This post may contain affiliate links. You pay the same and I get a small commission. Yay! (Please see my/our full disclosure for further information.) Looking for simple and fun music lessons? These movement activities for 2-3 grade elementary music class are just the ticket! These lessons are for second and third grade. They will… Continue reading The Best Movement Activities for 2-3 Grade Elementary Music Class
In this blog post I'm going to talk about what I think are the five best activities you can use in your learning centers rotations!
Learn how to practice rhythms with this budget-friendly and fun rhythm game in your elementary music classroom.
I try not to over-plan for the first day of music class, but I like to have several activities at hand if the lesson moves faster...
Trying to understand how to teach solfege? Solfege is an essential strategy for teaching pitch but can be confusing for non-specialists. These solfege lesson plans will make it easy.
Setting up successful music centers for your kindergarten and first grade students does not need to be overwhelming! With the Four Seasons Early Elementary Music Center Bundle, your kindergarten and first grade students will become rhythm experts through fall, winter, spring, and summer! Using iconic notation, your youngest musicians will explore quarter notes and eighth notes through familiar pictures and vocabulary terms all year round. Each center activity is designed to be engaging for learners of all levels! Included Centers: Iconic Notation Rhythm Cards & Kaboom Game Iconic Notation Rhythm Mats and Printable Cut-and-Paste Worksheets Color by Code No-Prep Printable Coloring Page Picture Rhythm Sort Shape of a Melody Cards (in process!) See preview for center details! Ideal For: Elementary Music Educators: Perfect for elementary music teachers looking to add seasonal activities to their curriculum that allow students to explore and engage with new musical ideas. Piano Teachers: Easy-to-follow activities that can be implemented at private instrument lessons with your youngest learners. Homeschool Music Exploration: These activities can be easily used by parents looking to enhance their at home music instruction for their homeschooled students. The included lesson plans makes these an easy tool use for home use! Note to Buyers: **If you have purchased any of the individual titles in this bundle within the last 12 months and decide to purchase the bundle as well, contact TPT for a reimbursement for the cost of the individual products already purchased!!! Stay Connected: Find Rhythm videos and games on my YouTube channel! Catch updates and freebies on my email list!
It happens at every level, at every school I’ve ever taught in. A student asks, “can we play freeze dance today?” I’m always torn. I want my students to have fun and …
On the first day of music class (and in fact, the first few classes), I recommend focusing on three goals:
The helpless feeling you get when nothing you do seems to work with that one class can be absolutely horrible. Over the years I've had classes that leave me in tears, fill me with dread, make me want to take a sick day, or just leave me feeling like I have no idea what I'm doing. It's disconcerting at best, and can leave you completely miserable if you let it get the best of you. In this series I'm sharing some strategies that have helped me improve my ability to work with some challenging classes with various difficulties- I hope they help you if you find yourself in the same situation! Today I'm focusing on classes that have a high percentage of students with high needs. At the beginning of this series I shared my advice to keep those challenging groups from making you miserable- if you haven't already, I encourage you to read that post by clicking here. Hopefully the solutions I'm sharing today will help you improve your relationship with your tough class, but that process is going to take time and you need to make sure you keep the situation manageable (for you and your students) in the meantime. One of the points I shared in that post is to be prepared with a plan B, C, D, and E. There's a good chance the first strategy you try won't work! Remember that this is a process, and a very important one at that. Don't give up. High Needs Classes with a high percentage of students with high academic, social/ emotional, and other needs can be a particular struggle for music teachers because often these students are being given a lot of support from additional staffing, pull-outs, and other individualized supports in the homeroom but those same supports are not given in their other classes, including music. It's also difficult because we're teaching so many students, that staying on top of the individual needs and plans for each student is nearly impossible and certainly unreasonable. On top of that, the music class environment is different from their other classes, so many students respond differently to our class environment, and those challenges are not usually addressed in individualized plans for these students. So dealing with these classes appropriately can be a monumental task for us. tip #1: consolidate important information