The SPACE NOTES - puzzle from Music Craft Book A

This month’s activity comes from the E-book version of Music Craft Book A - currently under development.
It is a puzzle from Unit 5 - Sharps and Flats - and you won't need your coloured pencils this time.

It is a prototype and by the time the E-book edition is ready, we will be making more use of sounds and animations.

In the meantime, why not try the puzzle. It will work on your computer or your iPad. We would love your feedback.

You will find the puzzzle here.

We are also working on paperless and interactive versions of many of our publications which will include embedded music and videos and interactive worksheets and puzzles. These are intended to be used on iPads and similar devices, notebooks, Macs and PCs. We will be trialing one or two titles to start with ... and we'll see where that takes us


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Groove E - a recorder piecefrom Cool Cats Red Hot Recorder Course – level 2

This month’s activity comes from Level 2 of our recorder course.

It’s called GROOVE E and it’s a fun, easy and creative way of introducing the note, LOW E. There is a section for students to create there own rhythms and a mystery question for them.

A really fun feature of this piece is that is in 2 sections: rock and swing.
Loads of fun to play.

You will find

• The lesson page from the book
• The demo track
• The backing track

by clicking here.


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March activity from The Interactive Music Room

The Interactive Musicroom Book 1

The Interactive Musicroom Book 1 is due to be released in the next couple of weeks and we have a free activity for you to try out.

You don't actually need to have an Interactive White Board (IWB) to see how this activity works. You can try it out on your computer with a free copy of Easiteach Reader - or you can watch the demo video and download the accompanying resource material we have for you.


You will find the activity here
Enjoy!


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Silent Night

A free Activity from
Start Singing
A singing resource from Bushfire Press

THIS YEAR’S FINAL ACTIVITY comes from Start Singing.

Start Singing with the Cool Cats Kids is designed to be a useful resource for any choral application, from classroom singing to choirs. It contains sections on voice exploration, warm-ups, exercises in breathing, tone, pitch, diction and harmony. There are also sections on troubleshooting, performance ideas, frequently asked questions - and even microphone technique. And there is an easy recipe for singing sessions.

The sections are arranged in an order for ease of location and use but are not intended to be necessarily used in a sequential way. Use whatever activities, exercises or songs suit your needs, in any order you like.

Many of the songs make excellent performance pieces.

The CD has vocal demonstrations (particularly useful for harmony) and backing tracks (great for performance).

THE FREE ACTIVITY: Silent Night

One of the world’s most well-known and much loved Christmas carols.

You can find the activity by following the links on this page

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You will find this activity by following the links from here.

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October Activity: Gamelan Music

This activity is from
Cool Cats Cross Arts Adventures Level 3

Gamelan music

The gamelan is the Javanese and Balinese orchestra.
It uses from a few to several dozen musicians, playing different melodic and rhythmic patterns on tuned and untuned percussion.
Find out more using the links at the bottom of this page.

Some examples of patterns can be heard on the audio file Gamelan Music.
Download scores and mp3 track below
The score and music are from
Cool Cats Cross Arts Adventures Level 3

Gamelan orchestra
Students in 8 groups
Using the score, students make a gamelan orchestra.
Groups 1 - 4 play tuned percussion instruments
using a 1 bar repeating pattern.
Groups 5 - 8 play untuned percussion instruments
using a 1 bar repeating pattern .

Try bringing the groups in one at a time .
Also - have a conductor bring the different groups in and out (except for groups 3 and 7 who must play ALL the time, to provide the pulse).

Students can invent their own 4 beat patterns.

You will find the mp3 track and the page from the book with the score here
and you can purchase Cool Cats Cross Arts Adventures Level 3 here

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August 2009 Free Activity - Marching Soldiers

The August activity comes from

Dance Room Level 2

lower primary edition
the second book in our New Dance Program
by Barbara Snook

Dance Room Level 2 is about to be released! This is your chance to preview this exciting new publication.

Marching Soldiers

This activity focuses on the Dance Element of Space.

In pairs, students make up a march where they pretend to be soldiers and march around the room in time to the music.
They can march on the spot, march forward, turn to face a different direction and march forward again. They are encouraged to make up their own marching dance.

A fun activity that helps your students map out their positions in space while they are moving around the floor.

Try it out, and then order a perousal copy of the book!

40 LESSON PLANS FOR LOWER PRIMARY!!!
Full colour book and four audio CDs.
Here is your dance and movement course for the year ready made, planned and ready to go!
Dance Room Dance program from Bushfire Press.

