I have always done a unit on composition with my third graders after I taught them how to read the notes on the staff. It served several purposes. My students were able to practice their new found knowledge through repetition, combine many skills into one lesson, and they got to make their own music. For years I would write out their melodies on Finale when they had their song written out on staff paper. It took me several days to complete the five classes songs. Last year I was given three student computers and asked if they would download Finale Notepad so that my students could write out their songs themselves. Unfortunately, the free download was no longer free. It cost a whopping $9.95!
After having read about Noteflight from two of my critical friends, I thought I should have a look for myself. Noteflight is a free website that allows its users to compose and save their music. It is fairly straightforward and easy to use. In fact, it may be easier for my computer savvy students to understand. Users can save, edit, print, and export their creations from any computer anywhere. If a student is unable to complete the project in class, they may continue their work from home.
Noteflight also works seemlessly with Haiku so that teachers may collect and post projects by her students. Students may also listen to the compositions of the other students in class. They can post comments on what they've heard.
I really like this program and I can see many uses for it.
References
Noteflight. (2009). Noteflight. Retrieved on October 14, 2009 from http://www.noteflight.com/login
Kelly,
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that Noteflight has appeared. I hated losing my notepad program. I like this site too and I think it has a lot of uses. I would be excited to see some of the things your kids might produce. This could maybe something that we might be able to have our students look at each other's compositions and then exchange ideas and thoughts. This would be cool to use between two schools as a pen pal type of project.
This would be so cool! If you and Steve do this let me know how it goes!
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