FACEs on the Staff

You know those times where you see a really great idea and your students love it? Those times rock. You know those times when you want to punch that "really great idea" in the face but you can't because it is an idea and punching something is no way to solve a problem? Those times are annoying. 

While browsing around on Mrs. Q's Music Blog I came across her really cute idea to have her students make a face on a paper plate to remind them that the spaces on the treble clef spell FACE. Her students' faces were so cute and I wanted to do this with my 5s and 6s.

So I did! The kids came up with some great faces (see pictures below). My anger towards this project came when I went to hang them up. We had a very snowy day last Friday and I only had 4 of my Grade 5s come to school so I put two of them to work and had them hang the plates with masking tape on the door to the music room. On Monday morning I arrived and all the plates were lying on the floor. "No worries!" I thought to myself and promptly started to hang some of them with string and tape from the ceiling. 5 minutes later they started falling off. Now I was getting mad!

But I wasn't about to let these plates get the best of me and I wasn't about to disappoint my students by not displaying their work so I decided to put them on top of my really tall cupboards by taping them to some old trombone cases. You guessed it...that didn't work either and they all fell off. 

The plates that I had bought were really thick and high quality and I think that was the problem. Next time I will buy the cheapest, thinnest plates I can get my hands on! 

Finally, I had an idea that worked! I put the plates on the thin ledge above my chalkboard and used a thumb tack to stick the rest of them to the cork strip that lines the top. So far so good! None have fallen and they have served their purpose as all my classes and other teachers are admiring them and we will soon see if they remind the students that the spaces spell FACE. (They'd better!!!)