If you struggle to teach and practice routines and procedures in elementary music or just need some NEW IDEAS, here are some actionable steps!
Let’s look at WHAT we need and then HOW to teach it!
Continue reading “How To Teach Routines And Procedures in Elementary Music”Your room is too small for all your resources and the large class sizes at your school! How will this ever work? Or maybe you’re a new teacher with a big beautiful room but don’t know where to begin. Let’s look at some best practices along with tips and tricks to set up an elementary music room!
Transform your chaotic classroom into a harmonious haven with these top tips for a super functional elementary music room set up!
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Continue reading “How to Set Up An Elementary Music Room”Music educators generally teach a wide variety of grade levels and a common challenge is engaging older students. Let’s look at how we can have better engagement in elementary music using small group music projects.
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We’ll start with the reasoning behind small groups and their effectiveness. Then on to how to set them up. Or skip straight to the lesson plans to see if they will work for you.
Unlike a homeroom/classroom, music classes meet relatively infrequently so building relationships and trust with students takes more time.
Students often consider special area classes a “break” from the rigors of their other classes which can make engagement and classroom management more challenging, especially for grades 4-8.
Continue reading “Better Engagement Using Small Group Music Projects”You hear grunts and groans! Is it the WWE? No, it’s an elementary music class! How can we engage and motivate students and build learning stamina?
These reactions happen when kids are challenged or bored or scared and don’t have the learning stamina they need to remain open-minded and perseverant. Building stamina will help students engage and stay motivated.
In this blog post, I’ll explore a creative approach to motivate and engage students by asking for more than is actually needed.
Continue reading “How To Motivate Elementary Music Students By Building Stamina”Discover simple, effective ways to teach movement in elementary music and help your students build creativity, confidence, and musicality.
Movement in elementary music can be more than a stress reliever, a brain break, a way to experience another culture, or other very worthy objectives. It can also be a way to empower ALL kids through positive interaction with the teacher.
I was scrolling social media and saw this quote.
“Go and love someone exactly as they are. And then watch how quickly they transform into the greatest, truest version of themselves. When one feels seen and appreciated in their own essence, one is instantly empowered.”
Wes Angelozzi
Deep and meaningful connections with your students happen when you let them know what you notice!
Here’s an example of how I’d apply these observation techniques for movement in elementary music.
The lesson is for kinders and first graders to move (step, skip, float) to changing music examples.
DURING or AFTER their movement I would say,
Continue reading “How to Use Movement in Elementary Music to Empower Kids”Breaking down a classroom activity by procedures will make your lesson more effective. When activities fail, many times it’s because a classroom routine or process is missing. I spent twice as much planning time on HOW to teach than WHAT to teach.
You need to have several “tricks” to pull out of your back pocket when kids need to have a brain break, to expend some energy, to divert attention from something else going on in the room (a potential meltdown for ex.), to prepare them for a high-concentration activity, or when you the teacher need to have a mental break yourself.
And so, the Jumping Game was born!
Effective seating arrangements in music are a keystone to effective classroom management. It makes transitions quicker so less time for distractions and off-task behavior.
Let’s look at some possibilities.
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Current Seating Poll Results (as of July 2023)
Originally published May 6, 2022
Updated April 11, 2026
Mastering classroom management in elementary music is a journey of trial and error. Over the years, I’ve found that success is less about rigid rules and more about the solid routines and expectations that guide K-5 student behavior and keep them engaged.
Here are the specific strategies that worked for me. You don’t need to use them all. When you see a deficit in a particular class or grade level, teach a new routine to help the class learn a needed behavior.
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Essential agreements for elementary music can be challenging! How do you take Essential Agreements that work great for regular homeroom classrooms, also work for special area classes such as music? Find out the simple mind-shift to creating relevant, music-related agreements for multiple grades.
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I always hated it when an administrator told us at the beginning of the year to have our class create essential agreements.
It made sense for the classroom teachers because they had, uh, ONE class. But really, what are music teachers going to do with multiple grade levels and sections within a grade level? Post 30 Essential Agreement posters around the room?
I’d make an attempt to do it with each class and homogenize it into one poster but then I kept thinking it was false and homogenized and served no purpose. EVERYBODY comes up with essentially the same things-be kind, be respectful, be safe, be responsible, be patient, be caring, etc.
Continue reading “How to make BE KIND, BE SAFE, BE RESPECTFUL Musical”