Using Sight Reading Pattern Cards and Updates

I think I've posted before about how much I enjoy using the Sight Reading Pattern Cards at Jennifer Fink's Pianimation site. (They're free!) I use them with every beginner starting at about the 4th lesson while they're still in pre-reading notation as an introduction to how notes move on the staff, and I continue to use them throughout the first and second year. I pulled them out for a 2nd year student yesterday. She came up with a great variation for using them all by herself, and I thought you would all enjoy seeing it!

She wanted to make a composition with them. So, I let her choose 2 at random (pick a card, any card), and then she assigned a rhythm to the notes. We considered  rhythms in 3/4 and 4/4, and she chose this one. My cards are laminated, so we can write on them with dry erase markers. As a follow-up step, we could notate this on a full staff. 

Here she is, with her 2-measure composition. 

On other fronts, I thought I'd update you on how our covid policies are working out. So far, everything is going well. I did resort to online lessons for a couple of days while one of my family members had a cold and waited for the results of a test. Thankfully, it was negative. One of my students had the same situation, and returned to in-person lessons after her negative test. I'm lucky to have a great group of families, and we all benefit from the mutual trust that everyone will do the right thing.

I tried out this barrier tape on my piano as a way to cover the finish so that I could wipe it with a clorox wipe. Meh. It did work, but it looks messy because you can't pull out one long strip. It's perforated, and too flimsy to cut the width to the right size. While it didn't hurt the finish doing it one time, I felt that prolonged use might. So, I'm sticking with my original plans as described in this post. 

The masks I sewed for students turned out really cute! You can find the link to the pattern in this post. Several of my students wear them to every lesson. This is the child size on one of my first graders. It's slightly big, but she'll grow!!

I hope you are all faring well during this crazy corona year. My tech skills have improved exponentially, so I guess if I look hard enough, I can find a silver lining!