Every teacher I know struggles with getting a rowdy class to quiet down, keeping kids calm when you despirately need them to be calm, and getting through those pesky transitions. Oh! and remembering all those fantastic lessons we have spend hours preparing! Me too, until I found my answer in music! In fact, muscic is just the ticket to make any teacher's day go more smoothly, and to help students be happier. It's a win-win!
Do you:
Want to help your students remember content?
Calm a noisy classroom?
Make transitions smoother?
Keep them quiet in the hallway?
Keep seatwork time quiet and clam?
Enter quietly in the morning and get right to the task at hand?
Music is the answer!
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1. Using Music as Pattern Inturupters
Scenario: You just turned your back (for a second) and all of a sudden all of that classroom control you worked so hard to achieve goes down the drain, as Katie yells at Jerod to stop touching her foot. Everyone laughs and the wild ruckus begins. Sigh.
SO: If you haven't heard of pattern interrupt, (from Hypnoterapist Milton Erikson) it just means breaking a pattern of behavior with an unexpected stimulus.When kids experience even a small surprise, it breaks their pattern of behavior. It may be for only a few seconds, but those few seconds are a teacher's golden ticket. Think about a rhymic clap in which students respond. The clap is a small surprise (totally different from the sound of talking) and requires a response from the class. It doesn't matter that the clap has been done many times before, it is an interruption of the talking sound they were hearing. A sing-song call and response is a sure fire way to bring the class back. It's important to sing the call, as that breaks through the kid talk. You don't have to be a singer either. The best ones are short! Below are three that really work well:
(Teacher) Peanut, peanut butter (students) and jelly
Dum Dum Dah Dah see it at: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/294141419391874808/
(teacher) Who you Gonna Call (Students" Ghostbuster
You can take any song that is popular with your kids and use just a line for the call, and the next line for the response.
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2. Using Music for Preparation (hallway, etc)
Scenario: You had the whole group quiet before going into the hall to P.E., but half-way there (while you lead in the front) the back of the line is going absolutely nuts. The principal just gave you a dirty look. (Lordy!)
So: The trick is preparation, and having a trick or two up your sleeve if you start to loose them. Music can solve the issue. Check out this song from Teacher Tipster.com.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn-wGrhb5d4&feature=relmfu
Teachers of younger kids may find these songs very helpful:
https://teachingmama.org/hallway-songs-for-kids/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7YRUNTA_2c
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3. Transitions
Scenario: You've just finished math. The kids did a project that involved scissors, paste and lots of paper. Moving to science means cleaning up the mess first. The headache starts to build. You know what's really next. Kids are all over the place throwing away paper, books thumping, and voices rising to a fever pitch. Getting out science material? No, that isn't happening until somehow your voice connects with the distracted brains doing any one of a hundred activities.
So: A little preparation helps with transitions. Tell students you are playing a short song for one, two or three minutes, depending on what you feel is needed. When you stop the song, students must be in their seats with materials out, quiet and ready to go. Give a one minutes warning, I have a point system in which students earn points for good behavior. Students are in groups by tables, rows or however you organize your seats. I give points for being the quietest during a specific period of time, having homework done, anything you like. I also give a point for any table (row) in which all students are ready when the music goes off. At the end of the week there is a special activity for the group with the most points. Every class likes something a little different. Some years my kids want to come back during Friday lunch and watch a short movie (Reading Rainbow, whatever). Some years they want one homework assignment to just "go away". At any rate, there needs to be some "carrot" for being ready when the music stops. I like points because when everyone has done a good job, everyone gets a point. That puts a smile on their faces. The following link not only gives you a number of great transition songs to choose from, but includes music to play during writing, for subjects and more. It's a treasure!! More ideas for using this link below.
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4. Calm in the Classroom
Scenario: The morning bell rings and kids come running in the classroom with voices on LOUD. It takes at least five minutes to calm things down and get them busy.
So: Change one thing in the morning. Play restful or classical music in a low tone with the lights dimmed a bit. Write on the board what you expect students to do once they unpack and get to their desk. It's also is the perfect time to greet students, and make that early connection for the day. I found it not only amazing, but astounding what a difference having soft music and lighting made the first time I used it in the morning. I could almost hear the kids let out a sigh as they walked in the door, and calm right down. I used it every morning from that day on, and it made mornings SOOO much better for all of us!
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5. Quiet Seatwork
Scenario: It's time for kids to work on an assignment (writing, reading silently) but the talking just keeps popping up. Just when you think you've got it under control, Sam and Eli are at it again.
S0: Add very soft music. It works the same way as adding music in the morning. As long as the music is restful and low, it does some kind of weird magic with kids. It keeps them quiet. I don't know why, but there won't be any complaining from me.
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6. Retaining Information
Have you ever noticed that the kid who can't remember anything you teach them, knows the lyrics to more rap songs than you even knew existed? There's a reason for that.
A study at UC Irvine showed that listening to music helps the memory of Alzeimer's patients. If it can do that, just imagine what it can do for our students! Chris Brewer, writer of Soundtracks for Learning, says music holds our attention, stimulate emotions and help create visual images. He finds that music helps students focus better on the task at hand, and puts them in a better mood to learn. Brewer calls the use of music throughout the school day, "Positive modd management". One of the reasons this happens is that stress can stand in the way of learning. Listening to restful music is very calming, even to kids (and adults) who have chronic stress. Calm them down, then they can learn.
Gaetan Pappalardo, a consultant at www.onkidwriting.com, stresses that pulling out the same ol' music just won't do with today's kids. Use lots of genres like movie soundtracks, video game songs as well as what they are hearing on their phone (radio...whatever).
These two researches have a few suggestions for using music to enhanse memory:
1. Play calm music while you lead your students on an imaginative journay in an academic topic. For example discuss the solar system while playing music from "2001, a Space Odyssey"
2. Tie songs to tasks. Kids memorize easily through rhythm and rhyme. Change the words from a favorite song to teach an academic subject. There are a number of these types of songs available for free or to purchase with a quick Google search. This is one of my favorite ways to use music. Kids just don't forget information learned in a song! Also the link given in the transitions section above has a number of good songs to use with this idea.
Here are a few links to great songs...all are free!
http://www.educationandbehavior.com/educational-songs-for-elementary-school-kids/
https://www.songsforteaching.com
https://www.science4us.com/science-songs/
http://www.educationandbehavior.com/5-great-music-videos-about-science-for-kids-k-to-3rd-grade/
https://www.songsforteaching.com/socialstudiessongs.htm
This is just a sampling of what is out there. A short Google search can give you just what you need!
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I hope you find that music makes as much difference in your classroom as it did it mine!
Happy singing!
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To read the article #6 is taken from, see: http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/music-arts/boost-memory-and-learning-with-music/
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