We have the music with all instructions and a pdf from the book to download. Enjoy!
Download the activity

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July 2009 Free Activity - Making a Robot

The July activity comes from

Dance Room Level 1

beginning primary edition
the first book in our New Dance Program
by Barbara Snook

Making a Robot

This is a great dance and movement activity

Students pretend that they are robots and move around the room to the provided music. They are invited to think and talk about their robot.

Dance Room Dance program from Bushfire Press. We have the music with all instructions and a pdf from the book to download. Enjoy!

40 LESSON PLANS FOR BEGINNING PRIMARY!!!
Full colour book and four audio CDs.
Here is your dance and movement course for the year ready made, planned and ready to go!

Download the activity

June 2009 Activity - ODD ONE OUT (Flute or Recorder)

THIS MONTH'S FREE ACTIVITY also comes from
Flute With a Twist Volume 1
By Marianne Broug

The book contains PHOTOCOPIABLE BLMs of Variations, Duets and Trios, musical games, puzzles in Classical, Jazz and Contemporary styles.
ODD ONE OUT is a puzzle for students to solve and the notes are easily played on the recorder. Can your students work out what the tune is and find the bar of music that doesn’t belong?
ODD ONE OUT is also suitable for recorder.

You will find the activity here

May 2009 Activity - Mushroom Magic (Flute or Recorder)

THIS MONTH'S FREE ACTIVITY comes from
Flute With a Twist Volume 1
By Marianne Broug

The book contains PHOTOCOPIABLE BLMs of Variations, Duets and Trios, musical games, puzzles in Classical, Jazz and Contemporary styles.

MUSHROOM MAGIC is also suitable for recorder and is a nice, easy, slow trio.
It’s great fun – so enjoy!

You will find the activity here

April 2009 Activity - Space Boogie

THIS MONTH'S FREE ACTIVITY comes from level 4 (upper primary) of our integrated Arts program: COOL CATS CROSS ARTS ADVENTURES
by Mark Leehy & Kevin O'Mara.


This song & activity is from the Space unit of Cool Cats Cross Arts Adventures level 4


We have just re-released the student books for levels 2-4 on CDROM. The CDROMs contain lyrics and student activity pages for music, dance, drama, media and visual art.
They can be used for data projection, enlarging, printing and copying etc. and replace the student books that accompanied the program.

We are giving you part of the level 4 unit 'Space'. We have a CD track and a PDF for a song and dance, 'Space Boogie', great electric guitar, lyrics and movement and dance activities.

This one's great fun and will have the kids really moving!

You will find the activity here

March 2009 Activity - Beautiful Soup

THIS MONTH'S FREE ACTIVITY comes our level 3 (middle primary) of our integrated Arts program: COOL CATS CROSS ARTS ADVENTURES
by Mark Leehy & Kevin O'Mara.


This song & activity is from the Nutrition unit of Cool Cats Cross Arts Adventures level 3


We have just re-released the student books for levels 2-4 on CDROM. The CDROMs contain lyrics and student activity pages for music, dance, drama, media and visual art.
They can be used for data projection, enlarging, printing and copying etc. and replace the student books that accompanied the program.

We are giving you part of the level 3 unit 'Nutrition'. We have CD tracks and PDFs for a great song, 'Beautiful Soup', a percussion arrangement, lyrics and movement and dance activities.

Another great activity to have fun with!

You will find the activity here

February 2009 Activity - The Lollipop Lady

THIS MONTH'S FREE ACTIVITY comes our level 2 (lower primary) of our integrated Arts program: COOL CATS CROSS ARTS ADVENTURES
by Mark Leehy & Kevin O'Mara.

AND IT'S A WHOPPER!

This song & activity is from the Our Local Community unit of Cool Cats Cross Arts Adventures level 2


We have just re-released the student books for levels 2-4 on CDROM. The CDROMs contain lyrics and student activity pages for music, dance, drama, media and visual art.
They can be used for data projection, enlarging, printing and copying etc. and replace the student books that accompanied the program.

To celebrate, we are giving you part of the level 2 unit 'Our Local Community'.
We have CD tracks and PDFs for a great song, 'The Lollipop Lady', a percussion arrangement and movement & dance activities.

We know your students will have loads of fun with these activities - enjoy!

You will find the activity here

November 2008 Activity - Good King Wenceslas

The activity comes from Cool Cats Red Hot Recorder Band

The activity is ...Good King Wenceslas

Cool Cats Red Hot Recorder Band has 20 great arrangements by Jeff Mead for descant, treble & tenor recorders.
Includes expanded arrangements of some Cool Cats favourites + a grab bag of pieces from around the world, some jazz, blues & rock, a little consort work, pieces for special occasions + a special concert piece, Al E. Cat's 3 Piece Band.
Photocopiable book & CD of demos & backings.

