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.
The Playlist
The Challenge & the Solution
Music Schedules & Perceptions
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.
“This is boring.” “My fingers hurt.” You often hear students new to the ukulele relay their frustrations about learning the instrument. Getting away from direct instruction and using easy Orff ideas for your ukulele curriculum is a great way to re-engage your students when they hit a plateau in their ukulele learning journey.
Or, add an Orff approach all along to prevent burnout in the first place.
Let’s add movement and speech to our curriculum along with play, imitation, improvisation, and experimentation.
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.
Let’s get away from the smartboards and screens and learn about rhythm in a more intimate setting! We’ll explore the benefits of using a rhythm activities board in elementary music class and provide a step-by-step guide on how to create one without breaking the bank.
In the world of elementary music education, sometimes the simplest tools can create the most magical moments. One such tool is the low-cost, no-tech rhythm activities board, a versatile resource that fosters an intimate learning setting, encourages student interaction, and adds a touch of hands-on magic to rhythm lessons.
Adding Orff instruments to the African-American singing game Pizza Pizza Daddy-O gives you a perfect arrangement for concerts as well as extended lessons to explore and practice mi, so, la, and syncopation in the classroom.
Integrating culturally responsive elements into these lessons is seamless, as students can incorporate dances that hold personal meaning to them into the song lyrics.
Pizza Pizza Daddy-O is such a classic, fun game and kids love to play it year after year. This resource extends learning with an easy Orff arrangement that can become a concert showpiece!
Classroom lighting doesn’t have to be like a scene in a horror movie: “The fluorescent lights flickered, casting pale light against the beige concrete walls while the yellowed shades all hung awkwardly at different lengths against the windows that wouldn’t open.”
YES! You know we’ve all been in that room in a school!
If you’re looking for classroom lighting ideas to create a peaceful MOOD and groovy VIBE, keep reading!
IMPORTANT: Rules change from district to district, so it is imperative that you check with your administration about fire safety and the use of “extra” lighting. All of the images from my classroom show lighting that was approved by my district.
Table of Contents
Classroom Lighting Benefits
Numerous studies have demonstrated a clear connection between lighting quality and student performance. Well-designed lighting in educational settings can enhance student focus, comprehension, and overall achievement.
Proper lighting not only reduces visual discomfort but also creates an environment conducive to active participation and cognitive engagement.
And sometimes, lighting can be SO FUN!
It can set a mood from calm to celebratory that takes a lesson to the next level.
Let’s look at how we can do damage control to the bad and ramp up the good!
Fluorescent Light Covers for Damage Control
Fluorescent lighting is a common feature in many classrooms, but it often comes with drawbacks that can hinder student focus and comfort. Light covers provide a creative and effective solution to transform the harsh glare and flicker of standard fluorescent lights into a more inviting and visually appealing environment.
Let’s explore safety features, designs, and placement of these fluorescent light covers.
Safety & Permission
Not all schools allow these covers so you need to make sure you get permission from your administration and/or custodian. Also called light diffusers or panels, these covers are specially designed overlays that fit over standard fluorescent light fixtures.
They attach to the light frame with strong magnets sewn into the edges. These covers are usually made from various flame-retardent materials and come in a range of patterns and designs.
I had the basic blue covers and placed them over the center back light and all across the middle. You can also see a desk lamp (on a broken conga drum) in the back corner and the natural light coming from the windows.
Designs and Placement
The covers come in such fun designs and colors. I was going for calm and cool so I got the blue for my classroom and put them on banks of lights toward the back/middle of the room. I had the ability to turn on/off all of my ceiling lights in several configurations. Some classrooms don’t and it’s either all on or all off for them.
TIP: If you have just all on/all off light switches, ask your principal if the district can send an electrician and give you more options for your ceiling lights. You never know if you don’t ask!
I almost always turned off the bank of lights at the front of the room (where my screen was located) and depending on the class, time, and activity had one or two banks on. I had floor and table lamps so sometimes I had no ceiling lights on at all.
