Note Value Lessons

Teaching young students the values of different notes can be tricky. This is a tried and true activity that helps students understand whole, half and quarter notes. This isn't an original Preschoolers and Piano idea, but it's definitely worth posting here for you all. Enjoy!

Supplies:

• Construction Paper
• White Printer Paper (3 sheets)
• Marker (or printer)

Instructions:

Cut one printer paper sheet into 4 sections. Cut another in half. Leave the last one intact. On each of the 1/4 size pieces, draw a quarter note. One the 1/2 pieces, draw a half note. And on the full page, draw a whole note. (You can also use the computer to print them out. Just make sure you use 1/4 of the page for each quarter note, etc).

Glue the notes on to construction paper (opt.). Be sure you keep the size of the paper accurate (1/4 page for quarter notes, 1/2 page for half notes, etc).

Show your student the whole note (sometimes it helps to have 4 written on the page) and explain this is a whole note and gets 4 counts. Then show the half notes and explain that two half notes are the same as one whole note (put the pages on top and show that two half notes are the same size as a whole note). I used to teach quarter notes first, but it was hard for the young students to understand a measure. But this visual aid helps them gain a more concrete understanding of a measure and how the notes relate to each other.