Lesson Plan: Back to School

I've seen many posts and questions about back to school, lesson planning and classroom management around the web.  Below is what I typically do for my first rotation of lessons with grades 2-5.  I call it "The Boring Stuff"(not my original idea, came from my supervising teacher).

I explain to the kids that we are going to do a lot of talking during this lesson and while it may seem boring, it's important because everything we talk about will help us work towards our goal of becoming Great Musicians.  The kids are usually okay with it, plus when I mention that I have a game for them at the end, they work hard and pay attention to the beginning of the lesson.

1. Welcome
Introduce myself, outline of what music is all about, quick tour of the room (bathroom, water fountain, etc.).

2. Rules
My rules are posted on the wall by my desk.  We echo clap through them.  After clapping them the first time, we go one rule at a time and discuss what each looks like in the music room.  We echo them again.  During the next rotation we will play a rhythm game with the rules as a review.  These rules were something Sandy Lantz shared during my Orff Level I.

3. Rewards/Consequences
I keep these two posters on my board throughout the year but during the first rotation they are front and center on my board.  We talk about the positive/negative behaviors that could result in rewards/consequences and what the results of our actions are.

4. Seats

I typically fill in my seating charts before the first rotation; usually while watching TV the weekend before school starts.  I'm pretty good at being able to separate my talkers and personalities that clash. Although it has worked, I found some problems with my system. We have had a more mobile community in the last year and my seating charts ended up being a sloppy mess because there were so many changes to class rosters and students who never returned to our school.  (Post on Seating Charts here.)

This year I'm going to assign seats during their first music class.  Upon entering the room I will hand each child a colored card (red, green, blue or black).  When it is time to assign seats, I will ask the kids with green to sit on the floor in front of the green riser.  Same goes for red and blue.  The kids with black cards may select any seat on any riser except the section leader seats (see post here on seat numbers).

After the kids with black paper have chosen their seats, I will place the rest of my students by the color paper they have received.  What I like about this system is I'm still able to seat students in a way that will be productive without making them feel like I'm completely dictating the arrangement.  It will feel more like chance to them.  I'll try and take pictures of the system during the first rotation.

5. Recorders (4 and 5 Only)
I always hand out recorder information during this lesson.  Since I advertise, collect money, place and sort the order, I want to start ASAP so that kids can have recorders in hand as early in the year as possible.  More on this soon.

6. Chorus (3, 4, 5 Only)
This is time for me to drum up interest in after school performing groups.  This year I'm only going to have chorus (more on that another time), so during the first lesson I will hand out Interest Meeting Flyers to any child who thinks they may want to be a part of this group.  Sorry to say this again, but more on this soon! :)

7. Grade Level Specific Activity
I plan some sort of name game for every grade during this first rotation.  It's important to get a musical activity going on after all this talking.  I want kids excited about coming back to my room for the next lesson and it's a refresher for me.  I always feel so badly about being rusty with names for the first month of school and these games definitely help me get back into the swing of things.

8. Lining Up
I'm changing my line up procedures, so I will make sure to save a good 5 minutes to go over this at the end of my lesson.  I'm planning on incorporating this resource I found through Pinterest.  I may not use them every time but it's always good to mix things up a bit.

I've created some homework for myself with this post and I will do my best to get more information about Chorus, Recorders, K/1 Back to School Lessons and much more up ASAP.  Hope this helps with your back to school planning.

Classroom Management: Seat Numbers Revisited

I've posted ALOT about seating in the last year but with good reason.  There is such high accountability as a teacher that I want to ensure that whether I'm leading a lesson, a colleague is covering my room or a sub is in for the day that students are organized and everyone is accounted for.  I also want to make sure that my room is arranged in a way that is best suited for student learning.

I've spent a bit of time thinking about how I want to tweak my seating arrangement for grades 1-5 and I think I've come up with a good solution.

Here are my seat numbers from last year.