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Floor and Table Lamps
Effective learning is fostered in an environment where students feel comfortable and engaged. Floor and table lamps play a pivotal role in setting the mood by creating a warm and inviting atmosphere.
This was my favorite way of changing the atmosphere in my room! I had 5 or more table lamps and one floor lamp spread all throughout my room. In all my years of teaching, I rarely had good natural light. My classrooms were often in basements or facing north.
Lamp on broken conga drum “stand” for ambient lighting in a dark corner of the music room.
Table lamps to the left and right of the door provide warm light while ceiling lights are not on at all.
What are the benefits of ambient lighting in the classroom?
Use more subdued lighting when
classes are coming from PE, recess, lunch, and other active times.
you’ve had high energy parts to your lesson and are ready for students to listen and focus.
you’ve had a classroom event or conflict and need to restore calm to the class.
you are setting the mood for something new or mysterious.
The gentle glow they emit can transform an ordinary classroom into a space that encourages collaboration, creativity, and focused learning. The soft, diffused lighting from these lamps can help reduce eye strain and contribute to a sense of well-being among students. It just feels like home with lots of ambient lighting.
I found my lights at Target during their back-to-college sales or at Goodwill.
SAFETY TIP: If you have a cloth shade, many times you will be required to spray it with a flame-retardent material and in some districts are not allowed to have cloth shades at all!
Shelf Floor Lamp
I did not have this shelf lamp in my room but saw it requested in a DonorsChoose project and fell in love with it! A soft glow lamp and SHELVES! If I’d known about these, I’d have had one (or two) in my room!
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Using String Lights in the Classroom
String lights, known for their enchanting glow and versatile design, have found their way beyond holiday decorations and into educational spaces. These whimsical lighting solutions offer a creative and engaging way to enhance the classroom environment, fostering a sense of comfort, creativity, and inspiration.
Create focus for the bulletin board with the neon lights and a fun presentation mood with white lights around the presentation screen.
Supernight LED RGB strips change colors and have a remote control.
Infusing Magic into Learning Spaces
String lights have a unique ability to infuse spaces with a touch of magic and wonder. By draping them along walls, bulletin boards, or bookshelves, you can instantly create a captivating atmosphere that captures students’ attention and imagination.
Perfect for creating zones of focus and learning, the soft, twinkling lights create a cozy ambiance that encourages relaxation and exploration, making the learning environment feel less formal and more inviting.
Safety and Practicality
I had white string lights around a back bulletin board and rarely turned them on. Speaking honestly here, I was afraid that I’d forget to turn them off. I never had the same fear with my lamps for some reason.
Once again, you would need to know your school rules for using this type of lighting.
Black Lights for that Fun Vibe
A very popular choice these days is to pair black lights with songs and activities for a fun effect at concerts. These UV lights also are being used more and more in the classroom to set a mood and to use directly in lessons.
Black Lights for Concerts
There’s an entire blog post dedicated to black lights in concerts with buying ideas and specific songs and activities to use. Check it out!
Inspiring Creative Projects in the Classroom
One of the standout features of black lights is their ability to reveal hidden patterns and colors. In the classroom, this characteristic can be harnessed for creative projects that captivate students’ interest. Students love “Glow Days.”
Have students use fluorescent markers or glow sticks to write rhythms then turn the lights out to reveal the neon creations!
Use fluorescent paint and a stencil to spray paint your school mascot on bucket drums and have a bucket drumming Glow Day!
Use glow tape on rhythm sticks for a Glow Stick Play Along day.
Have these anytime of year but for sure during Halloween week. (Think Addams Family theme)
Use white cups for cup routines or white gloves for body percussion routines.
Write clues around the room using a fluorescent dry erase marker for a Scavenger Hunt. Turn the lights off and let the game begin.
While black lights can be both educational and entertaining, safety considerations are paramount. Direct exposure to UV radiation should be minimized, and proper precautions should be taken to prevent eye strain. Educators should also ensure that any materials used for projects are safe and non-toxic.
