Aquatic Themes

Anchor Yourself with Music Basics

This is a good reference bulletin board that could be left up all year.  Basically the board lists some elements of music and defines them (or gives examples).  A large anchor with robe is placed in the center and fish accents dress up the rest of the board.

You can use desktop publishing software to create cool oceanic letters for the title and headings.

Create the anchor from construction paper, aluminum foil or styrofoam that you have carved and painted.

Add some more nautical touches with nets, goggles, sailor hats, etc... around the boarder of the bulletin board.

Get Hooked On Music

(submitted by Kate)

This is a bulletin board idea that I used in the late spring to promote music-related activities for kids over the summer. The title says, "Get Hooked on Music." It is on a blue background paper, with fish shapes and hooks made out of colored construction paper. I used black yarn, stapled to the background paper, to illustrate the fish "line" going down. On each fish, I wrote a music-related activity, such as: *read a book about music *attend a free municipal band concert at the city bandshell *research a composer on the Internet *sing a song with your family in the car *check out a tape or CD from the public library (other ideas could certainly be added)

"Sea What's Happening in Music!"

(submitted by Steve.Pam.Walley@worldnet.att.net)

At the beginning of the year, I like to put up a BB in the hallway outside my room. It highlights the activities students can expect to do in music. This year's BB was titled "'Sea' What's Happening in Music." using a blue background and sea creature cut-outs, I listed music activities such as choir, recorders, dancing, listening, singing, playing instruments, composing, improvising, chimes, etc.

Last year, I used the same idea with the title, "Music is a BUNCH of Fun!" and created a big cluster of purple grapes on a green background.

An Ocean of Operas

This bulletin board takes a bit of preparations, but the rewards are worth it. First you need to print out (from your favorite publishing software) several sea shells of different shapes and colors. They need to be about 3-4 inches big so that you can write names on them and they can be seen from a small distance. After you have cut out the seashells take a piece of plain construction paper and trace the outline of that shell onto it. This will be the "shadow" of the shell. Staple the shadow directly behind the colored shell. On the colored front shell you should write the name of a famous opera. On the inside (shadow) you should write the composer of the opera. Students can then lift the top shell and see who wrote the opera. .

You can apply these to a bulletin board with a plain blue background. Some other neat backgrounds to try may be a plain blue paper with waves drawn with white crayon or chalk. Cover that with a blue plastic wrap for a cool oceany look.

Here are some of the operas I would suggest you use: "Amahl and the Night Visitors" by Gian Carlo Menotti, "The Ballad of Baby Doe" by Douglas Moore, "The Barber of Sevil" by Gioacchino Rossini, "Carmen" by George Bizet, "Don Juan" by Wolfgang Mozart, "Hansel and Gretel" by Engle Humperdinck, "Madam Butterfly" by Giocomo Pucchini, "The Magic Flute" by Mozart, "Samson and Delilah" by Camille Saint-Saens, "Porgy and Bess" by George Gershwin, "Treemonisha" by Scott Joplin.

Under the Sea

(submitted by Amanda)

My bulletin board is titled, "Under the Sea." The themed tied in with music about the ocean and whales. The board background was dark blue paper. Along the bottom edge was a border of brown rocks. Bubbles (white construction paper) "floated" in the water amongst fish, crabs, sea plants, and sharks. Each ocean animal had a string attached to it's mouth. The animal was labeled with a note symbol (q x h ). The bubbles were labeled with the beat value of each note in 4/4 time. The students could use time before class to match the fish to the bubble. This board worked really well with 3 - 5 graders. They would try to see how fast they could match up the right pairs. I would occasionally move the bubbles so that the students would have to think -- not memorize placement -- to get the pairs together.

Fish In Time

Hoppin' Music Room

Hooked on a New Style of Music

Musical Pearls of Wisdom