Music in First Grade: How to Present Quarter Rest
In this post we looked at some great ways to prepare quarter rest through singing, games, listening, analyzing, and notating.
Now that students have this preparation it’s time to present the name and symbol for a quarter rest.
To do this, we first need to know if students have enough experience with a quarter rest. Then we need a solid presentation plan to follow.
Let’s jump in!
A Quick and Simple Presentation Test
The point of a presentation test is to ensure that the class is ready to move on to labeling and seeing the new notation for the rhythmic element. If you have data from these preparation activities, great! If not, this presentation test is perfect for you.
When I give a presentation test I’ll use one of my favorite songs for teaching quarter rest, such as Bow Wow Wow.
With four steady beat hearts on the board, I’ll ask students to tell me on what beat there is no sound. They will show the correct number of fingers on their hand (holding up 1, 2, 3, or 4 fingers), but only when I say “Go”. This helps me know that students aren’t simply looking at someone else’s answer and copying.
Students keep a steady beat on their laps as we sing the second phrase of the song, “whose dog art thou?”, and then I ask them to stop and think before they answer.
Then we sing it again.
By the time I say “go” students are confident that the answer they give is their own. I also ask students to hold their answer close to their chest, so their neighbor doesn’t accidentally see.
Then I can quickly go around the circle with my seating and assessment chart and mark grades for each student.
When I see that the majority of the class has given the correct answer, I know we’re ready to move on to presentation.
2. Presenting Ta Rest
With the data in from our presentation test, students are ready to move onto the next phase. The purpose of the presentation phase is for students to give a name to the sound they hear, and see the visual representation.
To present ta rest, follow a procedure and script something like this:
2. Give it a name:
Students keep steady beat on their laps while the teacher points to steady beats on the board. Sing Bow Wow Wow together.
T: “Remind me, how many sounds do we hear on this beat?” (none)
T: “In this class, we have a special name for no sound on a beat. It’s called ta rest. Let’s say ‘ssshh’ when there’s a ta rest, that way we remember not to make any sound there.”
Students sing the whole song speaking “ssshh” at the appropriate time.
2. Give it a symbol:
T: “We can represent ta rest by using this sign: Z”
Students help the teacher notate whole song in rhythmic notation.
Students speak and clap the whole song in rhythm syllables
I love this presentation plan for a few reasons:
The presentation test is super simple and gives me the information I need before moving forward.
I also love how the presentation script uses everything students have learned about rhythm so far - steady beat, rhythm, ta, ta-di. . . And now we get to build on that solid foundation of musical experience.
Next time we’ll look at some awesome ways to practice ta rest.
Happy teaching!