The first hurdle with these classes as music teachers is sorting through, processing, and keeping track of all the important information we need to know about individual student needs, whether that's medical information, home life situations/ background that affects behavior, IEP's, or any other information we receive formally and informally about all our students. Once we've made sure we have as much information as we can get about our students (more on that later), we need to find a way to use that information to inform our teaching. I have found it most helpful to go through all of the information I have and, for the students that I know I need to be mindful of, consolidate the information into one form. I use these IEP and medical information sheets to write down the most important information about those students that need any type of specific support in my classroom and keep them in my planner. Just the act of processing the information enough to consolidate it and then handwriting it helps tremendously with my own ability to stay on top of everything, and it's really helpful to have as a reference whenever I find myself running into problems. tip #2: integrate individual plans Often one of the frustrations with classes with high needs is that individual students will have plans in place to support them academically, behaviorally, or otherwise but a) those plans aren't shared with us, b) those plans don't include their time outside their homeroom, or c) the plans are too difficult to implement in the music room and manage alongside our hundreds of students. As frustrating as it is to take these extra steps to do so, it's in our best interest (not to mention the best interest of the students, obviously) to find ways to tap into those individual support plans. For most of us that means: continuously advocating for the need to keep us non-homeroom teachers in the loop when individualized plans are created, talking to staff members creating and implementing individual plans about how to make it work in the music room, and creating reminders for ourselves to stay on top of all these different plans. Often integrating an individual plan into our classes is as simple as including a spot for specials on any chart that is being filled out to monitor how students are doing and either making sure the chart is brought to specials for you to fill out or reporting to the homeroom teacher with how students did at the end of each class (if it's not a simple piece of paper that they can carry around). If they're earning some type of points/ rewards to reinforce specific behaviors, they should be able to earn them in your room as well and add it to their total. I find the easiest way for me to track things like how many "points" they earn in class or progress monitoring on a specific behavior is using rubber bands on my wrist, and I tell the student that the rubber band is the equivalent of their token/ dollar/ star/ whatever they're earning in their homeroom. You can read about how to do this in this post. If there are academic support tools they're using, like using a specific tool on an iPad for writing, grips for pencils, glasses, visual reminders, translation apps, etc, make sure they're bringing them to music class as well. And if they have one-on-one support staff working with them in the homeroom, advocate for the importance of having that same staffing available for music and other non-homeroom classes! Often this is a harder sell for administration but if you can document the difficulties the student is having in your class you can make a case for the importance of having them there. If there is something I need to track or equipment I need to have available to be able to bring these individual plans into my teaching, post-it note reminders directly on the seating chart for their class help me remember before they walk in the door. I use bright orange page flags with a note like "Aniya- bands" or "Jaden- chart" so that I remember to stay on top of using whatever system I have in place for them. tip #3: collaborate and communicate It's a lot of work and it's frustrating that the onus of responsibility falls on us, but the only way for us to be included as part of the team effort to support individual students, in most schools, is for us to take the initiative to include ourselves in as many meetings and conversations as we can and be proactive about staying involved in them throughout the year. Attending every single IEP meeting for the entire student population is certainly out of the question but I have asked to be added to emails so I am notified when meetings are happening so that I can give my input for others to take to the meeting, or ask to join if a student is a particular concern of mine as well. Beyond formal meetings, though, keeping the lines of communication open with colleagues is so important! Any time I notice a certain recurring behavior, or a sudden change in a student, I try to have a quick conversation with the homeroom teacher. Often they have either started noticing the same thing and my thoughts reinforce their thinking and lead to a plan, or they have a plan already to address it and I learn about it