Teaching Improvisation. Organized Chaos. Lesson ideas and strategies for elementary general music teachers to teach improv and meet the creating standard.
Mapping out a general music curriculum can be a daunting task, but once you have a solid plan in place it makes the day-to-day lesson planning so much easier and the lessons become so much more purposeful as well! Whether you're starting from scratch and being asked to create a curriculum on your own, working with textbooks or other resources, or reflecting on what you already have in place, consider this your idea bank for everything you need to create and/or develop your elementary general music curriculum! Lesson Content/ Sequencing If you're looking for lesson ideas on specific concepts, or trying to figure out how to sequence skills and concepts from grade to grade, these are your best friends! I'm continuing to update these with more topics as I write new posts so bookmark these and check back when you need some fresh ideas: Curriculum Mapping If you are adjusting or creating your curriculum or long-range plans, my #1 recommendation is to sign up for my email series, "Lesson Planning Made Awesome". It's completely free, nothing extra to sign up for, and takes you through the process of mapping out your curriculum and long-range plans all the way from standards and scope and sequence down to your daily lesson plans with all of the templates you need to write out and organize everything: If you want to explore a specific topic further, here are several blog posts I've written on various aspects of curriculum writing/ long-range planning: Ready to Use Resources If you are looking for ready-made resources to save you loads of time (and headaches), I have lots of options available- if you are in a district that doesn't allow TPT purchases but you can purchase through JWPepper, many of these are also available there. Long-range planning templates with a sample sequence for K-6: Completed yearly outlines with editable K-6 monthly sequences and complete skills checklists by grade: Planning sheets with all of the standards listed by grade (there are versions for TEKS, Ontario curriculum, and PK-8 general and ensemble standards for the National Core Arts Standards): Assessments organized by skill/ concept and sorted by grade level: Complete curriculum set, including full lesson plans to address the concepts/ skills outline for each month in each grade, with all the visuals, assessments, and materials needed to teach them: I hope you find all of these resources helpful in your planning process, whether you're just getting started or updating what you have! If you have questions or topics you'd like to hear more about, please reach out any time and I'd love to talk with you further.
I cannot take any credit whatsoever for today's tip- that goes to my cooperating teacher during my student teaching. This is totally and completely stolen from her, and I have continued to use it in every single class, every single day of my teaching career. Transitions between activities, especially when the students need to move, can be one of the most difficult things to manage in the classroom. And in elementary general music, we tend to have a lot of those. Although this only covers one aspect of those transitions, it certainly does make things a lot faster and smoother. I hold up 1 finger as a cue for them to stand, 2 fingers for sitting up/forward in their chairs, and 3 for sitting back. The great thing about having a hand signal for these actions is that I can get them ready for an activity while explaining the directions at the same time. These are also perfect to use in concerts, because the audience can't see me holding up one hand. I use this for everyone 1st grade and older, and they get very good at moving quickly and quietly. At the beginning of the school year we practice and I tell them they have to be fast, but if they make sound it doesn't count. Not only is it great to have a signal for standing, sitting up, and sitting, but I have found that these specific signals are intuitive. When I hold up 1 finger, it is like I am motioning up, so it is easy for students to remember. When I use 2 fingers to have students sit up, I often find myself turning my hand upside down and motioning to a student's feet to remind them to put their 2 feet flat on the floor. Besides all of the up and down we do for singing, playing recorders etc, the hand signals are very handy when we need to move to another part of the room. I use 1 finger to tell them to stand, then I turn that finger in the direction that I want them to turn, and they all turn at the same time. This is also excellent preparation for concerts, especially when students are on risers. Usually I have them then start with the first row to walk to the new spot and the next rows follow, or sometimes I will tell them to start at the back row. Having them all turn together makes it much easier for students to smoothly follow the line and know exactly where to go. Plus it looks very impressive to classroom visitors and concert audiences! Do you use any hand signals in the classroom? What routines do you have in place to make transitions go more smoothly?
One thing I've learned through the pandemic is the power of concept-based planning. When so many of my usual lesson activities and methods were no longer viable, I was still able to maintain my sequenced instruction. Knowing the concepts I was teaching made it so much easier to figure out what to teach, when I was having to reinvent so many of my lessons. In this post I'm compiling all my favorite lessons for teaching those fundamental concepts for general music in one place to make everyone's lesson planning lives a little easier! First please note that this post is focused on concepts, rather than skills or materials/ methods (we'll talk about those another day). Each of these categories has tons of specific lesson ideas and teaching strategies for specific elements within that category- click below to see each one: I hope this makes it a little easier to find effective and engaging lesson plans for whatever concept you're hoping to teach! As new posts are added, I'll continue to update this page, so this may be a good one to save somewhere. And if you want ideas to cover all your lessons in a sequenced, comprehensive curriculum, I've published all my lesson plans and materials in this set here.
