Worked for me Wednesday: Mystery Message Game

I'm one day late to the party, but today I am linking up with Mrs. Miracle's Music Room for this fun linky, "Worked for me Wednesday."

My subject for "Worked for me Wednesday" is a tried-and-true game that I love to play with my intermediate students: Mystery Message from makingmusicfun.net.

First off, if you've never visited Making Music Fun, you need to go check it out. NOW. 

I'll wait here.....

Ok, welcome back. Is your head spinning from the sheer number of high quality music resources available? I thought so. This website was my SAVIOR when I first started teaching. Now that I've gotten into Teachers Pay Teachers, I sometimes forget about the resource gems that I've gotten from MMF. 

The game I am talking about today is Mystery Message. Setup is very easy (always a plus when you teach on a cart, as I do.) Just print enough game cards for every student and distribute some kind of writing implement. 

I opted to laminate mine and use dry erase markers so that students could follow along and write each letter on the bottom as they went along.

This is a fantastic game for practicing aural skills. I have my students sing the patterns using solfege. Here are a few recommendations I have to maximize student success:

• Use the gradual release model: Also known as "I do, We do, You." First, I model an example for the class using the document camera. Then, have the class figure out an entire word in a whole group setting. Finally, when the students are ready, I will let them pair up so that one student sings the clues while the other tries to guess the word.
• Provide a range of letters: Rather than just singing a pattern and asking the students to identify it, I give them a range (for example: A-L) so that my students don't get overwhelmed.
•  Sneak in assessment: I LOVE using games for assessments because they are a low-pressure way for me to get an idea of where my students are. While they are playing the game in pairs, I will circulate around the room to listen for rhythmic accuracy and pitch matching.

I hope you enjoy this game as much as I do! Don't forget to hop over to Mrs. Miracle's Music Room to read the rest of the posts in the linky party.