I love incorporating picture books into my elementary music lessons. How? By teaching rhythm composition with syllables. I give my students opportunities to compose rhythms inspired by the stories we read together. There are so many stories that include rhythmic text, percussive words and rhymes – the perfect recipe for a great music lesson!
Not sure which stories to use? Here are some picture books to get you started:
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Jazmin is trying to stomp away the rain so that she can march in the neighbourhood parade. There are TONS of great percussive words in this story including quarter notes ‘ta’ (bam, bash, whoosh), eighth notes ‘titi’ (splish-splish, clink-clink), sixteenth notes ‘tika tika’ (rattle rattle, walla walla, clatter clatter) and a combination of notes ‘ti-tika’ (boom walla) and ‘tika-ti’ (tippity).
Read the original story or its number sequel ‘Chicka Chicka 123’! These books are favourites in any classroom and are a great choice when focusing on quarter notes (ta) and eighth notes (titi), e.g. chicka chicka boom boom = titi titi ta ta.
Get your own copy of ‘Chicka Chicka Boom Boom’ and ‘Chicka Chicka 123’.
This rhyming story includes a variety of rhythmic words to help get Lolli to bed (who will NOT stop dancing!) For this one, I like to use snippets from the text such as “sisters dancing” (tika tika) and “hands tutting” (ti-tika).
Playtime comes to life as this little boy hears a variety of sounds such as tick-tock, clitter clatter, meow, and pitter-patter as he plays throughout the day. This is a great choice when teaching quarter notes (ta), eighth notes (titi) and sixteenth notes (tika tika).
This is an awesome spooky story! It’s bedtime at the swamp, except there might still be a monster on the loose! With the repeating refrain “splish splash rumba-rumba bim bam boom” (aka “titi tika-tika titi ta”) there are lots of opportunities to create and identify rhythms.
And that’s it!
It usually takes my students a few tries to really get the hang of it but it’s a super engaging (and no prep) cross-curricular music and literacy lesson. The composing worksheets also include an option to add body percussion, which is always a fun addition!
Interested in more picture books that help you teach rhythm? Click Here
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My name is Alessandra and I am a Kindergarten-Grade 8 Teacher of the Arts, specializing in music and dance education. Based in Toronto, Canada, I teach 800+ students a week and am a huge advocate for the arts. I graduated with a Bachelors of Music Therapy & Masters of Education, and I am passionate about fostering a quality music education program for every learner.