GUYS. I was shook when recently a music teacher friend of mine had told they had never heard of a stretchy band. SHOOK. This got me thinking....how many other music education must-haves are other music teachers missing? Here is a list of 7 music education tools that I consider to be GAME-CHANGING in my music
On this page you’ll find all the books, games, resources, links, and extras that I talked about in my Musical Mondays LIVE videos. Please be aware that some of the links shared below are “Affiliate Links,” meaning that should you purchase something I suggest I would earn a small percentage […]
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One of the most important things we can do at the beginning of the school year is practice classroom procedures- the less time we have to spend explaining and managing logistics throughout the year, the more time we have for music-making and the smoother our lessons will go in general. Part of creating a "safe space" classroom is making sure students feel confident that they know what to do in common lesson situations, and procedures are the foundation for that. Here are the most important procedures I make sure to make time to practice at the beginning of the year with my elementary general music students. Before we jump into the list, I want to make it clear that I do not cram in practice of all of these procedures in the first lesson, or even the first week, of the school year. But I do try to introduce them within the first 3 weeks or so. I found if I don't make the time to practice them within the first month, the first time we really encounter the procedure with a particular grade I forget they haven't practiced it and I get impatient when they don't know what to do, which invariably leads to problems. And I definitely do not tell students how to do these things, or even have a class discussion about them or have students model examples- I build the actual activities for which the procedures are needed into my lesson plans so that the students naturally have opportunities to practice them when the need arises. Contextualizing it helps students understand the importance and purpose so much better! If you want an example of how I do that in the first few lessons with each grade level, see my first day of music lesson plan blog post. 1. Entering and exiting the room Establishing how to enter and exit the room is probably the most important procedure for elementary music because we tend to have such short class periods, and the students spend so much of the rest of their day in one room with one teacher- coming into and leaving a room is not something they do all day like high schoolers and middle schoolers do! My procedure for leaving class has changed very little in my 16 years of teaching: we quickly review what we learned, line up in a very specific order on the line marked on the floor, give compliments, and walk into the hallway. Students know class is almost over when I give the silent signal for them to stand up and walk to the line, and they know exactly where and when to go. Keeping the end of class predictable and highly structured makes the transition out of music class so much smoother! Read all the details of my exit procedures in this post. Predictability at the beginning of class is key as well, but my procedures have shifted over the years as I've recognized that I need to build in time to address any "baggage" students come into my room with, whether it was an argument on the playground or a test right before class they think they bombed. I've also realized nobody can (or should) be expected to instantly switch into "music class mode" the minute they cross the threshold of my classroom- they need time to transition into the space, some more than others. I started doing student-led warmups at the beginning of class a few years ago and it has been magnificent. I get those going as soon as the first few students are walking in, and everyone knows they need to join in as they get to their seats. Read about the kinds of warmups I do, and how I've made them student-led to free me up for side conversations etc, in this post. 2. Standing, sitting, and sitting up This isn't always at the top of other teachers' lists but it is on mine- with all the singing, movement, and other transitions I have in my lessons we are rarely in one position for long, and it's important to me that students learn how to sit up properly in chairs for singing or playing wind instruments to give them proper breath support (one of the reasons I am a firm believer in using chairs rather than just sitting on the floor). I've established a silent hand signal for standing, sitting, and sitting up that we practice starting on the very first day- read about those in this post. 3. Redirection One of the most important procedures I go over with students at the beginning of the year is how to handle themselves when they feel themselves getting out of hand, they're upset and aren't quite ready to resolve the issue yet, or need to share something with me that I can't listen to right away when they need me to hear them. We talk about taking responsibility to take space themselves rather than waiting for me to intervene, and I show them a few different places they can go when they need to remove themselves from a situation. I also have sticky notes and a pencil in a corner where students can write notes to me if they need to tell me something and I either can't listen right away or they want to keep it confidential. And I also try to reinforce with everyone that if I'm asking a student to go sit in one of those spaces or take space away from the group, that's to give them the opportunity to resolve the situation before it escalates, not as a "punishment". 