This idea was gleaned from a couple of other education blogs, and was a hit with the third grade students today. I took an old Jenga game and with a Sharpie drew musical symbols/terminology/rhythm patterns/notes on the staff on one side of each Jenga block. A person could color code the blocks to sort quickly for different ability levels.
Students played just as in regular Jenga but with a musical twist. After they removed the block, they had to identify the musical term/symbol etc. on the block. If they didn't know it, someone from the class would volunteer the answer, and the person taking the turn had to draw another block. I limited the number of times for each student to draw to 2. The students did a pretty good job of building the tower higher and it served as a fun review for the end of the year.
