The First Day of Music class has always felt a little daunting for me. I know how important it is to teach expectations and procedures right away, yet I still want to give them an opportunity to be musical, even on that first day!
In today’s blog, I will be sharing 5 Lesson Ideas to start your new school year off with your students in a fun and musical way! If you don’t already know, my name is Jessie and I am an Elementary Kinder-6th Grade General Music Teacher and, along with this blog, I also have a YouTube channel where I share lesson ideas, as well as Play-alongs and everything in the General music world!
Lesson Idea #1: Welcome Song – written by Todd Johnson (my Dad!)
Every year, one of my favorite teaching moments is sharing this Welcome song with my Primary students; my Kindergartners just light up with joy singing along every year!
***Quick side note – I accompany this song with my Baritone Ukulele, which I have begun to use more and more and love how rich and guitar-like it sounds, yet still has that ease of playing that comes with an ukulele! Would highly recommend one, if you’re in the market, though not essential for performing the song, of course!
This Welcome Song actually originated from my Dad, who wrote/arranged it for use with his Sunday School students while I was a kid! I adapted it for use in my public school community and my younger students have always enjoyed it.
The A Section goes through a few common actions/tasks that kids might do the morning of the first day of school (Comb their hair, brush their teeth, etc.). Next, the B Section can be used in a variety of different ways, such as going around and introducing classmates or perhaps teachers that they’ll meet at their school using pictures in a slideshow.
We sing this song at the beginning of the first couple of lessons so I do not expect them to have memorized all of the lyrics during the first lesson. As the students feel more confident, I encourage them to brainstorm motions for the different parts of the song.
On my website you can access a Lyrics sheet with Chords that you can use to learn and share it with your students! Let me know how it goes!
Lesson Idea #2: Silly Songs
I find it really effective to break up discussions about rules/expectations with change-of-pace, silly songs! Here’s a great, simple one that I was introduced to by David Row over at Make Moments Matter. It’s called the “Stand Up, Sit Down Song” and it is fantastic for the beginning of the school year, as it involves lots of movement, but they are all done in one spot!
Since I don’t use chairs in my room, I have my students “pretend to sit” by putting their hands on their knees. It is a hilarious way to get kids up and moving, while also giving them an opportunity to learn about their classmates throughout the song!
Lesson Idea #3: Walking to the Steady Beat (Keepin’ it simple!)
I want my students to get accustomed to finding their assigned seats quickly and safely if we are travelling around the music room for an activity. We practice this by, simply, walking around to the Steady beat of a drum or me improvising simple C major patterns on the piano and when I stop playing, the students have to safely return back to their assigned seats with a calm and controlled body. Not everything has to be super fancy to work well for your kiddos!
Lesson Idea #4: “Cinderella, Dressed in Yellow” – Building Listening skills!
First, I teach my students the rhyme, “Cinderella, Dressed in Yellow”, with the steady beat of a tubano in the background. Below are the words:
Cinderella, dressed in yellow (‘yella’)
Went upstairs to kiss her fella
Made a mistake and kissed a snake!
How many doctors did it take?
I find it helpful to create a slide with pictures to represent the lyrics rather than displaying the words, as Kindergartners and First graders may not be reading yet, and I’d prefer they learn this by rote anyways, using the pictures as a visual and memory aid.
After, I play a number between 1-10 on the tubano to signify the number of doctors it took to help Cinderella. I then call on students choosing to raise their hands to share their guess and we have a few students rotate through playing the tubano.
Teaching Tip:
Talk about how challenging it is for students to keep up and count if the drummer plays super fast. Encourage students to play at a tempo (speed) that their class can be successful at counting the number of doctors it took to help out Cinderella!
Lesson Idea #5: Book -All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold
This is a beautiful book about the many similarities and differences within every school community and how we can and should celebrate them throughout every school year! At the end of every couple of pages is a repeating refrain, “All Are Welcome Here,” that we sing together to the melody “Mi – Do, – Re – Ti, – Do,”.
The book can also be sung entirely, with the students joining in with the “All Are Welcome Here” refrain.
1st Phrase: Do-Mi-So-So-La-La-So—
2nd Phrase: Fa-Fa-Mi-Mi-Re-Re-Do
3rd Phrase: Do-mi-so-so-la-la-so
4th Phrase: Mi-Do-Re-Ti-Do (All Are Welcome Here!)
I find it’s a lovely way to hopefully make my students feel safe, accepted and welcome in the music classroom.
Bonus Lesson Resource: Kindergarten – GamePlan Curriculum Book by Jeff Kriske and Randy DeLelles
If you have the means, I would highly recommend the Kindergarten book from the GamePlan Curriculum. It has a wonderful Farm Unit at the beginning of the year that introduces students to a new instrument every music class and connects it with a different farm animal.
From Day one, my Kindergartners always want to know when we’re going to play this instrument or that one or those ones, and this allows them to experience all of them in a structured, predictable routine of learning a new instrument and connecting it to a new animal, along with other songs/rhymes/games that go along with the animal of the day.
I hope you found these lesson ideas helpful as you bring the joy of music to your students! For our Lower elementary learners, keeping things simple and fast paced will ensure your students are engaged in making music, while also still learning and reviewing routines and expectations!
