Tag Archives: third grade

The Rhythm Tree

In my elementary classroom, there were some difficulties understanding the relationships between rhythmic values. So! I recreated the idea of the rhythm tree in a colorful visual!

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The Rhythm Tree

This was then used with first through fifth grades to help relate rhythm values. Additionally, all of the rhythms are movable, so different examples can be built and used for different lessons.

Instrument Cards

This was a fun manipulative for the students! In both my third and fourth grade classes I cut these instruments into individual squares and glued them to construction paper to create cards. Then, I was able to use them in so many ways!

All rights reserved. Please contact me for a printable.

Here were some of the ways I used the instrument cards

  • As a way to sort students into groups
  • Have students find which instrument family their card belonged to
  • Listen for their instrument family and stand during Britten’s “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”
  • As an individual assessment: students came up at the end of class, picked a card, and sorted it into its corresponding bucket

The students were very successful. The best thing about the cards was students did not have to specific know the name of each instrument. They were able to identify what family they belonged in by how it looks. For the fourth graders who knew what the instrument was, it doubled as a way to check their understanding the names of specific instruments.

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Fourth Grade Instrument Assessment

This was an assessment used for fourth grade to test identifying which instruments belonged to which instrument family.

In my classroom, students colored in the instrument that went with the family, but other classrooms could use hole punches or stamps to get the punch card effect.

All rights reserved. Please contact me for a PDF if you would like a copy.