Multiplication Strategies

I don't know about anyone else but I've been finding lately that there are some kids who are dead set on using a multiplication strategy that just isn't working for them. For some of them it's because their classroom teacher said that only really smart people can use this one and for others it's because they get to draw a picture. Either way, what results after a while is a kid who hates multiplication with a burning passion and refuses to try for fear of failure.
This sheet is designed to stop that before it starts. It encourages kids to check their answers before they pick a strategy to use forever and to consider which strategies work for what kind of problem.

I intend to release strategy sets for addition, subtraction and division in due course. This one was just the most necessary this week. Pop over to TPT to grab it for just $1

Hope this helps

Music Flash Cards for Elementary/Primary

Flashcards are such an awesome resource for drilling vocabulary, note reading, performance directions and all those other things that little musicians just have to know. 
I created this for my first year recorder class and expect that they knew all of the terminology listed in these flash cards by the end of the year.
I start off with a small set of flashcards with the ones my kids already know, usually in about week 3-4 of school, and add more in as we go.
I also normally bring them back at the beginning of each new school year to refresh my older kids as well.

If you want a copy of these to use in your music classroom, pop on over to TPT to download

Teaching Recorder Fingering to Younger Kids

Hi guys

Pop on over to TPT  for this awesome FREE 3D fingering chart printable for younger kids.

I have found that most young kids have difficulty translating a 2D fingering chart image to where they actually have to put their fingers. This activity is super helpful because it gets them physically sticking the paper fingers onto a cardboard recorder. If a finger is glued down, it can't move anywhere else, the aim is to create a wall hanging that they can refer to over and over if they forget how to play a note.

Enjoy!

How do you start a blog?

I guess I should introduce myself, I teach music to children aged 4-10 and have done for 8 years now, I also tutor struggling kids in Maths and English to bring them up to their level.
  Basically I have been frustrated for a while about the lack of resources out there for enriching music lessons and have had to come up with ideas on the fly as I'm sure many fellow teachers have as well.     I'm kind of using this as a way to actually write down and collate some of my ideas and share what worked and what hasn't. Hopefully this site becomes a place for primary teachers in New Zealand and around the world to come to when they need ideas for their lessons.