Rhythm All Around: Teacher's Handbook (100% Reproducible)

Albrecht's gift for writing lyrics that make children giggle while learning rhythmic concepts means your students stay engaged from the first song. The reproducible format and built-in suggestions for percussion and classroom instruments let you teach rhythm through immediate, hands-on experience without requiring a separate accompaniment recording. Beginning 2-part voicing provides a natural bridge from unison singing, letting younger students discover harmony organically.

Whimsical and playful, these songs invite children to notice rhythm in everyday moments. The unison songs are simple and direct, with clever lyrics that make the rhythm concept memorable (knocking at a door, the sounds of a busy kitchen), while the beginning 2-part arrangements add gentle harmonic texture without overwhelming young singers.

General music teachers and classroom music specialists working with kindergarten through fifth grade, especially those looking for unison repertoire that doubles as a tool for teaching rhythmic concepts and beginning part-singing. This handbook serves teachers who want songs that feel like play, not lessons, and who have access to a classroom set of unpitched percussion instruments or found sounds.

• Assign classroom instruments and body percussion to different groups before singing through each piece, so students internalize the rhythmic layers while they perform them.
• Let students generate their own sound effects and rhythmic patterns for the suggested instruments rather than prescribing exact ones; their ownership of the arrangement deepens engagement.
• Teach the melodic line first without accompaniment sounds, then layer in percussion and instruments once the song is secure.
• Use the recorded accompaniment (available separately) in rehearsal for students to hear the full arrangement, but build independence by rehearsing with piano or a cappella.

Open music class or an elementary concert with one of these selections to establish a joyful, participatory tone and show families that rhythm learning happens through song. String several pieces together as a unison medley for a spring or end-of-year performance that showcases student-created percussion parts. Use individual songs throughout the year as warm-ups or transitions between curriculum units, cycling through the book as your students' confidence grows.

• Recognition of rhythm patterns in speech and everyday sounds
• Rhythmic accuracy in unison and paired singing
• Beginning 2-part singing and harmonic listening
• Classification and use of classroom percussion and unpitched instruments
• Connection between lyrics and rhythmic notation
• Improvisation of rhythmic accompaniments