Integrating Gaming and Simulations Into My Classroom
When I was young, we only had 5 TV channels, and 2 of them were PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). I love learning with educational programming that was provided. PBS continues to produce shows that teach many concepts to young children, and have expanded the learning with online games. Sesame Street continues to be a popular show with beloved characters and PBS Kids created a music game based on this show:
https://pbskids.org/sesame/games/monster-music/
There are 4 interactive games within Monster Music that students can play. Each game corresponds to a different muppet, but they all work in the same way. There is free play without a backing track to practice listening to and creating sounds, creating with a backing track (by clicking on the boombox), and a game where a mystery song is played by tapping on the glowing trash can/fruit/string/key (by clicking on the music notes).
Oscar the Grouch’s page uses drum and cymbals made from trash cans. This could be used as part of a unit on found sounds as well as percussion. Children can explore the timbres heard with the online instruments and compare and contrast with classroom instruments.
Elmo’s page uses a colorful piano to hear and play different diatonic pitches. This looks similar to some of my xylophones and metallophones, so students can translate moving pitches from left to right means pitches go up, and vice versa. A game like this is a great way for all students to use a keyboard of some type since I don’t have xylophones or metallophones for all of the students.
Abby’s page uses a colourful guitar that uses 4 pitches, Do, Re, Mi, and Sol. Experience with the pentatonic scale is almost complete with this activity, only La is missing. Older students could discuss why this is not pentatonic and what could be added to make it so, as well as comparing the order of pitches with those on a ukulele (La, Mi, Do, Sol respectively).
Cookie Monster’s page uses singing fruit and vegetables. They sing their names on the first 6 pitches of the major scale, which goes to reinforce Practical Life Skills for the Montessori classrooms. It also is another way to explore timbre and pitch with the voice, and the foods are designed with the smaller food being a lower pitch and the larger food being a higher pitch. The visual is the opposite of how our xylophones work (the smaller bars are higher) but can be a great point to discuss, as the taller food is “higher”.
All year long each class works on pitch, timbre, rhythm, and more. These concepts can be difficult for young children to grasp, but games like this make it more approachable and accessible for some of my students with physical disabilities. We could also imitate the games by playing the boombox on my SMARTBoard as the students play or sing along to the music.
The tricky part is making sure that each student can stay on the page they are assigned to when using the tablets in my room. I don’t have enough for all of my students to use at the same time, therefore having the class split where some explore and use the actual instruments while the others work with me on the tablets gives all a chance to play the games and for me to guide them on how to navigate the pages with the touchscreen. This requires no logins, which will make accessing the activity much faster. If I start the class off on my SMARTBoard, having each child briefly interact with a portion of the game, they will have already experienced how to manipulate the interface and can replicate it on the tablet. Typically the Montessori classes have an aide who can also help students, especially the younger ones who may become frustrated when their screen tapping goes awry and they lose the page. The best scenario would be that the aide would do the technical component with the students while I demonstrate technique and rhythm/pitch with the physical instruments.
While students explore the games, I can see better if demonstrating knowledge on the screen is easier than doing so on an instrument, and tailor the students’ tasks for more technique practice (skill builder) or if they are already moving ahead of the lesson and require enrichment. Hand eye coordination on the tablet or board goes hand in hand with manipulating and instrument and a mallet. The digital space helps to reinforce complex ideas like pitch and timbre with the same results each time; this is not necessarily the case when utilizing a physical instrument, which could lead them to problem solve why they are not able to produce sound so easily. This opens up the class to critical thinking and discussion with their neighbours, the whole class, or just me. Tracking their progress together throughout the year would aid their comprehension and application of musical concepts.
Wow, that was a really inspiring and informative post! The way you dissected each character's musical game and made a clear connection between it and actual classroom instruments as well as musical ideas like tone, timbre, and the pentatonic scale is fantastic. Your link between Elmo's vibrant piano and your xylophones and metallophones is a really clever method to assist students in bridging the gap between virtual and real-world learning situations.
ReplyDeleteI found your emphasis on accessibility to be really interesting. You demonstrate a thorough understanding of differentiated instruction by carefully planning the experience, beginning with the SMARTBoard presentation, matching students with aides, and switching between digital and hands-on instruments. I particularly like how you're using this tool as a formative assessment to determine how students understand and apply musical abilities in many genres, rather than merely as a "fun activity."
Your suggestion to use visual disparities as discussion starters for critical thinking—such as the size-to-pitch conflict in Cookie Monster's game—was really brilliant. That's a great method to encourage student discussion and investigation!