because I asked. The same goes the other way too- if I find success with a particular strategy, I try to share it with the other teachers. tip #4: prioritize procedures and structure One of the best things we can do for all of our students with behavioral and academic needs is to make our classes more predictable and structured. If your classroom isn't normally highly structured, this is probably the best place to start to help students be more successful in class! Explain and practice procedures for everything until students are all comfortable with the process, whether it's getting out pencils and paper, moving from chairs to carpet, or lining up at the end of class. Think through how to streamline each of those processes as well to make everything as straight-forward as possible. I've been freshly reminded this year that, as much as I feel like I'm repeating myself over and over again with these procedures, the students need those reminders WAY longer than I think because they're only coming into my room twice a week! For students who take longer to process things or don't instinctively do things the same way other kids their age might, these kinds of procedures have to be explicitly practiced. tip #5: provide opportunities for student collaboration For students who might be more defiant listening to a teacher or who struggle to understand a concept in the way we explain it, sometimes the best learning happens with their peers. I'm always surprised at the one thing that finally helps them understand something! Pairing up or putting students into small groups also allows me to work with students in the specific way that works best for them instead of interacting with the whole class at once, and many students learn better in a small group anyway. It's hard in elementary music where we're so used to working primarily with whole class activities, but for classes with high needs it's good to step back and give students time to process. Even just 2 minutes to share ideas or practice a part with a partner can help, doing a composition with a small group, or centers (here are lots of ideas about how to run centers, and my favorite center activities). I hope these suggestions help you better address the needs of your students in these types of classes! I'm not saying it will be easy, but these strategies have certainly made it more manageable for me to meet my students' needs as best as I can within my classroom setting. If you have any suggestions of your own or questions you'd like to ask about this topic, please leave them in the comments below! And if you'd like to read more about how I handle "behavior management" as a whole, here are all my top posts on the topic.
I love using body percussion in my music classroom. It's an effective way to TEACH Beat too. So, here are my easy body percussion activities.
Check out this post for creative and exciting ways to add scarves into your music activities. Also, find some specific scarf music examples.
Looking for a fun way to teach crescendos and decrescendos? The Monkey Game is the most requested game in my elementary music room-- and will be yours too!
Pass the Shoe is a fantastic song for practicing steady beat in the elementary music classroom. It's a short song with a catchy tune, making it easy for students to internalize. The accompanying game can be modified in multiple ways to fit nearly any age group and skill level.
Are you looking for ways to use the Olympics for elementary music? Here are three music activities that your music students will love!
You know exactly what I'm talking about: yeah, THAT class. The one that you dread every time you see them on your schedule for the day, the one that keeps you up at night, the one that you keep talking about with your colleagues trying to figure out how to get through to them, the one that your family and close friends know so much about because you're always coming home with stories. We've all had classes that seem to confound us, no matter how long we've been teaching. I've had one most years, including this year, and I'm well over a decade into my career. Today I want to share some general, practical tips to hopefully help the students in that class be more successful, and help you feel less anxiety when you know that class is coming. To be perfectly honest, I'm writing this advice just as much to myself as I am to every other reader. I had a tough go with this year's "that class" this past week, and I need a reset. I know I'm not alone in feeling this way, and I also know it will get better! Today I want to remind all of us of the most important general steps we need to take, regardless of what the specific issues are, to make sure we don't spend the entire year miserable. 