4. Instruments The most important expectation I establish with instruments is written on a giant poster on my wall: if you play before I say you'll make the instrument go away. We practice the importance of holding instruments in a way that they won't accidentally make sound when they are waiting to begin playing, and we also practice what happens when they do play out of turn- I make sure they see early on that if they make a mistake it's not a big deal, they put their instrument down for one turn and then they always get another chance to join and try again. Besides that though, I also believe it's important for instruments to be visible and available for students, and for them to learn how to safely and appropriately handle them early on. So we practice how to get instruments off the shelves and put them away, and how to hand out instruments or collect them from other students if they are assigned to that team job and we are using small instruments like egg shakers or rhythm sticks. 5. Movement I'm lucky enough to have 2 areas in my room: one where chairs are set up, and another with floor spots in a circle. The kindergartners sit on the floor most of the time, but for the older grades we practice how to safely move from one area to the other and back again. Seems self-evident but I learned very early in my teaching career that it definitely is not! 6. Writing I don't have desks or tables for each student in my room, so when it's time to write or color it is quite an ordeal without procedures in place. I have teams assigned to pass out and collect things, and we practice how to get everyone pencils and paper. For younger grades I just have them use their chairs as desks and sit on the floor to avoid more transitions and logistics, but for older students who tend to find that uncomfortable I have clipboards, lap desks, and some table space that we go over how they can get and use. I keep all of our supplies organized by color team to make it easier to keep track of everything- you can read about that in this post. 7. Bathroom/ tissues/ nurse To be honest this is the procedure I tend to forget to practice because I'd rather just have everyone stay in music and never have to use the bathroom, blow their nose, or visit the nurse! Of course life doesn't work that way so when I'm on my game, I make sure to show students where the tissues are in my room and where nearest bathroom is and (especially for younger grades) practice walking between the music room and the bathroom, and I tell them my one rule to not have more than one student in the bathroom/ at the tissues at a time (mostly because it's too much for my brain to keep track of, but also to avoid dilly dallying). I have tried to have students use whatever hand signals they have in their homerooms in the past to avoid confusing them, but I'm considering establishing a hand signal for bathroom and tissues this year and putting a poster up in the room for their reference, because I have had too many times when students are trying to signal something to me and I don't know what the signal means! :) Regardless, they're important to review so they don't become disruptions throughout the year. I know what you're thinking: what about emergency procedures? I honestly don't count that as a separate thing to practice for music class because we go over emergencies in general as a building and discuss various scenarios, including if students are in art, music, the cafeteria, the bathroom, etc. If we didn't do that as a building, I would certainly include that on my list as well! What else is on your list that didn't make mine? What are some ways you've found to help the procedures above go more smoothly in your room? I'd love to hear more ideas in the comments!
As general music teachers, not only are we helping students understand fundamental musical concepts, like rhythm, pitch, and expression, but we're also developing their musical skills, whether on instruments, singing, or composing (and more). Figuring out the best way to teach all those skills in an effective and sequential way from year to year, decide which instruments to teach when for what purpose, and more can be challenging! Here are my favorite lessons, suggestions for sequencing instruction in each grade, and more tips and ideas for teaching these different skills. First please note that this post is focused on skills rather than concepts- if you want to see my lesson ideas and strategies for musical concepts like pitch, rhythm, expressive elements, etc, you can find those here. Each of these categories has tons of specific lesson ideas and teaching strategies for specific elements within that category- click below to see each one: Building a curriculum and deciding what to teach when should start with concepts first, but skill development should be an integral part of our curricular frameworks as well. In particular, I think it's easy to get caught up in developing a specific skill, whether that's playing technique on recorder or singing in tune, and lose sight of the bigger picture of holistic musicianship. The skills I've outlined here are broad and incomplete, but I hope they help you think through what to teach when and how to do so effectively, and incorporate each area into the bigger picture of your entire curriculum.
Elementary music teaching resources for general music teachers. These are the foundational resources you need to establish a music curriculum.
Top 3 Units for Middle School General Music. Organized Chaos. Ideas and resources for project based learning with middle school general music students. World music, composition, and careers in music.
Organized Chaos: helping music teachers embrace the chaos of creativity through purposeful organization and simple ideas!
Fun and engaging hand clapping game to teach your kiddos!
Do you have a favorite rhythm game or activity to use in your music lessons? Rhythm is something that always needs review, so you can never have too many
How to teach rhythm in elementary music class for first year general music teachers. We're going step by step through how to teach rhythm!
