7 Types of Lesson Plans to the Second Half of Your Year So Much Fun

(00:27)

So music teacher, it's the beginning of a brand new year. 2023 has begun and it's kind of random for us because as teachers we know that our year is halfway over. So it's not the beginning of our year, but it still feels like we should do some reviewing, some restarting, some revamping at the beginning of the year, right? So society tells us that this is the time of the year to take stock, make some changes. And I think that the beginning of a new year can be a great time to do some thinking about the past six months and make some changes. That's why today I'm gonna share seven types of lesson plans that can help you do just that. And this is going to also help you combat the cray cray and the exhaustion that the first few weeks have in store for you.

(01:26)

So first thing I like to do is I like to review transitions and procedures. And I don't do that by speaking to my students about it cuz as soon as you start that their eyes are glazing over and you become that Charlie Brown teacher, right? We do not want that. So I like to use a fun activity where maybe we're playing instruments or we're doing some sort of a hand clapping game, something like that to review my transitions, my procedures, my rest position, how I like my students to sit in different kinds of posture, all that good stuff. And in the show notes you will find some examples of what to do there. But let me give you a quick little example. So one of the things I like to do is set all of my instruments up in a ginormous circle and we play, we just echo rhythms.

(02:21)

So I'll put the rhythms on the board and I have this really fun rhythm game that it just builds and builds from. Um, quarter notes and double eight notes all the way through. It's got five different levels. I will also link that in the show notes. It's something I got on teachers pay teachers and it is really fun. We'll do like review and then we'll go ahead and do a game out of it and I'll split them. You know, they love to do boys versus girls, so I'll do boys versus girls and if I hear even one person make a mistake, we have to start over. So that is how that works. And in the process of echoing, we also are every three rhythms, we change instruments. So I get a chance to review my instrument play procedures, my transition procedures between trading instruments. I get a chance to review my rest position.

(03:19)

I get to a chance to review when my students are supposed to sit in what I call active posture and when they're supposed to sit in listening posture. So all of those things are happening at the same time as I am reviewing procedures. Activity number two, I love to start out with some icebreakers because a lot of times at this time of the year you have new students and I think it's a super fun way to get back in the groove. Give your students a chance to get up and move and maybe do some folk dancing, do some hand clapping games, anything that gets your students up and moving and gives them a chance to get to know each other, to kind of get back in the swing of things. So think about a movement meet and greet. If you need a suggestion, I have a brand new all are welcome movement meet and greet that I will feature in the show notes.

(04:15)

I'll have a link for that. If you are not yet a member of my email list, if you click the title of the book, you will get access to my email list along with that lesson plan and to others. So that's pretty cool. I love to do form lessons as well. So form lessons are another really easy way to start off your year, kind of get back in the groove. And I love to pick a favorite classical piece or even a pop song and we talk about the form of it and we add some instruments or we add some maybe movement manipulatives like bouncy balls or scarves, something like that. Two of my favorites are the William Tell Overture. I love to use bouncy balls with this one and the theme from Star Wars. So we just do some fun activity with it. And what happens is on each part, so for example if the form is um, introduction, a B a B interlude a B coda, let's say that's it.

(05:25)

So on each part of your form you add a different sort of movement, scarf movement or bouncy ball, like maybe on the A section they're bouncing the ball on the steady beat, maybe on the B section they're tossing the ball in the air on say half notes. And maybe there is the interlude and on the interlude maybe you have them um, I don't know, pass the ball back and forth. So I like to listen to the music and I like to find something that I, I think goes with the music and it does not matter what you make up as long as you think it goes well with the music. And that's kind of a good way you're reviewing form. You can review also because if you're um, bouncing the ball on the steady beat, you can be re reviewing quarter notes. If you are tossing on um, like one, two and you catch on two, you can review half notes.

(06:22)

So you can do that as well. And you're also moving to the music and it's fun and it's engaging and it's just a great way to start things off. Number four, all play around the circle. So this is a great way to review mallet skills, to review rhythm reading skills. And what I like to do is set up my ORP instruments and some non pitch percussion in a circle. And this is an rd eda thing, but I've stolen it and made it my own. You know how we teachers do that. And so I'll set it up like metals, skins, woods, shakers, scrapers, and we'll go around every four. We change instruments. So a metal, a skin, a wood, a shaker scraper and the students are switching. So you wanna be sure that they get to play a new instrument each time. So you wouldn't wanna have two Glock and spiels in a row.

(07:20)

And I like to put on some music that has a good beat. You know, your students love for example the song popcorn or you can put on pretty much any piece of pop music that has a really clear, steady beat. And we either echo rhythms or the students read the rhythms and we go around the circle and they get to switch instruments. What I like to do here is I like to review how to play my different instruments. Now one of the things that I think is really challenging as a music teacher is we have, you know, the same grade level 8 million times and maybe you're doing this with your second, your third, your fourth, your fifth graders. You get tired of explaining. I mean I get bored. Don't you get bored with explaining the instruments over and over. So what I like to do is, especially with my bigger kids, my third, my fourth, my fifth graders is I will say to them, boys and girls, see if you can figure out how to play your instrument without picking it up and turn and tell your neighbor how you think it should be played.

(08:28)

And if you're not sure, ask your neighbor how it should be played. So that's a really good way to first of all save your voice. Second of all, it's a great way to get them thinking because now they're teaching and any time they can teach how to play the instrument, they have a really much better handle on how to play it. Finally, students love to listen to each other. They like to listen to each other a lot more than they like to listen to you. So, and you know it is what it is, that's the reality. We might as well own it. So if you get your students explaining to each other, that tends to have a much better effect all the way around and it is better learning. So that is number four. Number five, review the last skill you were working on. So the one skill that you worked on before winter break, review it in a new way.

