Building Strong Music Foundations

First grade students are in the midst of a rhythm unit in their general music class. During one lesson music teacher Julie Teague reinforced the concept of beat and divided beat with first graders through a story about going on a bear hunt. The activity led the class creating and sound out a rhythm pattern. The students used quarter notes, eighth notes and a quarter rest to create a short composition of four measures. Eventually the students will create their own compositions.

“At its core, rhythm is math and students quickly catch on to the fraction component. However, unless they can internalize steady beat, they won’t be able to achieve rhythmic accuracy,” explained Mrs. Teague.