Incorporating Music Into YOUR Classroom!

Check out these awesome resources to help you get started!

Storytime Ukulele

Nursery Rhymes

ClassroomMusic.Org

Cathy's Chords

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According to Howard Earl Gardner, a human developmental psychologist, there are nine categories of multiple intelligences. Musical is one of those nine. Those with musical intelligence have special sensitivity to pitch, timbre, tone, rhythm, and other components of music. People with musical intelligence often are able to sing, play a musical instrument, compose music, and cannot get through a day without experiencing music. I recently took a quiz only to find out that one of my highest scores was in the musical intelligence section! Ever since I was young, I have put a lot of stock into music. I played the cello in the 5th grade up until the 9th grade, and now I am learning to play the ukulele I got for Christmas in 2016. I hope to play the ukulele to my future students to enhance their learning experience and promote their memory in my classroom.

Classrooms that integrate music contain students that maintain attention, have opportunities to creatively express themselves, and much more. If you are going to become a teacher, I would say that it is vital that you incorporate music into your curriculum. Whether that would be just playing them a song from a different culture for social studies, or singing them a song about the weather for science. I have no doubt in my mind that you will have students with musical intelligence no matter what grade you teach. Incorporating music into your classroom will not only help those with musical intelligence, but bring joy to other students. I promise that if you incorporate music into your curriculum, you won’t regret it! Your students won't regret it, either! This webpage is to give you resources and help you find ways integrate music into your classroom.

EASY Ways to Integrate Music Into Your Classroom:

• Use music as a transition tool:

Have trouble getting from one lesson to another? Find a nice, short sound bite to use as a transition tool. Hearing this music will let your students know that it is time to clean up, regain focus, and get ready for the next activity. Here is a video example of this strategy.

• Have the students create their own instruments:

Collect recyclables as a class and let the students use their creativity to create a familiar instrument or a brand new one! There’s no telling what your students will invent with their vast imagination. Here's an example of how to create an instrument called a "Rain Stick".

• Find books that already have a soundtrack:

Less work for you, more fun for your students! There are so many resources online to help you find a book with a music accompaniment. Here’s one I found while searching around!

• Incorporate music and movement:

Students would have a blast just finding the beat to a song and creating a movement for it. They can pat, clap, snap, and stomp to the beat of a song. They can even create their own unique beat and teach it to the class! They can even express an idea through creative movement. Here's a lesson I did about creative movement!

• Use music as a reward:

When I was in my early field experience, the first grade teacher I was helping played Kidz Bop while the students worked on an art project to keep the noise down and to reward them for good behavior. It worked like a charm! Here's the topic page on YouTube for Kidz Bop to use in your classroom!

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Questions to Consider While Incorporating Music Into a Lesson:

1. Is this song appropriate for the grade level?
   
2. What resources do I have at my disposal?
3. How will this piece of music enhance my lesson?
4. What curricular connections can I make?
5. Will this activity help my students reach the learning objective?
   

Incorporating Music Into Your Lesson Plan

Here, I have provided a video example of the Kindergarten lesson I tried out with my friends. I just found this song on storytimeukulele.com and designed a short lesson around it! This lesson could be used as a song that we sing as a class in the morning while we do the announcements, or it could lead into a lesson about weather. 

K-ESS2-1. Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.
- KSDE Standards

What’s the Weather?

F
What’s the weather, what’s the weather

          C7
What’s the weather, everyone?

        F
Is it windy, is it cloudy 

   F     C7
Is there rain, or is there sun