Revolutionary War Music

Today was Colony Day at Spanish Oaks Elementary. When I walked into the classroom, the kids were all dressed up in their colony attire with new colonist name tags such as Barnabas, Zedekiah, and Remember. The whiteboard was a chalkboard now with cursive writing. They had to sit in rows like pews, and each had their own copy of an old Primer book. There was a dunce hat on one of the boys, and I was instructed to use public shaming in my lesson if the kids deserved it.

We started out singing "Yankee Doodle," and learning about the meaning of "macaroni" and "yankee doodle." Then we performed a stick game, tapping and passing the sticks in a circle. The kids got it after a few times, and we had fun increasing the speed. Don't tap the sticks too hard or they will break! This game worked well with the 5th graders, maybe not so well if they were 1st graders.

We learned about the different Revolutionary War instruments, like the bugle, the fife, and the drum. The kids learned three different drum patterns for turning left, right, and 180 degrees. I would clap a pattern and the kids would have to turn the correct way. Whoever messed up sat down and we kept going until there was a winner. I had one of the kids be the drummer (clapper) too.