1. Staff Wars (works online now!)
Staff Wars has been a favorite app of mine and my students for a long time! This is an interactive game for students to practice naming note names of various clefs.
I believe a lot of music teachers are familiar with this game, but did you know it is now a website, too?
This is a game changer for distance learning! Students will be able to access this fun activity much easier while learning from home.
2. Videos
I know, I KNOW!…..Students are getting a lot of screen time these days, but there are just so many amazing videos out there to celebrate the music and magic of Star Wars! I just had to make a little collection here!
3. Star Wars Mystery Melodies
In this resource, your students will write Star Wars melodies using Song Maker in Chrome Music Lab. I have seen more and more music teachers share activities using Song Maker and for good reason! It is user-friendly and versatile enough to provide engaging musical moments for both Primary and Intermediate students!
It’s the perfect at-home composition tool!
First, Students learn how to use Song Maker
The activity is outlined for the students below along with a screen recording teaching the child how to use Song Maker. This text is editable so you can tweak it to best fit your needs.
Next, the student will be asked to copy a melody like the one pictured below in their own Song Maker window. Once they complete their notation, they can press play to listen to the melody!
But here is the twist…
The students will not know what song they are making! They will have to guess!
The student can make their best guess as to what song it is and then click on the following slide and remove the cover to reveal the answer. A listening example from the movie is also provided for the student to listen to and hear the melody in its original context!
Final Challenge
After completing the two mystery melodies (the students are asked to keep both Song Maker windows/tabs open in the video), they will pick their favorite one to customize in Song Maker. They can change the instrument, tempo, and add a drumbeat to the melody. Once they are finished with their masterpiece, you can choose to have the students send their creation to you by using a shareable link generated by Song Maker. All of this is explained in another screen recording showing the students exactly how to do each step! (Example below)
May the Fourth be with You!
I hope you can take away an idea or two from this post to help your students recognize the power of movie music while being able to celebrate this fun day at home!
If you are interested in accessing “Star Wars Mystery Melodies”, just fill out the form below to join my email list and grab this freebie!
If you are already a part of the Music and Motivate fam, then check your inbox for your Freebie Library password to download this resource 🙂
P.S. Check out Midnight Music
Literally as I was writing this post, I came across Katie Wardrobe’s blog where she shared her activity for Star Wars and Song Maker also! I guess great minds think alike 🙂 It looks amazing and is definitely worth the read. Her activity includes notating Star Wars melodies too, and she has different levels of difficulty for writing the same melody in Song Maker. Such a great idea!
Thanks for reading!