Yule love the cool treatment of this old favourite!
Buy the title, and you can use it at school assembly or in a performance!
In any case, you are welcome to use it in your classroom free.

We have the demo track, backing track and music for you.

You can download the activity by following the links from here

October 2008 Activity - Beat Box Boogie from Music Room Book5 - Middle Primary

The activity comes from Music Room Book5 - Middle Primary

The activity is ...BEAT BOX BOOGIE

Book 5 of Music Room introduces students to 4 roots feels: funk, calypso, hoedown and boogie-woogie.
This fun song is from unit 1 lesson 7 and introduces students to the 'boogie-woogie' feel and vocal harmony through simple singing parts..

We have the lyrics, a copy of the accompanying chart and the vocal CD track for you

You can download the activity by following the links from here

September 2008 Activity - Get Funky from Music Room Book5 - Middle Primary

The activity comes from Music Room Book5 - Middle Primary

The activity is ...GET FUNKY

Book 5 of Music Room introduces students to 4 roots feels: funk, calypso, hoedown and boogie-woogie.
This fun song is from unit 1 lesson 1 and students can learn the song, write their own lyrics and use instruments to join in with some easy funk riffs.

We have the free lesson plan including music, lyrics, arrangement and activity notes, a copy of the accompanying chart and the vocal CD track for you

You can download the activity by following the links from here

August 2008 Activity - from Music Craft Preliminary Book B

Music Craft
for Cool Cats
by Deana Dodds
illustrated by Jock Macneish
from Bushfire Press
Music Craft For Cool Cats
Deana Dodds
Preliminary Book B

We have ANOTHER two free sample activities available from this book.
You will find them here

Compatible with all major theory syllabuses:

• The AURAL component of the Music Craft Preliminary level; each book contains
  2 audio CDs.
  
• Complements Preliminary Book A
  
• Fun activities that challenge children to think
  
• Whilst being geared towards the AMEB exam, the book is still perfectly
  suitable for general classroom tuition.
  
• Activities are child friendly and fun to do.
  
• Complete FREE teacher notes are available on the website - suggestions for
  getting the most out of this resource; suggestions for exam preparation and
  for how to take students beyond the syllabus.
  
• The Cool Cats series of music books now being utilised by thousands of students across Australia.
  

May 2008 Activity - Meet the Wind Family

The May activity comes from

Cool Cats Cross Arts Adventures Level 3

Students meet woodwinds, reeds and brass through some simple hands-on activities involving bottles, straws and hose!.




Download the activity

April 2008 Activity - Dance in the Olden Days - Camelot

The April activity comes from

Dance Room Level 1

beginning primary edition
the first book in our New Dance Program
by Barbara Snook

Camelot

A very simple and fun activity from Unit 3, Lesson 10:
Form - narrative movements.

The students go back to the days of Camelot, performing dance movements that tell a simple story involving Knights, Ladies ... and horses!

Dance Room Dance program from Bushfire Press We have dance instructions, illustrations and 2 CD tracks (an instrumental version and a "guided" voice-over version) for you. Enjoy!

40 LESSON PLANS FOR BEGINNING PRIMARY!!!
Full colour book and four audio CDs.
Here is your dance and movement course for the year ready made, planned and ready to go!

Download the activity

February 2008 Activity - In the Dreaming

The February activity comes from

Dance Room Level 1

beginning primary edition
the first book in our New Dance Program
by Barbara Snook

In the Dreaming

We have the warm-up and stretch from the first lesson of our New Dance Program, Dance Room.

Students create steady rhythmic actions to represent Dreamtime animals in a simple piece with a stunning music track.
It's a great introduction to the "Action" element of dance, the first of 5 dance elements: action, space, time, energy and form.

We are sure you will love doing this activity with your students - and its a great introduction to the new Music Program.

40 LESSON PLANS FOR BEGINNING PRIMARY!!!
Full colour book and four audio CDs.
Here is your dance and movement course for the year ready made, planned and ready to go!

Download the activity

October 2007 Activity - O Tannenbaum

O Tannenbaum
from A Christmas Pageant
(then and now)
A Musical by Lynne Bartlett, Mark Leehy and Kevin O'Mara
Duration: 60 minutes.

We have the well-known carol sung firstly in German (O Tannenbaum) and then in English (O Christmas Tree).
There is a narration that explains the origins of the song and the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree,
as well as staging ideas for presenting the piece at your end-of-year concert or your 'Carols by Candlelight' evening ...
and ... the whole thing can be performed to the backing track we've provided.

AND - IT'S IN A SINGABLE KEY FOR KIDS!
Click here for more.