Tips for Teaching Elementary Music Online

In this blog post I’ll be sharing tips for teaching elementary music online. I’ll include ideas on management, lesson planning and engagement.

Teaching online can be challenging. But there are some easy ways to make your music lessons meaningful and effective.

ONLINE TEACHING MANAGEMENT TIPS

If you’re teaching online you want to get to know your students first. Then you’ll want to establish your rules and procedures.

You’ll want to consider to communicate with students and parents, how to use silent signals and your expectations for participation.

Here’s a list of some things to consider to help you with classroom management.

• Establish your online rules- how will students ask for help? Can they use the chat function? How do they signal bathroom break? Or, if they need to leave the class?
• Mute everyone except yourself during the lesson.
• Use Hand Signals and actions to communicate and to sing the songs. Include praise, listen, watch, sing, play instruments, ask a question hand signals.
• Sing a hello song and sing all the names of everyone in your class so everyone can get to know each other and build classroom community.
• Keep videos short and follow up with an activity.
• Give students time markers during the lesson.
• Give students a variety of activities to do. Diversify your lessons.
• Sing a goodbye song.

LESSON PLANNING

Create a standard lesson plan format. You don’t always have to use every type of activity, but you can use this list to diversify learning activities

I create my lesson plans following a simple format. This gives the lessons structure and helps me streamline my planning.

I also use themes and concepts to connect the materials in my lessons.

• HELLO SONG
• MOVEMENT SONG
• MINI LESSON TIME ON THE LEARNING GOALS
• PLAY INSTRUMENTS TO SUPPORT LEARNING GOAL
• MOVEMENT ACTIVITY
• REPEAT LESSON SONG and key points- assessment time.
• READ A STORY/LISTENING ACTIVITY/COLORING/WRITING/CRAFT
• GOODBYE SONG

Be sure to encourage students to practice skills on their own.

I use google slides and the drive folders to organize materials.

I plan each quarter for each grade, then make a presentation for each month or unit.

I include videos, audio files, worksheets and links in the folder for quick access if the slides don’t work.

STREAMLINE LESSONS ACROSS GRADE LEVELS

One way to keep organized and manage your lesson planning is to use the same materials across grade levels.

Create lessons where the materials are the same, the song, the story, the listening activity and then simplify or expand them to meet the needs of different grade levels.

Adjust each activity to teach the skills and concepts for that grade.

You can use many of the activities in several grades too.

It’s important to differentiate the learning activities too.

Find songs that have beginning rhythms like many of the Kodaly folk songs.

Here are a few songs to get you started.

• Hot Cross Buns- 2 Versions (one with rest, one with half note)
• Bluebird-Half Note
• Engine, Engine No. 9 -Quarter, Eighth Notes
• Doggie, Doggie Where’s Your Bone? Half Note
• Star Light, Star Bright-Quarter, Eighth Notes
• Snail, Snail-Quarter, Eighth Notes
• Rain, Rain Go Away-Quarter, Eighth Notes
• Grizzly Bear (Quarter Rest)

Here’s some ways you can do this with the songs you may already know or use.

KINDERGARTEN

• Sing the song.
• Use movement to sing.
• Use scarves to show melody movement.
• Play the steady beat to the song.
• Play body percussion to the song.
• Play steady beat on instruments.
• Listen to and color or draw the song.

FIRST GRADE

• Sing the song.
• (Use any of the Kindergarten ideas for Steady Beat)
• Clap the rhythms of the words.
• Sing the solfege.
• Play Beat and Rhythms on instruments.
• Listen to and color or draw the rhythms in the song.

SECOND GRADE

• Sing the song.
• Play the steady beat using any of the ideas for K & 1)
• Clap the rhythms.
• Sing the solfege.
• Play the Melody on instruments
• Play Beat and Rhythms on instruments.
• Play rhythm ostinato as the teacher plays the song.
• Write the melody.
• Write the Ostinato.

THIRD GRADE

• Sing the song.
• Sing the solfege.
• Play Beat, Rhythms, Melody, Ostinato as in 2nd grade.
• Create their own Ostinato and play for the class.

FOURTH GRADE

• Sing the song.
• Sing the solfege.
• Review : Play Beat, Rhythms, Melody, Ostinato as in 2nd grade.
• Create their own Ostinato and play for the class.
• Learn the chords in the song. Play on Ukulele or guitar.
• Play the song on piano or online xylophone.
• Play the song on a recorder or other instrument at home.

FIFTH/SIXTH GRADE

• Use all the activities from other grades to review and teach the song.
• Have students compose their own lyrics to the same melody.
• Use a circle map for ideas.
• Have students practice and then perform their new songs.

ASSESSMENT

Assessment can be done online.

Have students draw a picture and/or describe the song and activity.

Have the students record a performance for their family.

Take turns during class over several class times for students to perform.

Finally, PROVIDE ACTIVITIES STUDENTS CAN DO ALONE

• COLORING ACTIVITIES
• WORKSHEETS
• CRAFTS

Here’s a video on using instruments at home in music lessons.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

Keeping student engagement high is a challenge. That’s why it’s important to have a variety of activities in your lessons.

Singing, moving, playing instruments, listening, coloring and creating activities can be the basis of your lesson planning.

Chats and discussions, games, sharing rhythm patterns and performances can boost engagement too.

Here’s some other things to consider.

• Consider uploading worksheets or google slides activities that support your online lesson.
  Incorporate hand actions, movement and body percussion activities.
  
  
• Use posters, flash cards, puppets, manipulatives to communicate music concepts/learning goals.
  
  
• Have digital content ready for sharing your screen with students. I put all of the lesson materials into a google slides document.
  
  
• Use a variety of online and Video Resources
  

Here’s a video I made to teach steady beat using home made instruments.

ACTIVITIES THAT GO WITH THESE IDEAS

TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS LINK

Kindergarten & PreK Music Lesson Bundle: Beat, Rhythm, Tempo, Pitch, Dynamics

TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS LINK

K-6 Elementary Music Curriculum Lessons & Activities: Year Long BUNDLE

TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS LINK

Rhythm Activities BUNDLE: {Quarter Rest} Video, Google Apps Ocean Friends

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I’m hoping that you got some great tips for classroom management, lesson planning and engagement in this post.

Remember, the most important thing is building relationships with students and creating a classroom environment where they feel safe and can learn.

Let’s Move and Learn with Music!