Music class is an active, engaging, and joyful experience! This is especially true when our musical activities are grounded in creative and intentional teaching strategies. One of the most important teaching strategies has to do with teaching the difference between steady beat and the rhythm of
Avoid last-minute stress and fill your music sub tub with these easy and meaningful activities. The best music sub plans are ready in advance!
It’s never a bad time to think about your big-picture goals for the upcoming year. Especially now, many educators are taking this time to get organized and make plans for next year to be their best year yet. When we start planning our year, it’s a great idea to start with a broad overview of each
During October, Halloween music class doesn’t have to be “out of control”. Use these quick and easy Halloween music class activities.
One thing I've learned through the pandemic is the power of concept-based planning. When so many of my usual lesson activities and methods were no longer viable, I was still able to maintain my sequenced instruction. Knowing the concepts I was teaching made it so much easier to figure out what to teach, when I was having to reinvent so many of my lessons. In this post I'm compiling all my favorite lessons for teaching those fundamental concepts for general music in one place to make everyone's lesson planning lives a little easier! First please note that this post is focused on concepts, rather than skills or materials/ methods (we'll talk about those another day). Each of these categories has tons of specific lesson ideas and teaching strategies for specific elements within that category- click below to see each one: I hope this makes it a little easier to find effective and engaging lesson plans for whatever concept you're hoping to teach! As new posts are added, I'll continue to update this page, so this may be a good one to save somewhere. And if you want ideas to cover all your lessons in a sequenced, comprehensive curriculum, I've published all my lesson plans and materials in this set here.
Top 3 Units for Middle School General Music. Organized Chaos. Ideas and resources for project based learning with middle school general music students. World music, composition, and careers in music.
Mapping out a general music curriculum can be a daunting task, but once you have a solid plan in place it makes the day-to-day lesson planning so much easier and the lessons become so much more purposeful as well! Whether you're starting from scratch and being asked to create a curriculum on your own, working with textbooks or other resources, or reflecting on what you already have in place, consider this your idea bank for everything you need to create and/or develop your elementary general music curriculum! Lesson Content/ Sequencing If you're looking for lesson ideas on specific concepts, or trying to figure out how to sequence skills and concepts from grade to grade, these are your best friends! I'm continuing to update these with more topics as I write new posts so bookmark these and check back when you need some fresh ideas: Curriculum Mapping If you are adjusting or creating your curriculum or long-range plans, my #1 recommendation is to sign up for my email series, "Lesson Planning Made Awesome". It's completely free, nothing extra to sign up for, and takes you through the process of mapping out your curriculum and long-range plans all the way from standards and scope and sequence down to your daily lesson plans with all of the templates you need to write out and organize everything: If you want to explore a specific topic further, here are several blog posts I've written on various aspects of curriculum writing/ long-range planning: Ready to Use Resources If you are looking for ready-made resources to save you loads of time (and headaches), I have lots of options available- if you are in a district that doesn't allow TPT purchases but you can purchase through JWPepper, many of these are also available there. Long-range planning templates with a sample sequence for K-6: Completed yearly outlines with editable K-6 monthly sequences and complete skills checklists by grade: Planning sheets with all of the standards listed by grade (there are versions for TEKS, Ontario curriculum, and PK-8 general and ensemble standards for the National Core Arts Standards): Assessments organized by skill/ concept and sorted by grade level: Complete curriculum set, including full lesson plans to address the concepts/ skills outline for each month in each grade, with all the visuals, assessments, and materials needed to teach them: I hope you find all of these resources helpful in your planning process, whether you're just getting started or updating what you have! If you have questions or topics you'd like to hear more about, please reach out any time and I'd love to talk with you further.
Top 3 Units for Middle School General Music. Organized Chaos. Ideas and resources for project based learning with middle school general music students. World music, composition, and careers in music.
Free Music Substitute Lesson Plan (for a non-music sub). Teach meter with short, fun video clips, "script" for the teacher and movement activities for kids.
I have been trying to create a lesson plan template that I can use universally. I find that most premade lesson plan books cater to the needs of the typical classroom. I have been researching templates, and have found a few on pinterest that inspired my lesson plan. This template had all of the key things I wanted, but I personally am very specific about the allocation of sections. ( I am a little OCD when it comes down to it) . I will often shuffle through lesson plans I have previously made and I can never find it right away. I decided I need to have an identifier at the top to find it quickly. I LOVE her process of planning and her blog is definitely something to check out, From The Music Box. I really like how this template included the standards right in, without having to look up the tricky number and concept. I decided to add the standards that apply to Illinois, and I am just highlighting the standards that apply to the specific lesson! Her blog is also awesome, Melody Soup. Overall I stole a bunch of ideas from a bunch of people and came up with a conclusive lesson plan template. Please leave your ideas to make it better! My template
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What you put on your classroom walls should reflect what you teach. Read this article to get suggestions about what to post, how, and why!
