A Free Orff Arrangement for Practicing Rhythm vs Beat
Miss White had a fright
In the middle of the night
Saw a ghost eating toast
Halfway up the lamp post!
Here's a fun arrangement to use with your young students, just in time for Halloween!
About the Arrangement
The name of the game here is simplicity!
I can't even begin to tell you the number of times I've looked at an arrangement and thought "Oh yeah, we can learn that in time!" and grossly underestimated the amount of time it would take to put the arrangement together.
This arrangement is designed for simplicity. This is made to be able to be thrown together in a few lessons if your students have already been practicing rhythm vs beat.
Instrumentation:
For this arrangement I've given the steady beat to the metals (finger cymbals and triangle). Membrane instruments have the rhythm (congas and bongos). This was to give just one more layer of differentiation of the rhythm and beat through the texture of instruments. The wind chimes add some spooky ambiance to make this perfect for halloween.
That said, you could use whatever instruments you have available in your classroom as well!
A Learning Plan:
Before students play this arrangement they should already know the terms rhythm and beat, and be comfortable speaking and playing both.
They'll also need to be very familiar with the rhyme, Miss White.
1. Speak and Clap
Have one half of the room speak and clap the rhythm of the words while the other half speaks and claps the steady beat. Make sure to switch the groups so that all students can practice both parts.
Be sure students speak this in their spookiest, most expressive, whisper-like voices!
2. Audiate and Clap
This flows very easily after students are comfortable speaking and clapping rhythm and beat. Simply ask them to "speak the rhyme in their heads" and repeat the activity from step 1.
3. Put on instruments!
Now the fun begins! The transition to instruments should be an easy one but always take time to remind students about how to treat the instruments with respect (remind them instruments are not toys).
They'll simply have the instrument "speak for them" while they speak the rhyme in their heads. Lastly, you can add the wind chimes.
For an Extension:
For an extension of this arrangement, have students create some ostinati they make themselves. Something like "Ah! A ghost" or "Ghost eating toast" would be perfect. These can even go on instruments if you have time!
Click to download the arrangement!
Happy teaching!