(09:24)

For example, if you were working on meter and you were talking about the difference between meter of two and meter of three, then maybe you wanna bring out your bouncy balls and use them to bounce on the strong beat and toss on the weak beats. Or maybe you wanna bring out your bean bags and you want to pass on the strong bee and rest on the weak beat. Or maybe you want to bring out, I love to use those monkey noodles and you could stretch on the strong bee and on the weak you could go back. So it would go stretch on the one. And let's say you're in a meter of two, stretch two, three, stretch, two three. You can do that first using temple blocks and then you could do it using uh, something in a meter of three. So that is kind of a fun way you take that skill you've been working on.

(10:15)

You need to review it anyway, but pull out something different and do it in a different way. Number six, do a movement activity that teaches a music skill. So for example, let's say that you're working on dynamics and you need an easy way to reinforce loud and soft. So stomping on the loud part to the music and tiptoeing on the soft parts of the music is one way to go. Another way is you can get out your scarves, your parachute, your streamers and come up with a big movement that uses that manipulative for loud and a small movement that uses that manipulative for soft. Or maybe you use body percussion, so movement with body percussion and you can pair up your students. I know for my kiddos, and I'm sure your kiddos are the same, it is really important to for coordination cuz I feel like students are really, coordination is such a big deal for them at this point.

(11:17)

So if you do a clap on the strong beat and on the weak beats, maybe they cross and they, they tap each other's hands or maybe you do a jump on the strong beat and they tap each other's hands on the weak beat, something like that. So that's another way to go. Or you can come up with just a big body movement. If you don't wanna pull out your manipulatives and you wanna make it super easy, you can pull out a big body movement or do a big body movement on the strong beat and a small body movement on the weak beat. So those are some thoughts about movement activities to do that reinforce a music skill. Number seven, use some body percussion or some hand games. Again, it's so important to be helping your students with that hand eye coordination because they are really struggling hard with that.

(12:13)

Plus you can review a skill or you can work on a new skill. So these types of games are perfect for teaching meter. You can create body percussion or a hand game that uses a loud body percussion on the strong beat and a softer body percussion on the weak beats. The other nice thing about using body percussion or hand games, especially hand games, is it's a good way to build classroom community. And I feel like our students really need help building community, learning how to communicate with each other, working together as groups and what better way to do that than with some hand games. So you can start out by teaching your students the general hand game, like the basic whatever it happens to be. And then you can let them create something new. So it gives them a chance to be creative, it gives them a chance to work with partners and it's a really good way to build community.

(13:16)

And you know, when you're doing those hand games, especially if you're changing partners, it's all smiling faces. They think it's so much fun. So since you are newly part of team happy, I'm giving you a bonus, this is something that nobody else has gotten. So this is number eight in the types of lesson plans you can do to start your year with a bang. And that is do some drumming with your students. I find drumming to be one of the first most fun activities for students. One of the easiest activities for me, and I find it to be an amazing way to start your year off with something easy, with something fun. Get your students back into that rhythmic frame of mind. So what I like to do is, this is actually a world music drumming technique and basically we start out just doing steady beat.

(14:16)

It's always a good idea even with your big kids to start out doing steady beat. And then I like to trick them and the way that, or I, I say that I want to trick them. So the way that I do that is I say, okay boys and girls, you're gonna stick with steady beat and I'm gonna make up different things. Instead I'm gonna do a little little improvisation on my drum. And your job is to try to keep the steady beat. And then we talk about the strategies that we use to keep the steady beat. So one of the strategies they need to do is they need to listen to each other, they need to watch each other. So those are good strategies for building ensemble work. And they are really focused because they think I'm trying to trick them, which technically I'm not, but I, you know, I, I say that to them, I'm gonna try to trick you.

(15:06)

And then they are really focused on trying to keep that steady beat. From there, the next step is we do, um, a question like, what's your name or what's your favorite color or what's for dinner? Something like that. And it's just a nice easy way. So, so the way that works is I do, what's your name? And then they say their name and then we go all the way around the circle. Now I like to start by clapping their names because that makes them a little bit more comfortable. So we'll clap, what's your name? And then they clap back. Susie, what's your name? Barrett. Um, and we go all the way around the circle that way. Then we go all the way around the circle and they put their name on the drum and then we go all the way around the circle again and we do, what's your name? Susie, what's her name? Susie. So that gets everybody involved and listening. And then we drop the voice part. So it'll be, just

(16:13)

So you know, you do the exact same thing, only you drop the voice part. So that is just another activity that you can do that's fun and easy to start. I know for me, a lot of my students were trickling in from vacation and these are really good activities that any time after a break you can use these to get things moving and grooving back again. So let's go ahead and do a quick review. First of all, review transitions and procedures with a fun no brainer kind of activity, like echoing rhythms. Number two, icebreakers. Get your students back in the groove with a movement. Meet and greet. Number three, form lessons. Pick your favorite classical music, get out your manipulatives and make up something that goes with the form of the music. Number four, all play around the circle. So review your mallet skills, your rhythm reading, get out those instruments that your students don't get an opportunity to play very much and do something fun like that.

(17:21)

Number five, review the last skill you worked on in a different way. Number six, do a movement activity that teaches a music skill. Number seven, use body percussion or hand games to help you review a skill, work on a new one, work on teamwork, that sort of thing. And finally, your bonus number eight, get out your drums, your hand drums, your two bonos, your congas, whatever it is you have. And use those to just have some fun and review those music skills. Well that's all I have for you today. But before I go, let me remind you . . . keep learning, keep growing, and keep being fabulous you.