I got the idea to play Minute to Win It in my classroom from another orchestra blogger. You can find her ideas here. Most of what I did was borrowed from her, so I really can't take any credit at all! We played the day before President's Day break as a reward (read: bribe) for keeping instruments in the proper spots.
When the kids came into the room, I had groups of chairs set up so they could get into teams. I let them pick their own teams with a little guidance. A couple of the games depended on having at least one violin/viola or cello/bass on each team, so I tried to help them out that way. I also made sure to encourage them to pick teammates that wouldn't get them in trouble :) Teams of 4-5 worked well for me and on the day I did it, my largest group was 25. I don't know if I would be brave enough to do it with some of my larger groups, because 25 did get a little crazy.
I put a description of each activity (and a list of materials for me!) along with a timer on the SMARTBoard. Most classes got about halfway through this list, but one class got them all done and even played a couple games a second time! They LOVED it!
What's in a Name?
Teams had one minute to think of their team name. We had some pretty hilarious ones. One of my favorites was the Lactose-intolerant Spider Monkeys.
Rhythm Sorter
Materials: Cups numbered 1-4, one set for each team; ping pong balls with rhythms written on them, one set of 12 for each team
One person plays this game. Their job is to add up the number of beats on the ball and toss it into the cup with the correct number of beats. This was kind of tough for them and the cups tended to tip over, so I ended up standing behind and picking up tipped cups. At the end of a minute, the team with the most correct earned their team a point.
Note Roller
Materials: Giant staff made from masking tape on the floor, ping pong balls (I used the same ones from the Rhythm Sorter.)
I had two people from each team come up for this one. One person was in charge of rolling a ball onto the staff and naming the note it landed on. I did verify that the note was correct :) The other person stood on the other end of the staff (at the top) and their job was to roll the balls back and keep track of the number of correct notes. The pair with the most correct notes at the end of the minute got a point.
Bow Balloons
Materials: Balloons, student bows
One person from each team had to keep a balloon in the air for one minute using a good bow hold. At first, I had them stand inside a tape square, but that was WAY too hard, so I let them go wherever they needed to. I had envisioned that they would keep in in the air using the tip, but many kids flipped their bow so it was parallel to the floor and used the stick and the hair to keep the balloon up. I wasn't too fussy about how they did it as long as their bow hold was OK. This one was a riot!
Bass (or cello) Challenge
Materials: Student bass (or cello)
Materials: Student bass (or cello)
This one was funniest for me if the kids used a bass, but since I don't have basses in all my groups, I thought a cello would work OK too. For this one, a violin or viola player needed to unpack a bass and learn how to play Mary Had a Little Lamb. Teammates could coach, but not do (for example, take out the endpin) or demonstrate. I ended up giving one minute to unpack and one minute to learn the song since it is kind of hairy to get those basses out of the soft cases. We played pizzicato so we didn't have to mess with the bow. Anyone who could do it with no mistakes ("no mistakes" being a pretty loose term) got a point.
Violin (or viola) Challenge
Materials: Student violin (or viola)
Same thing as the bass challenge, but a cello or bass player has to play on a violin. This one was easily done in one minute total.
Method Book Mayhem
Materials: Student method books
In this game, I chose a random song and played it for the class. It was up to the teams to figure out which song was played. Each team who got it correct got a point. This was a pretty easy one, but they liked it.
Balance Challenge
Materials: Student violin/viola, rubber duck
Here, students balanced a rubber duck on their violin or viola for one minute without hands. At first, I tried it with pennies and that was a disaster. Thankfully, the PTA had some rubber ducks left over from a fundraiser and I borrowed a few! Anybody who could do it got a point.
Balanced Bows
Materials: Student bows
Students balanced a penny on their bent bow thumb for one minute. I had them do it with their tip pointing at the ceiling. A point for anyone who lasted the whole minute. Another pretty easy one, but they enjoyed it.
Scale Maker
Materials: Masking tape fingerboards on the floor, Cards with the notes of the D scale, one for each team.
In this challenge, one student had to construct the D scale on a fingerboard on the floor. For the 4th graders who haven't learned the D scale yet, I just called it their D and A string notes and it worked fine. I gave them the cards scrambled so they had to think a little to get them in the right order. I was a stickler for having the notes on the correct string (so the picture below would be correct for a viola or cello, but wrong for a violin) but did not penalize kids for incorrect half/whole step spacing. Again, anybody who could do it got a point.
Do You Hear What I Hear?
Materials: Student instruments
Starting with the instrument in its case, one person will unpack his or her own instrument and play a song by ear. I had them do "Hot Cross Buns" just because it isn't in our method book. "Twinkle" would be great too or really any tune you want. A point was given to anyone who could play it for me at the end of a minute with no mistakes (I was a little harsher judge on this one since kids were playing their own instruments). I only had one class get to this one, but they did well and seemed to like it.
Overall, it was a really fun time and I think I even tricked them into learning a little bit! It was a LOT of work to set up, but I was here for conferences the night before we played so that worked out great. The kids had a lot of fun and are already asking to play again! It was perfect as a reward and we might even do it on the last day after instruments are turned in. All in all, a great way to spend the last day before a break!
