Season Six
Episode 130
Pear Deck and Rhythm Writing
This short series of episodes is all about rhythm. In episode 129 I shared four systems for counting and speaking rhythm. One is not better than the other. It just depends on which system works best for you in your teaching situation and then being consistent with it! In this episode I’m going to be sharing how I’m using Pear Deck to engage students in rhythm writing. In episode 114 I shared nine tech tools that I wanted to use this school year. It’s taking me a bit of time to figure out each tech tool as I go, but with each one I’m building confidence and learning new ways to make learning engaging and creative in a technology kind of way. As I’m learning how to use each tech tool, creating content and growing in confidence with what I’m seeing in my classroom I’m sharing with you!
So what is Pear Deck? Pear Deck is an add-on within google slides. You can allow students to follow the lesson at the same time that you are presenting it (which allows you to control when they move to the next slide and to see student work in real time) or you can choose to give students a link where they can follow the directions and slides you’ve created at their own pace. The Free Version includes: ready-to-teach templates, keeping students in-sync with locks and timers, help with controlling pact of class and project student answers anonymously, interactive questions, polls, quizzes, formative assessments and more.
I was confused at first about how it actually worked because I couldn’t wrap my mind around how it would look until I actually used it in the classroom. I’ll do my best to explain what you can do with it and then how I’ve used it with students. You can add Pear Deck to any google slides presentation that you created in the past OR create a new slides presentation and add Pear Deck to it. To make Pear Deck work you must click on Add-Ons - Pear Deck for Google Slides Add-On - Open Pear Deck Add-On. A column will show up on the right hand side of your screen where you can decide what you’d like students to be able to do on specific slides of the slideshow. These include text - draw - choice - number - draggable - website. You can even add audio to your slides! I’ve done this and it makes it a great way for students to not only read directions, but listen to them as well. Once you’ve chosen what you want students to do on specific slides, then it’s time to start the lesson.
At the top of the right hand column (where the Pear Deck Add-On items appear) you’ll see the words “Start the Lesson.” When you click on it, you’ll have the options for student paced activity where students do it on their own time or for instructor paced activity where you lead the lesson virtually leading or in-person or both at the same time. This is a huge bonus being able to lead students so they can see and interact with your lesson if you have students in a hybrid or virtual environment. If you choose student paced, you’ll be given a link to share with students. You are also given the option to share it to your Google Classroom. I use Schoology so I haven’t tried this option, but how cool that you can put it right in Google Classroom so students can find it easier. If you choose teacher paced, you’ll ask students to go to joinpd.com and then enter the code given.
One of the coolest parts is that students are each given their own separate slideshow to write on without you needing to create individual slideshows and share them with each student individually. You receive their individual work at the end of the lesson! You can then check their work afterwards or even compare and look at their work along the way.
The best way I can explain what Pear Deck is is to describe it as an interactive slideshow. The students aren’t just following and reading or looking at the slides I’ve created, but they are able to interact through writing in a text box, drawing, dragging items on the slides, or responding by circling what they believe is the correct answer.
Pear Deck can be used in many ways and is an awesome way to have students write and create rhythms - no matter what system you use. I’ve created a few Pear Deck lessons since the beginning of the year. If you’d like to try them in your classroom, I’ll share the Pear Deck links in the shownotes and the blog. Here’s are a few ways that you can use Pear Deck for rhythm reading and writing:
Writing Shorthand rhythm notation and then drawing standard rhythm notation
This year I’m using the takadimi counting system and loving it. First we do a lot of listening and echoing and speaking on neutral syllables before we move to writing and identifying what the notes look like. When I start out doing dictation or helping students identify how to draw each note, I use a shorthand system. If there is one sound on a beat, students draw a line. If there are two sounds on a beat, students draw a line and a slash across the line. If there are three sounds on a beat, students draw a line and two slashes across the line. If there is a rest, students write a capital R above the line representing the beat.
I created a Pear Deck that includes templates for Meters of 4 and 3. I will speak them in class using a neutral syllable like ‘ba’ or speak a phrase of words and students identify how many sounds are on each beat and write the shorthand first. Then write the standard notes underneath.
Winter Rhythm Writing Pear Deck
Creating rhythms using specific words and then write the rhythms above using either the shorthand or standard rhythm notation
At Halloween I created a Pear Deck where students chose four words or phrases from a word bank at the bottom of each slide and then figured out the rhythm associated with each word/phrase on each beat and wrote the rhythm. I’ve also created one for students to do this holiday season. Both are included in the show notes and blog. After students create their rhythm phrases, ask them to choose their favorite phrase to share with the class. If students have instruments accessible to them they could speak and perform their rhythm on the drums. Students could even pair together to create longer phrases of 8-beats and figure out how they want to perform their rhythms. For example, if I was paired with Sam then we’d decide whose phrase will be spoken first and whose phrase will be spoken second. Let’s say we do Sam’s phrase and then mine and they go like this:
Gingerbread Frosting Gingerbread Cane / Snow Snow Chocolate Snow
From here we would figure out where the tones and the basses on the drums should be played. Voila! You now have a longer ostinato pattern. Students can perform them with partners simultaneously and an entire piece could be created from what students have made from their pear deck rhythms.
Halloween Rhythm Pear Deck - *BONUS* (I know it's not Halloween, but I since I talk about it in the episode I thought I'd share it)
Gingerbread Rhythm Pear Deck
Students can interact with song material that they are learning
What I love about this is that instead of students watching us teach the rhythms and notes on the board, they can be doing it as we lead them. They’re doing something with what they’re learning. Ideas include having students identify the rhythm within a song, writing the rhythm in shorthand, reading the rhythm with music notation, adding solfege to the pitches, and performing the song! I found this piece on the Waldorf School Song website and especially love it because of the minor tonality (my favorite). What’s super cool is that the rhythms are simplistic and the two melodies put together can be performed in a double canon!
Waldorf School Song Website
Snow is Crisp’ring Song
Snow is Crisp’ring Pear Deck
I’ve enjoyed using Pear Deck in my classroom and hope that you’ll try it out as well to see how you can use it in yours!
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