1. Stop venting OK, I'm not saying you have to stop completely, but one of the most important steps you need to take is to change your mindset about the class, and the more time you spend talking about the negative things that happen in that class, the more likely you are to continue to have negative expectations for them (which are always self-fulfilling prophesies). Pick one trusted person at work who can listen to you when you're frustrated and then help you move on. If you are having a particularly frustrating time, vent to them and only them. Then try to come up with a plan for what you're going to do differently next time- don't let it be just a chance to talk about the problems without looking for a solution. With everyone else, do everything you can to find something positive to say about that class, or just don't talk about them as often- when someone asks you how your day was, talk about a different class. The less you talk about it, the less you'll keep dwelling on it yourself. 2. Make a plan B, C, D, and E When I suggest not venting, I'm not suggesting you don't talk about that challenging class with colleagues- rather than just focusing on the problems, have conversations with colleagues about solutions! Ask the homeroom teacher what they've found successful (or even see about observing them). See if there are any incentives they have in their classrooms that you could tie into. Maybe they have certain classroom procedures in place that you could replicate. Talk to the art teacher, the PE teacher, the school counselor, and anyone who may have some insight into how to help the class be successful. Not everything will work in your classroom, but there may be ways you can adapt strategies to fit in with what you do. And don't expect the first thing you try to work! Some things may take time, and sometimes you may have to go through 5 different ideas before you find something that works! The key is to keep thinking, keep trying, and don't ever give up. It may never be perfect, but there is always opportunity for improvement. The point here is to keep trying, and be prepared to go through lots of different ideas before you find a solution that truly works! Here are some of my specific suggestions for various types of challenges: 3. Get focused It's so important, if you have a class that just isn't working, to make it a priority to figure out how to make it work. Just hoping they'll somehow eventually get it and continuing to teach that class the same way you do all the others will only end in misery for everyone and very little learning for students. Whatever the issue is, focus on addressing the problem(s) that are preventing the class from going well, and developing positive relationships with the individual students in the class and with the class as a whole. Instead of trying to do 3 activities to practice half notes, pick one (and make it the one that you think is most likely to be successful with that group). Narrow your focus to the most essential elements so that you can slow down and be more intentional with the class. 4. Celebrate successes Going along with the idea of reducing the negative talk you do with your peers, it's important to try to focus on the positive with the students as well. Don't lower your expectations, but do be very intentional about pointing out genuine successes as often as possible! If the whole class enters the room the way you expect them to, note it verbally. Not in a condescending or patronizing, "I'm so glad we finally figured out how to enter the music room appropriately!", or even, "Good job coming in the room!" (which, come on, students know shouldn't need praising), but a simple "class is off to a great start!" or "everyone's ready to go, let's do this!" can be powerful. 5. Problem-solve with students If a class isn't going well, stop. If you're feeling stressed out, overwhelmed by the noise, or personally hurt, tell them you need a minute. If you can, explain to the class what you think isn't working and why, and tell them what you're planning to do next time (or right then, if you still have enough time left in class) to help them be able to succeed. If they're old enough (and you have the class time), ask them to discuss what they think is the problem and why, and offer their own suggestions for solutions. Problem-solving circles are ideal for this situation- read about how I do those in this post. 6. Get help If you feel like you've exhausted every option you can think of and the class still isn't running the way you'd like, call for back up. There's nothing wrong with asking for help, and often a second, third, or fourth pair of eyes are just what you need to get some fresh perspective! Ask another music teacher or even a non-music colleague that you respect to come and observe a lesson. If you have an administrator or teaching coach/ specialist you trust, ask them to come and sit in on a class. See if the school psychologist, social worker, or other support staff can come. Hopefully these initial thoughts will give some much-needed perspective and relief to what can be a very overwhelming and stressful situation! To read more about specific strategies for fostering a positive classroom climate and supporting students' character development / handling challenging behaviors, head to this post.
Looking for engaging, musical games to play with your students? Here are a few of my favorite games and activities for elementary music classes, children's choirs, and elementary group classes.
During October, Halloween music class doesn’t have to be “out of control”. Use these quick and easy Halloween music class activities.
