Are you working on coming up with some Music lesson plans for the first week of school? I’m still torn between working on Music things and getting my Grade 8 classroom set up. It’s hard to teach both! But, thankfully, I have a tried-and-true plan for how I want my first few Music lessons to go. First things first – we need to get to know each other and the procedures in the music room. At my current school, I only see the students for one hour a week so these activities would probably take two hours or two lessons to complete.
1. Discuss Procedures
To start with, I always go over a few important procedures. I try not to talk too much because I want to get them active as soon as possible. These are my most important ones:
- Attendance – I give each student in the class a number. Let’s be clear – I don’t call my students by their numbers. They are not prisoners. I need to learn all of their names. This is purely for organization’s sake. I say, “Sound Off” and whoever is number 1 says their number. Then number 2 says theirs and so on. As fast as possible. If there’s a missing number it’s apparent and I know who’s away.
- Line Up – If there are different doors for exit and entry we go over those and I stress the importance of lining up silently.
- Learning Goals – I post my learning goals (when I remember) and usually have a student read out the goal for that class.
- Team Leaders – Check out this post on my old blog about how I set up my Music Teams. You can also click here to grab some team labels for FREE!
2. Add a Scavenger Hunt into your Music Lesson Plans
After all the procedures are out of the way we do a classroom scavenger hunt. I like to make it pretty short and just focus on the things I want them to notice right away. For example, where the recycling bin is, how many posters are on the wall, the rhythm instruments, and the music teams. I tend to throw in some potential rules and a question for me. This gives them a chance to have some ownership over classroom rules and satisfies any curiosity they may have about their new Music teacher. They love this! My music lesson plans are usually a series of quick activities that move from having my kids sitting down to standing up. Classroom scavenger hunts are a great way to get them moving!
3. Quick Diagnostic Assessment
Next on the lesson plan is a diagnostic assessment. This activity does sometimes get pushed to the next class if we are having too much fun. However, I need to know what my students already know about music. I’ve started or revitalized Music programs at a number of different schools and music theory is usually one of the things I need to focus on right away. Especially with beginning band students I need to know how much of my future music lesson plans are going to require some note naming and rhythm instruction. This music test is quick and gives me all the information I need to start planning.
4. Your Music Lesson Plans Need a Game!
Finally, (and most importantly) your Music lesson plans need a music-related game. Boomwhacker Mystery Songs are my go-to. The students don’t really need to know much musically and they are super fun. All you need are some boomwhackers, markers, and chart paper (or you can get my digital version here.)
To begin, I show some boomwhackers and have students predict the names of these instruments and how they think they produce sounds. We go over how to play them (on the hand – no sword fighting). Then, I show them the Low C tube and compare it to High C and the students predict which one will be higher or lower in pitch. Next, we talk about the musical alphabet and how the tube colours correspond to it.
Then, I set them loose in groups to see if they can predict the mystery songs. I usually give them some “Got It” signs so they can hold them up when they want me to check instead of having them shout the answer across the room.
To sum up, I want my music lesson plans for the first week to be FUN and informative (for both me and the students.) I really work hard to learn names as soon as possible and to set the tone for the rest of the year. But really, I want them to know that this will be a safe place to make music together.
Do you teach more than just Music, like me? I’ve got a whole post about other first day of school activities that I’d love for you to check out. I hope your first few weeks back at school are amazing!
