If you have been reading my blog for any amount of time, you will know that I love to teach students about different kind of music. We do tons of listening activities with music from all different places. This is partially because of my personal teaching philosophy, and aided by the program that my students… Continue reading Free K-1 Music Lesson: Beat v. Rhythm with Soul Music
Tag: teaching music
Assessment without “Assessment”
Assessment. This is one of the favorite words in education these days. Principals love assessment, district chairs love assessment…. Do teachers love assessment? Not really. Do kids? No. But you can change that. At least you can change that in the elementary music room. Most of us see our kids about once a week. My… Continue reading Assessment without “Assessment”
What do I do with fifth graders? Classroom Management
Ah, fifth graders. What will we ever do with them? Last week we talked about what to do with fifth graders in the elementary music room as far as lessons go. Check it out here. Today we are talking about dealing with behavior in fifth graders. Because we all know that no learning can happen… Continue reading What do I do with fifth graders? Classroom Management
What do I do with Fifth Graders? Lessons and Tips
If you are a brand-new elementary music teacher, you might be thinking—what do I do with fifth graders? Well, even if you are not brand new, you may be thinking-- what do i do with fifth graders? If you haven’t started teaching yet, you may be confused. Let me explain. We all know that the… Continue reading What do I do with Fifth Graders? Lessons and Tips
Positive Reinforcements that won’t Break the Bank
PBIS. If you have read my blog for more than five minutes, you know that I love PBIS. And I use it. A lot. Why? Because positive reinforcements work. That doesn’t mean that you don’t address when students are doing something wrong. It just means that you make a big deal about the students doing… Continue reading Positive Reinforcements that won’t Break the Bank
Free Music Lesson: Bate Bate Chocolate
Do your students speak Spanish? Whether they do or not, they will enjoy Bate Bate Chocolate! I have been using this with my 2-3 grades. I find it perfect for that age (and with students who speak no Spanish) because there are very few words. Out of the few words, the students usually know how… Continue reading Free Music Lesson: Bate Bate Chocolate
Vamos a la Mar Orffestration
We are now entering week three of Hispanic Heritage month lesson on my blog! This week I am going to talk about the Guatemalan folk song “Vamos a la Mar”, which means let’s go to the sea. I have been using this with my second and third graders, and they love it. I also taught… Continue reading Vamos a la Mar Orffestration
Free K-1 Music Lesson: It’s Raining and Que Llueva
Do you want to know something? I love Hispanic heritage month. I love all things multi-cultural, and Hispanic Heritage month gives me the perfect excuse to do a lot of Spanish songs, Spanish dances, etc. My students are not Hispanic, and I am enjoying being able to expose them to different things through music. For… Continue reading Free K-1 Music Lesson: It’s Raining and Que Llueva
Things I’m Doing Differently in my Second Year of Teaching
My first year of teaching was ok. A lot of people have these stories where every single day of their first year of teaching is awful and they almost quit and so on and so on. I will say that I did not hit that point until about February. That’s a pretty good time line,… Continue reading Things I’m Doing Differently in my Second Year of Teaching
Free K-1 Music Lesson: Singing Voice v. Talking Voice
Kindergarten music. It is so much fun. And so terrifying. As I allude to in this post about teaching rhythm, I felt a bit apprehensive my first year about teaching 4 and 5 year olds EVERYTHING about music. I mean, these students come in and don't know anything. We have very few students who attend… Continue reading Free K-1 Music Lesson: Singing Voice v. Talking Voice