Conclusion
I found so many positive student outcomes from having a lighting plan for my classroom. And the win-win is that I benefitted too.
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Let’s discover the many ways SEL is already infused and integrated into elementary music curriculum, procedures, and processes. We’ll pinpoint what is already naturally occurring and add some new ideas to integrate social and emotional learning into the music classroom.
Teachers often use books/literature with an embedded SEL-themed competency such as self-awareness, self-management, empathy, etc.
But they are doing so much more!
The CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) Framework is a comprehensive approach to promoting social and emotional learning (SEL) in educational settings and includes five competencies.
Self-Awareness
The ability to accurately recognize your emotions and thoughts and their influence on behavior.
The ability to accurately assess your strengths and limitations and possess a well-grounded sense of confidence and optimism.
This includes confidence, self-efficacy, and a growth mindset.
A Mindful Activity
Body Shapes is all about students taking 3-5 minutes to move their bodies and relax their minds as they experience SEL through global music and movementas a class starter, brain break, or mindful way to transition to the next class or subject.
Self-Management
The ability to effectively regulate your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in different situations. This includes managing stress, controlling impulses, motivating yourself, and setting and working toward achieving personal and academic goals.
Related Activities
Concert Checklist: Organize your concert planning and preparation with checklists and best practices. Here are tips on choosing the music, concert themes, teaching timelines, and logistics.
Concert-Ready Students: You’ll find multiple tips and techniques for learning and memorizing music to prepare your students for a concert including incentives, checklists, and games.
Relationship Skills
This ability to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities (cultural competency), provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed.
Multi-Cultural Resources
Songs and Dances from Authentic Sources: A page that aims to provide resources that I’ve researched or from sources who also research with the same authentic goal.
Social Awareness
The ability to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings (including unjust ones), and recognize and understand the influence of family, school and community resources and supports.
Related Resources
The Oodles Calendar of Events with lesson plans, resources, and activities. (Hispanic Heritage Month, Native American Month, Veterans Day, Halloween, Black History Month, etc.)
Responsible Decision-Making
The ability to make choices based on ethics and safety and to consider the benefits and consequences related to personal, social, and collective well-being.
Join the hundreds of other teachers who get the Oodles Newsletter delivered to their inbox every Monday morning filled with content creator’s latest videos and resources that will save you time.
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Are you in a panic when your school’s electricity goes out, the projector bulb goes pop, you need emergency sub plans, or your computer is on the fritz? Make this no-tech, low-cost Jeopardy board and you’ll be ready for any emergency! Say goodbye to technology and hello to an innovative, interactive, and budget and sub-friendly game that will make learning music (or ANY subject) an absolute blast!
What is a No-Tech Jeopardy Game?
A no-tech Jeopardy game provides an opportunity to combine music education with a thrilling game show format any time and in any situation. A music teacher or sub with no musical background, can walk in and without hitting a power button of any kind, have great learning K-5.
Modeled after the popular TV show, this interactive game allows students to answer questions, earn points, and engage in friendly competition. By transforming your music lessons into an exciting game, you can foster a love for music, encourage teamwork, and enhance student learning in a playful and memorable way.
Did I mention that it folds down to an easy-to-store rectangle?
Discover the best AI tools for music teachers with time-saving benefits for the teacher and broader curriculum choices for students. AI offers a powerful ally for music teachers, freeing up valuable time by-
streamlining administrative tasks
creating and personalizing instruction
providing time-consuming research
Explore how AI empowers music educators to focus on what truly matters – nurturing musical talents and fostering creativity.
Let’s look into the time-saving and (hopefully) stress-reducing efficiency unlocked by AI and the many sites that will be available to us over the next few years.
Reminder: AI is ONLY a tool. Teachers should vet all generated information very carefully.
Generating Written & Digital Assignments
Music educators don’t deal with written assignments and assessments often. Our classes are mainly hands-on, action-based learning. When we need a written/digital assignment that aligns with our curriculum, it often becomes a huge time suck.