With so many students to teach and so little time with each class, managing to give each student the kind of individual support we'd like to is a monumental task! And often when individual students are struggling in school, music teachers are left out of any individual plans that are created for them. I've found a few strategies in the last few years that have been very helpful for students who need individualized support that are realistic for me to implement as a music teacher. I hope they will be helpful for others as well. One strategy that has been helpful for students who either struggle to settle in or lose steam before the end of the class period is modified entries and exits. Transitions can often be the most disregulating part of the day for many students, so this strategy can be helpful for a wide range of individual needs. Transitions are hard for everyone, and as music teachers we manage transitions all day long. If you haven't already, take a close look at your transitions into, during, and out of music class- I've found a lot of "behavior challenges" can be solved simply by looking closely at how my students and I are managing transitions. Here are a few previous posts on the topic for managing transitions more effectively for all students in general: For some students, though, transitions can still be difficult. These are the students who, even with a very structured class, spend the first 10 minutes arguing or wandering the room and then seem to eventually "settle in", fly off the handle, start calling out, or completely lose focus in the last part of class after being completely fine in the beginning, or inexplicably resist coming into or leaving your room. For these students, modifying entrance and/or exit procedures can help support them through the transitions so their school day isn't completely derailed. In most every case implementing these modifications will necessitate another adult's support- I have most usually found this help from the psychologist/ social worker, or a paraprofessional/ intern. 1. Come in early Some students need extra time to adjust to the room, to you, or just to the idea of music class in general. Some students need advance warning of what they'll be doing in class that day so they can mentally prepare. Some students need a little extra individual attention from you to feel safe and cared for in your class. For those students, having them come early can be helpful for transitioning them into music class. It doesn't need to be much before (none of us have much time between classes anyway)- when I've done this 1 minute has been enough- but if you have the ability to, make arrangements for the homeroom teacher to send that student to your room a little early. Depending on what their individual needs are, the student may benefit from just being with you and in the room by helping you finish setting up for class, or talking through the upcoming lesson with you and seeing what you're getting ready, or just talking about something outside of school to give them a chance to connect and have some one-on-one attention. 2. Come in late Some students actually benefit from coming to class a little bit after the lesson has already started- they feel less self-conscious if they see everyone else already involved in something and can just quietly join in rather than figuring out what to do from instructions (this happens sometimes for students with language or comprehension difficulties, or if a student has a long history of getting called out for inappropriate behavior in the hallway before class, etc, and is in defensive mode about entering with the class). Some students also just can't last an entire period in music class, but don't want to leave early- coming in late can be beneficial for those students as well. I have usually worked with the psychologist or other staff to come up with an "excuse" for where they have to go while the rest of the class is going to music- maybe they go have a check-in with the social worker, read a short book with the para, or sort the mail in the office. Whoever is with them for that planned break can then bring or send the student once the class has gotten going. 3. Leave early The other option for students for whom the music class just seems to be too long, obviously, is for them to leave early. I often find this can be difficult to manage because it's disruptive to have a student get up and leave in the middle of an activity, and many times the student is resistant to leaving early because they aren't yet disregulated and want to continue with whatever fun we're having! But in a few cases where students really struggle to maintain focus and energy, setting a timer and having someone plan to come and pick them up, or sending them to an inconspicuous corner (or area just outside your open door) can help prevent melt-downs at the end of class. The best solution I've found to make this work is to have an agreed-upon incentive, like a small toy or fidget, coloring page, or book, that they will go to for a quick break before their next class. 4. Come and/or leave with support In some cases, students can come in and leave with their class, but just need individual prompting to help them manage the transition(s). This might involve another staff member talking them through the transition beforehand or physically walking with them to help give individual reminders, or having some specific visual cues you show them to remind the individual student of how to enter or exit appropriately. This isn't a strategy I've used often, but something to explore with other staff members if you find the usual supports aren't working for a particular student. I hope this helps you find manageable ways to support students in their behavior goals! What are some tools that you use in your own teaching practice? I'd love to hear more ideas in the comments below! And if you want to learn about how I build a classroom community and foster positive character in my music classes you can read about all of my procedures and strategies in this post, which also includes all of my previous posts on individual behavior supports for other specific needs.
Five fun and action-filled circle games to practice rhythm, pitch, and more with your elementary music students.
