October Elementary Music Wakelet: Pumpkins, Corn, and Play-Alongs, Oh My!
In the States, especially in areas where seasons change, it is October and time for fall. Though many companies introduce their pumpkin spice items in August, the fall motifs become real on October 1. Those who teach early childhood and elementary music classes begin to bring in fall-themed activities. I have researched YouTube and there are hundreds of songs, activities, play-alongs, movement videos, and more, all fall and Halloween-themed. I picked some and placed them in this Wakelet. Please feel free to use it, copy it, etc.
What is Wakelet?
Wakelet is a digital organizational platform that lets educators and students arrange and sort a mix of content, from videos to articles, to tweets, to Flip videos, to Google Drive, to OneDrive, to images, to texts, for easy access.
Pros of Wakelet
Wakelet can be easily and intuitively shared with others. The platform looks nice and is web-based, so it works on various devices and there is an iOS app as well. You can set it up to have it displayed in columns, grids, moods, compact, and media views. Wakelet integrates Giphy and Unsplash so you can add a cover image and a background image. It also connects to your Canva account so you could create your own cover and background images. Plus, you can safely play YouTube videos inside Wakelet without having to leave the app or program.
Cons of Wakelet
With the new look of Wakelet, it appears to no longer allow you to write in a description for your YouTube videos. Or at least it is that way with the column view. Therefore, you can include a text box under the YouTube box if you want to have a description for the YouTube video. Finally, Wakelet uses a significant amount of your device’s energy. When using my Macbook Pro, this site slows it down significantly. So much so that if I use the Safari web browser, Safari lets me know that the webpage is slowing down the responsiveness of the Mac.
Credit: unsplash-image-O6N9RV2rzX8.jpg
Fall and Halloween-Themed Videos for Elementary Music Ed
Here are some highlights of the Wakelet.
It’s Corn! (Featuring the C D G and Em Chords)
The first column is devoted to many resources for the popular fall-seasonal hit, “It’s Corn!” This adorable boy loves corn on a stick. He was interviewed about how much he loves corn and the video went viral. My students were walking around school quoting several catchphrases from, “it has the juice” to “I mean look at this thing. When I tried it with butter, everything changed!” The Wakelet includes numerous play-along videos from boomwhackers, to rhythms, to ukuleles. My students’ favorite was this ukulele play-along with just four chords. They learned each chord separately. Those who wanted to level up their challenge would play two or more chords. When we had learned all four chords, the students chose which chord they would play in the song. Some chose one chord while many others chose two or more chords. It was corntastic!
Preschool/Kindergarten (PS/K) Fall-Themed Play-Along Videos
Many elementary music educators would like to include a fall-themed activity, but not have it associated with Halloween. This column has videos featured for preschoolers and kindergartners. They include steady-beat activities and short songs. Some highlights are:
Elementary Groove Tracks Five Little Pumpkins Choreography. Cameron creates original choreography for this favorite October song. He also has so many wonderful videos besides this one, so definitely check out his channel.
And Sarafina’s Fall Rhythm Play-Along (Use for steady beat practice as well as rhythm/syllable practice)
Elementary Fall-Themed Play-Along Videos
This column features fall-themed body percussion, rhythm-reading, and boomwhacker play-along videos for elementary music class. Some of the videos in this column also appear in other columns because even though the music is not about Halloween, there are images that appear in the video. Therefore, always check the video before you play it in class.
Some highlights from this column are:
Body Percussion/Rhythm Autumn Play-Along I created. This video has several pop songs about Autumn included in it. (Quarter, eighth, whole, dotted quarter, one eighth, and half notes as well as a quarter rest.)
And Ready GO Music’s Autumn Trail. The music on this video is beautiful. (Easy Mode: quarter, eighth, whole, and half notes, as well as a quarter rest.)
PS/K Halloween-Themed Play-Along Videos
These are videos that highlight Halloween-themed songs or play-along steady-beat videos. Some highlights are:
This is from my channel for you to use if you have to sing songs for a PS/K parade. There are movement and counting songs.
Elizabeth’s Halloween Steady Beat Play-Along Video. I love the music she uses in this video!
Elementary Halloween Rhythm and Body Percussion Play-Along Videos
In this column, I have the rhythm play-along videos on the top half and the body percussion play-along videos on the bottom half. Some highlights include…
This was one of my favorite medley videos I created last year. It is the October Rhythm Play-Along featuring some fun, popular songs of the month from Ghostbusters to Addams Family. (Meters of 3 and 4, as well as quarter, half, dotted half, whole, and eighth notes, along with a quarter rest.)
Mr. Henry’s Music World’s newly debuted Hocus Pocus Rhythm Play-Along for all of us Hocus Pocus (and now Hocus Pocus 2) fans! (Quarter and eighth notes and a quarter rest.)
Miss Chesterman’s “This is Halloween” body percussion play-along. I like that she shows herself performing the body percussion movements so that there is no question as to what the movements should be. (Movements with quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes, as well as whole, half, and quarter rests.)
There are so many in this column from numerous, wonderful, and reliable resources such as Musication, Mr. Henry, Mrs. Gibbs, Elementary Groove Tracks, ItzMusicTime!, and so many more.
Elementary Halloween-Themed Boomwhacker Play-Along Videos
This column features wonderful boomwhacker play-along videos with a Halloween theme. Some highlights are…
The always popular Swick’s Classroom “I Put a Spell on You.”
Aud Marrit Larsen’s “Harry Potter.”
The ever popular Musication’s “Ghostbusters”.
And I created a playlist of Kodály/Orff Schulwerk-inspired play-along videos. This one is in it and it is the popular “Skin and Bones” that includes the vocals, xylophones, percussion instruments, boomwhackers, and movements.
Elementary Halloween Games
This column features videos that have the purpose of being a rhythmic or singing assessment game. Some highlights are:
My version of “Pass the Pumpkin,” includes the game and the play-along parts.
Musical Drewby’s “The Addams Family Cup Passing Game.”
Highlights
This column features blog posts and webisodes about these popular videos. A highlight is MidnightMusic’s article titled “11 MORE Awesome Halloween Play Along Videos for Music Classes”.
Things to Remember
When using the Wakelet, here are some things to remember:
Wakelet can slow down your device
Test all videos before you use them in class
Check out the video creator’s channel for more videos to use throughout the year
Many of these videos have several versions from easy to challenging so you can use them with younger to older elementary grades
If you use a lot of the video creator’s materials and they have a page where you can sponsor or donate a cup of coffee to them (like buymeacoffee.com), please consider doing so
This Wakelet does not include all of the fall-themed and Halloween-themed play-along videos out there
If my columns do not match your curriculum, please feel free to make a copy and rearrange it to your liking
Have an amazing October!