, a small group of students is chosen to play jingle bells in one corner. Another small group uses rhythm sticks to play the “nails” when we speak My Little Pony.
Other reasons to love this song:
Partwork: some students move, some students play, some students speak the rhyme
Ta ta-di
Sol mi
La
Tinker Tailor
This is an elimination game from England, and one of my favorites for teaching quarter rest. I like it because the students are naturally listening for the "beat without a sound" as we play the game.
How to play the game:
Students pass a ball in a steady beat and sing the song. On the quarter rest, the student with the ball is out. In my class the out students go to the “orchestra” to play a steady beat while we play the game again.
Other reasons to love this song:
Ta , ta-di
Sol, mi
“....if you have their interests at heart, you will let them learn while they play; they will find that what they have mastered is child’s play.”
I love each of these songs for teaching quarter rest, not just because of the songs themselves, but because they remind me that the magic of teaching is in making our teaching concepts child’s play
Happy teaching!