Students in first and second grade are learning about Rondo Form. A song is in rondo form if it has an A section that is repeated several times, with new sections in between each A section. An ex…
Extra Beat, Take a Seat is a really fun game to play with upper elementary students to help them count beats. This can be played with no materials or rhythm sticks.
It inevitably happens to every music teacher at some point in their teaching career: you have to call out absent. Whether it’s to attend a conference,
Here's a list of fun activities you can do with preschool and kindergarten using rhythm sticks!
Here’s 10 ways to use a parachute in the music classroom. Activities will help students learn and practice music concepts. Parachutes can be used for so many fun activities in the music room. I’ve discovered that they are especially helpful during the latter part of the school year when students are more “squiggly” than ever! […]
My Favorite Warm-ups for Children's Choir. Organized Chaos. So many amazing warmup exercises for elementary choral ensembles!
Centers for Kindergarten and 1st grade music students can be daunting! Add these 5 simple centers to the rotation in your elementary music classroom.
This post may contain affiliate links. You pay the same and I get a small commission. Yay! (Please see my/our full disclosure for further information.) Looking for simple and fun music lessons? These movement activities for 2-3 grade elementary music class are just the ticket! These lessons are for second and third grade. They will… Continue reading The Best Movement Activities for 2-3 Grade Elementary Music Class
Hello friends! As a part of my “Back-to-School” series, this next post will be about FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL lesson ideas for 3rd-5th grade. I remember my first year of teaching, I was so nervous about what I would do with my students once they walked into the classroom! So I am going to go...Read More
Hello everyone, This week I am so thankful to celebrate a Teachers Pay Teachers Milestone! Thank you so much for your support of my store in helping me to reach my goal of over 200 followers! I could not have achieved this milestone without you, so I wanted to offer a few freebies as a way to say "thanks". Download these free Orff Instrument Labels for your class. They would also look great in any concert or music program. You can grab this freebie by clicking on the picture. The next freebie is one of my classes favorite songs. This is a great song to play on boomwhachers, recorders, or Orff instruments. It has a fun mini lesson and covers several essential music skills to teach your class. You can check it out here by clicking on the Snake Charmer picture on my sidebar or Freebie Tab at the top of this page. Want more freebies? Click on the pictures below to grab these freebies for your class. Again, I would like to give a big heart felt thank you for your support! Enjoy these free music products! Sherry Stucki :)
One of the most important things we can do in music class to learn students’ names. Here's 5 fun name games for elementary music class.
I love teaching this fun little folk song, “I’ve been to Harlem” a.k.a. “Turn the Glasses Over,” to my students! I learned the basic version of the song at my Orff Level 1 training a few years ago and have been playing with how to teach the lesson ever since. This year […]
Here are some examples of body percussion and why it's important to teach this skill, along with 7 simple activity ideas.
Elementary music teacher blogs, Kodaly Blogs, music sub plans, substitute music plans, music education activities, music resources, music games
You’ve signed your kids up for music lessons, excited to give them all the benefits of music lessons you’ve heard so much about! They love playing their new
Teaching your children about music can sound overwhelming... But it doesn't have to be! These music listening worksheets are a perfect, easy, and low-prep way to teach your kids about music. Simply print the printable worksheet ( there are two different ones depending on the age level of your child), listen to the piece of music for the day, fill out the worksheet, and your done! Music Appreciation doesn't have to be tricky or complex, and no music experience is required by either child or adult. This is a great addition to your Homeschool week , or for anyone who has elementary aged children. If you are looking for something more specific, check out MusicalMomPrintables on Etsy for more fun and beautiful music Unit Studies to explore!🎶 ::: I N S T A N T D O W N L O A D ::: **This is a DIGITAL DOWNLOAD. No physical items will be mailed to you.** After purchase you will receive an email receipt from Etsy with a link to download your purchase. You can also download your files from the “Purchases and Reviews” section of your Etsy profile. You will receive a PDF file for printing on regular 8.5”x11” paper.
