Ukes Rule!!

Ukulele chords on my bulletin board  - music "anchor charts"

Ukuleles are another affordable and accessible instrument for junior/intermediate classrooms.
They sound good right away and most students like the similarity to guitar - lots of what you learn on the uke can be easily transferred to guitar. Also, students can sing along when they play!

If you're new to teaching the ukulele in a classroom setting, I would check out a resource co-written by Canadian ukulele virtuoso, James Hill, called  Ukulele in the Classroom.  My favourite website to use with students is http://ukutabs.com



"The best thing about the ukulele is that it is surprising" (James Hill)

James also has a website where you can find out more about him as a performer.
http://jameshillmusic.com  I have attended his workshops at OMEA conferences and he also runs a teacher certification program for teaching ukulele which is worth checking out.

The first phase of the creative process is INSPIRATION:

Here's a sample of some of my favourite inspiring uke videos from James Hill, Jake Shimabukuru and Walk Off the Earth:

Bucket Drumming

Buckets are a cheap and fun way to get students exploring beat and rhythm in your classroom.  You can start out informally allowing students to be creative with the buckets.  I like to teach "matched" grip right away for the sticks so students don't develop bad habits and can easily transition to playing drum kit, drumline work, etc.  I found a great resource called Bucket Music by Olivier Cutz which you can order at most educational music stores in Ontario.

He uses a method to teach students about note values that calls two eighth notes "pizza" and the quarter note, "pie", etc.  Kids really relate to this and also his notation system for the various surfaces of the buckets (centre, rim, side and stick clicks)  I've known of people who have taught his pieces by rote as well and not used the notation with students.

Here is a video of my Grade 8 students a few years ago at Gordon P.S. playing "Taiko" by Olivier Cutz.  It's a good example of 4-part ensemble playing.