Snowball Fight
A snowball fight is a fun way for students to work together, brainstorm, and create in music class. While the snowball fight is the most fun using pencil and paper, it’s a versatile activity that will work digitally as well.
How to have a snowball fight
For a pencil-and-paper snowball fight, each person starts with one Snowball Fight paper. Students respond to the prompt in the upper left section of their paper, or in the first measure if it’s a notation activity. Then here’s where the fun starts – students now crumple their papers into a ball (a snowball!) and on your count, throw them across the room! The snowball fight can continue for 30-60 seconds, if you choose.
Next, instruct students to pick up one snowball, open the paper, and add their thoughts to the next section of the paper, or the next measure. Repeat the snowball fight two more times, so all four sections of the paper, or all four measures, have been completed by a different student.
For a digital version of the snowball fight, you can use Jamboard.
Each student chooses one Jamboard slide and responds to the prompt in the upper left section of the slide, or in the first measure if it’s a notation activity. Instead of crumpling and throwing, students simply find another slide to move to next. As an alternative, you could also have students move to the next sequential slide. Continue this process until all four sections have been completed by different students.
Suggestions for Music Classes
- Music composition. Using a set of parameters, each student composes one measure. You may encourage students to play or sing the composition after each new measure has been added.
- Adding expressive elements. Provide students with a four-measure melody. After each snowball round, students add 1 musical symbol to the melodic line – dynamics, articulation, tempo markings, etc. Students perform the short melodies with the new markings.
- Creating lyrics. Each student creates one line for original or parody lyrics. Show what you know. Students reflect on what they know about a specific topic and write one fact on their paper. The next student must either write a supporting fact or a new fact.
- Group brainstorming. If students are brainstorming ideas for upcoming performance or unit, the first student would write their suggestion on the paper, and the next students must add something that could fit with the original suggestion.
