I don't know about you, but we started school this week. This means I'm in "review" mode. In mid-to the end of kindergarten I start working with my kiddos on beat tracking and beat vs. "the way the words go" (a.k.a. rhythm).
One of the activities that I do in mid to late kindergarten and review in first grade is beat tracking. This is an important preparatory activity for music literacy (and is a great reading reinforcement for tracking left to right). Essentially, I have cards that have four icons. The students track the beats on the cards, from left to right and start back at the beginning of the card once they reach the last beat of the card. I have several cards that have hearts that represent the beat, but I also have song-specific cards. This varies the activity just enough so you can get "more bang for your buck" out of the same activity (that is, they practice and do the same activity with the only thing changing being the card.)
Below are some of my iconic beat strips. I DO NOT use all of these every year. I admit, I get bored using the same repertoire every year so I vary my song choice. And I do have more cards than just these; these cards just happened to be on the top of the pile.
I also use: "Pitter Patter" (in John Feierabend's early music program), "It's Raining, It's Pouring"
Can also be used with "Cobble Cobbler"
Can also be used with "I Have Lost My Jingle Bell" In Liz GilPatrick's Round the Seasons Book.
And here is an example of a non-specific song beat chart. I leave room at the top so these can also be used for writing and dictation, as seen below:
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