This semester I wanted to encourage repetition in the practice time of my beginners who started in September.
For the first half of the year they’ve been getting the ‘My Piano Practice’ assignment sheets. These track practice by days, and help get students into the habit of practicing regularly.
Now it’s time to starting amping up the practice time!
I love these assignment sheets that Sara Campbell has been making, where the student colours something in each time they practice, so fun!
I wanted to modify this idea so that every time a certain piece was played they would colour something in, and since my worksheet theme for this semester is Fiendish Fishiness, I thought I would use a sea creature theme.
There are three different versions of the assignment sheet in the pdf (just click on the above image to download). Each one has a different mix of sea creatures to add to the fun.
But that’s not all! I had a new assignment sheet, but I also needed a new practice incentive.
My students had filled in all their ice-cream cones last semester, and I was in search of inspiration. Then I found these cute footstep stickers at my local office supply store, and I thought aha! A treasure map!
What could be a better fit for my fishy theme?!
The students get a footstep filled in for every 20 sea creatures they collect. This map will encourage repetition even more – and it’s great fun. 🙂
Their aim is to reach the treasure chest before the end of the semester. They could easily get there long before that. I wanted to make it doable for my slightly less enthusiastic practicers, but still motivating.
Click here to download the treasure map pdf. I’ve also included a second page, without the words “Every 20 sea creatures will get you one step closer to the treasure chest!” in case you want to use them in a different way. If you can’t get your hands on footstep stickers, I’m sure you could find another way to fill them in, such as with a marker (perhaps gold to make it sparkle).
Find more piano assignment sheets to suit all your students in this roundup post.
If you have any questions or comments please leave them below and I’ll get back to you asap!
These are so adorable! I’m going to use that treasure chest with my students this summer… it’s perfect, because I actually keep the piano incentives in a treasure chest in the studio 🙂 Thanks for sharing your great resources! (And thanks for the link!)
I just found your blog and I love it! Thanks for all the great ideas and printables! Each year I do a big practice incentive that lasts about 9 months. The students who complete the whole thing receive a trophy at the end. I like the idea of students coloring in how many times they practice the piece, but what do you do if the student clearly didn’t practice but still colored in the sheet? Any ideas on how to handle that? Thanks for your help!
Hi Ellen! Glad you’re enjoying the blog! I honestly don’t have any students that do that, but perhaps you could get their parents involved, have them put a tick above for the number of repetitions done, and then the student colours them in after. Another approach I might take is to spend the lesson teaching the student how to practice effectively (even if you think they didn’t practice at all). That way they know you don’t think they’re making the progress you expect, but you’re not getting into a silly argument.
Thank YOU sooo much for all your printables and sharing, especially for the extra wiggly students. Definitely need these to keep practice going for my kids!
Glad I stumbled upon this post. I think I might make an “adult” version of this for my teen and adult students to keep track of their practicing.
Fun! I’d love to see it when it’s done Chris! 🙂