RECORDERS!

Third grade students have started to  learn to play the recorder this semester!  They are all very excited!  We have learned 3 notes so far, B-A-G.  We can play LOTS of songs with those three notes!  We have talked about the proper way to blow into a recorder (slow and with warm air), as well as how to properly care for our recorders.  (It's important to remember that the recorder is an instrument, not a weapon to hit little bro with!)  
The earliest use of the word "recorder" was in the household of the Earl of Derby in 1388: nomine Recordour.^[1]   There are many sizes of recorder ranging from the Sopranino to the Bass.  We are playing the Soprano Recorder in class.  

Today we did an activity matching the "bumble bees" with letter names to the "trash cans" with the notation on them.  The students did pretty well!  There were a lot of bees that needed to find their can!  After things were matched up, students chose patterns of the melodies to practice with their partner.