Curriculum Writing: Means vs Ends. Organized Chaos. Thoughts on distinguishing between the conceptual end goals of general music curriculum and the means to reach those ends.
Now, aside from looking pretty and making my administrators happy, posting a visual music schedule has helped my students. Not only do my ELL and special needs students have an idea of what will happen next, but also I've basically eliminated the question, "Are we playing a game today?" in my classroom.
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.
This is a complete curriculum resource for Kindergarten general music. It is designed to be adapted to a variety of teaching needs, so the material is organized by concept within each month with a sample lesson sequence to show how to put them together. It is designed so you can create your own specific lesson plans based on the standards you need to address, the amount of class time you have, and the students and resources you have in your classes. Everything you need to teach the lessons are included. #organizedmusic #musiccrewearlychildhood **JUST UPDATED August 2024 with streamlined formatting, updated visuals, and fresh lesson ideas!!** Save more money by purchasing the complete K-6 bundle here! The materials in this set are the ones I use in my own classroom. My teaching is based on training in a variety of methodologies including Orff, Kodaly, Dalcroze, and Suzuki, and I am careful to incorporate a wide range of learning styles and interests in my lessons. This set can be used as a stand-alone curriculum- there is enough material to cover the 8 half-hour lessons per month that I see each class- or you can pick and choose your favorites to incorporate into other curricula you may already be using. While the resource is designed to meet the U.S. National Core Arts Standards, there are no formal lesson plans referencing specific standards- you can easily copy and paste into whatever format you need for your school. Please take a close look at the preview to get a clear idea of how the lesson ideas are presented. You can also download a free copy of the September resources for 5th grade here to see what is included and test it out in your classroom, and watch this video to see everything that's included in the set. Included in this set: A description of the lesson activities organized within each month by skill/concept taught (Word and PDF formats) Detailed lesson plans for a 30 minutes twice a week schedule (Word and PDF) Assessments and accompanying rubrics Slides, visuals, worksheets, and printables to use with the lessons (Powerpoint and PDF) Fillable lesson plan template based on the National Core Arts Standards for the United States (fillable PDF form) Yearly outline document showing the focus skills and concepts for each month Major concepts covered: Musical contrasts (high/low, fast/slow, loud/quiet, long/short) Echo and Call and Response Classroom instruments Steady beat 4 Voices Standard notation introduction: quarter and eighth notes, quarter rest Other grades available: 1st grade 2nd grade 3rd grade 4th grade 5th grade 6th grade The purchase of this set entitles the buyer to use the materials in their own classroom. If you would like to use this in collaboration with your department or share with other teachers, you can purchase additional licenses at a discount. Please note that, due to the variety of resources offered in this file, the download comes in a zipped file. You may also be interested in: Music Teacher Entire Life Planners Long Range Planning: PK-8 General Music Curriculum Templates National Standards Planning Sheets: PK-8 **Don't forget to leave feedback for credits towards future purchases!** ★ Follow my store to stay up-to-date on new products and get special offers! Other ways to stay connected: Blog:Organized Chaos Facebook: Organized Chaos Facebook Page Pinterest: My Pinterest Boards YouTube: Organized Chaos YouTube Channel
Assessment in General Music: Performance Assessments. Organized Chaos. tips for using performance assessments in elementary and middle school general music class so they don't take too much time or effort but still effectively assess student skills
Best Strategies for Teaching Tempo. Organized Chaos. Elementary general music lesson ideas and tips for teaching tempo, speed, fast and slow effectively.
Best Strategies for Teaching Rhythm. Organized Chaos. Tons of lesson ideas for specific rhythm concepts and general teaching strategies for elementary general music.
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There are so many different places you can start from when creating a Curriculum Outline. A curriculum outline is a broad overview of your entire program, across all grade levels. It’s a zoomed out picture of what concepts you want to cover, and what grades will cover them. I’ve written about a c
Do you love to add science lessons into your music class? Or a science teacher and want to use music to help students understand sound? Use Boomwhackers!
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,
