Introducing Instruments of the Orchestra

• Kayleigh Parker
• Posted 1/23/23
• 0 comments

Third grade is the perfect time to uncover each instrument’s unique qualities and classify them into families. The student’s excitement over their discoveries provides the foundation of our recruiting efforts for band and orchestra in grade five.  

These are my favorite resources to engage students in learning about individual instruments and their families. 

Carnegie Hall’s Listening Adventures: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

Students engage with Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra as they navigate online games learning about the qualities of each instrument in the orchestra. Play the games as a class or allow students to bring their 1:1 device to music for individual play. 

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin  

Introduce students to the orchestra’s instruments with this colorful picture book by Lloyd Moses.  Produced by Reading Rainbow, the animated version of the book is available to view on YouTube, making it perfect for a sub! 

MusicPlayOnline  

This online subscription has been a lifeline to my teaching for the past two years.  One of my favorite sections is their Introduction to the Orchestra.  This section features a slide show about the instruments, videos on how to play/take care of instruments, worksheets, and instrument games.  

Music Workshop 

This online site has a variety of materials for music educators.  I like the 20-minute videos about different instruments, including brass, percussion, world instruments, guitar, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds.  There are also worksheets, fun facts, movement ideas, and guiding questions to ask students while viewing – another perfect resource for subs! 

Music Fun 

If you are looking for worksheets to accompany your teaching, this site has some great ones. Musical Instrument is a worksheet set that includes word finds, categorizing, and scrambled letters.  Make sure to download the Answer Key too.  I use these as an assessment tool. 

Contributor

Kayleigh Parker

Kayleigh Parker graduated with a Bachelor’s in Music with teacher’s licensure (K-12th grade, instrumental concentration) with a minor in community health and a teaching endorsement in health education (9th-12th grade) from Eastern Illinois University in December of 2014. Kayleigh…

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