Why use written/digital assignments in the music room?
What are some of the reasons music teachers need written/digital assignments? Let’s take a ukulele unit as the example.
We need a sub plan and want to continue with learning about the ukulele but know that we absolutely don’t want a sub using the instruments.
A student has lost playing privileges because of unsafe use of the ukulele and needs to continue to learn about the instrument in a different format.
An entire class has been off-task and needs a reset.
We only have enough instruments for half a class and want students without instruments to have a quality assignment rather than “waiting their turn.”
Types of Assignments
Multiple Choice
For guided reading or general information activities and assessments, use a multiple-choice format.
These can be used:
in hard-copy print
with devices using Google Forms, Kahoot!, Quizizz, Gimkit, Canvas, Blooket, moodle, and more!
Printed Copies
Write this prompt. “Use the following article about Mozart to generate 10 multiple-choice questions. Give two printable copies, one with the correct answers annotated by placing a check mark (√) at the beginning of each correct response and one without. Add a list of the 10 correct responses for easy grading.” (add Mozart biography here)
Type in a video URL and some AI models can generate questions. One example is the beta app twee. (see video and table below for more info)
Here is a multiple-choice example using a Ted-Ed video on brass instruments.
Fill-in-the-Blank
twee also lets you type in (or have it generate) text and create a fill-in-the-blank assessment.
Video Reviews | AI Tools for Music Teachers
Diffit
twee
How to Generate the Best AI Responses
How to Use Effective AI Prompts
You can ask an AI bot a question and then ask them to clarify
OR
you can FIRST ask them what they need to know to answer your query.
Examples-
What do you need to know to provide me with…
What information do you need to write a thorough lesson on…
Give your request and add, “What else do you need to know?”
Concert Song Prompt
Here’s an example using ChatGPT: “I need a list of songs for an elementary music concert. What do you need to know to help with this list?”
Here’s Chat GPT’s answer (abridged to save space):
Theme or purpose of the concert.
Age or grade level of the students.
Time duration of the concert.
Musical style or genre preference.
Performance format.
Any specific songs already considered?
Technical considerations: accompaniment, sheet music, or audio resources?
Cultural or sensitivity considerations.
Edited AI Prompt
Here’s my new query using the bot’s suggestions.
I’d like a list of songs for an elementary music concert with a winter theme. The performers are in grades 1, 2, and 3. The concert will be 45 minutes in length. The music should be secular with a mix of upbeat and ballad styles. The students will be singing in large groups and mp3 accompaniments will need to be used. A couple of the songs should be very upbeat. I’d like the song titles, composers, and possible mp3 links.
Here’s the answer I received!(The links are only placeholders. DANG!)
“Winter Wonderland” – Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith
That’s a great list. Can you give me ten more songs that would fit with my parameters?
Certainly! Here are ten more songs that fit the parameters of your elementary music concert about winter:
“Jingle Bells” – James Lord Pierpont
“Up on the Housetop” – Benjamin Hanby
“The Snow Is Dancing” – Claude Debussy
“Winter Fantasy” – John Higgins
“I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” – Irving Berlin
“Snow Day” – Justin Roberts
“Winter’s Waking” – Amy F. Bernon
“Sleigh Ride” – Leroy Anderson and Mitchell Parish
“The Winter Song” – Sarah Quartel
“Winterlude” – Neil Young
Growing List of AI Sites for Teachers
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Documenting our effective teaching practices for our evaluations can be daunting. Showing proof with artifacts and documentation gets confusing. This table lets you look up WHAT you’ve taught and then spells out some of the criteria that it checks off.
Determining our professionalism, community involvement, and lesson planning is more straightforward. The below Google Sheet begins to get you thinking about the instruction portion of the evaluation process.
Scroll right and left to show headings: Dances, Body Percussion, Creative Movement, Song Repertoire, Unpitched Percussion, and Ukulele.
Copy and paste or copy and edit the ideas in the table for the artifact or self-evaluation part of your documentation.
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