games

BrainPOP is perfect for elementary general music teachers. Topics include basic note reading, scales, and harmony as well as famous musicians and instrument families.  Each topic comes with several interactive activities/games and a video lesson. Some activities and lessons are free, but the teacher account has access to full lesson plans with standards.

Price: Limited free access, paid subscription for full access

Link: BrainPOP

This program makes music fun with scaffolded games that teach basic music concepts like theory, note reading, and ear training. Teachers can assign over 150+ games and monitor progress directly from the app or website. There is also an option to find and connect with private lesson teachers for voice and/or instruments.

Price: Free

Link: Tunelark

This an incredibly comprehensive website in music for students grades K-5. Having won many awards, the contents of this site include lesson plans for teachers, games for kids, guides for parents, and book reviews among many other resources. All lesson plans link National Standards and use a variety of teaching methodologies including Orff, Dalcroze and Kodaly.  The website also provides links to their podcast and radio broadcasts.

From the website:

“90.9 WGUC, Cincinnati’s classical music radio station, created Classics for Kids® as an entertaining, informative introduction to classical music for elementary school children. The six-minute radio program, also available as a podcast, explains classical music, composers, and terminology in easy-to-understand language that’s designed to appeal to audiences of all ages. The interactive multimedia website classicsforkids.com is a fun, engaging tool for teachers, parents, and kids. It’s full of information about music, including composer biographies, a dictionary of terms, guides to instruments from around the world, games, archives of all the Classics for Kids® podcasts, and much, much more.

The website also provides free, user-friendly materials to integrate music education into the curriculum. In addition to lesson plans, there are pages to explore rhythm, history, composition, and other aspects of music. All of that makes classicsforkids.com a valuable resource for classroom teachers and homeschoolers.”

Price: Free

Link: Classics for Kids

This resource is ideal for elementary and secondary instrumental teachers but would require some modification for use in online/distance instruction. One can use this board game-like spinner to randomly select an option to play a passage a certain way (staccato, quietly, loudly, and more). There is lots of room to modify this for different musical selections and instructional situations.

Price: Always Free

Link: Wheel Decide | The Playing Challenge

This resource is ideal for elementary and secondary instrumental teachers but would require some modification for use in online/distance instruction. One can use this board game-like spinner to randomly select an option to play a passage a certain way (staccato, quietly, loudly, and more). There is lots of room to modify this for different musical selections and instructional situations.

Price: Always Free

Link: Wheel Decide | The Playing Challenge

This resource is ideal for elementary and secondary instrumental teachers but would require some modification for use in online/distance instruction. One can use this board game-like spinner to randomly select an option to play a passage a certain way (staccato, quietly, loudly, and more). There is lots of room to modify this for different musical selections and instructional situations.

Price: Always Free

Link: Wheel Decide | The Playing Challenge