All of my first thru fifth graders sit in an assigned seat on one of my flip form risers.  To make sure that everyone has a spot and isn't squished I added Seat Numbers.  It worked very well and was an easy way to quickly get everyone where they needed to be with the exception of one problem.

Last year I had section leaders on each riser that served as my helpers (you can read the post about it here).  I didn't have special seats for my section leaders, so what I noticed happening was section leaders crawling over classmates to get to the materials behind them.  It slowed down the process and caused arguments, so instead of having to stop and remind students about rules/procedures, I think I've created a simpler solution.

This year I'm remedying the problem by keeping seats 9 and 10 as section leader spots.  These two seats are where the two sections of riser meet.  So in the picture above, 9 and 10 are the two seats on top where the risers meet.  They will now have a star instead so that others can quickly see the difference.  When a student is a section leader, they will sit in this spot.  Each 9 weeks I will select a new leader for each team and they will then sit in these spots.  I will indicate this change on my seating charts so that any other adult can quickly find each child.  

One other slight change I'm going to make this year is how I attach my numbers to the risers.  Instead of using contact paper, I'm going to use velcro dots.  Thank you to Robin for suggesting it!  :)

Here are links to both the old and new seat numbers:

Old Green                New Green

Old Red                   New Red

Old Blue                  New Blue

Here are other posts on seating:

Kindergarten Seating

Kindergarten Visuals

Seat Numbers

Storing Seating Charts

Classroom Management: The Stars

This is an idea I got from my supervising teacher during my internship.  On my board there are 10 stars. Throughout a lesson a class has to earn all 10 stars in order to receive some sort of reward.  I love this system because students have to work as a group in order to earn the stars.  I may push a star up for students entering the room properly and getting right to work or maybe for someone asking an awesome question, there are lots of ways to earn them.

The reward has varied over the six years I've taught.  Here are a few:

1.  Sticker on the chart, earn so many stickers receive a music party.

2.  Earn a paw (our school-wide behavior system at the time)

3.  Earn end of the year centers

While all of these have worked in the past, this year I'm ready for a change.  We are doing away with our school wide behavior management system, so Paws are out this year.  I think I'm going to do some sort of ticket system.  Earn 10 stars, your class gets to place a ticket in the jar with your teachers name on it.  At the end of each month, Mrs. Quezada draws a name and that group will be the Spotlight Performers for the month.

I like that this idea revolves solely around music.  If your class is selected as the Spotlight Performers, you have the chance to share the skills you have been working so hard to learn.

Here is a post about how I've done Spotlight Performers in the past.  Once I have my tickets and jar together, I'll post a picture!

Every Kid, Every Time

At the end of the 2011 school year I came to the realization that I had not been doing a good enough job reaching all of my students.  Yes, I planned lessons that were engaging and had activities that would reach a number of learning styles but there were kids who I felt were slipping through the cracks.  Now this may seem like a drastic statement but with as infrequently as I saw my students, it really felt like I could be doing more to reach my painfully shy kids.  While I knew they were getting the information because they could always demonstrate the skills, it sometimes felt like weeks since I had said their name or spoken a word to them directly.

I was ashamed of myself.  I felt terrible about not, if anything else, knowing these kids better.  Let's face it, this is a tough one as a special areas teacher but I knew I could do better.  So, going into the 2011 - 2012 school year I made a plan.  During a lesson, I would in some way recognize or talk to every child in each class.  I knew it was an ambitious goal, especially when my lesson is cut short on early days (Wednesday in my district school let's out an hour earlier) and I thought it may impact what we were able to get done.

Initially some of my fears were correct, my lessons were a bit disrupted but most of that was because I was adjusting and the kids were adjusting.  Over time, we all got used to this new addition to our classroom routine.  It caught some of my shy kiddos off guard.  At first they resisted the idea that I may just call on them for any number of reasons.  I started off slow with this.  In a lesson it may have been just to get the lights.

Now that I've been doing this for over a year, I'm starting to see the difference.  My kids are more confident.  They know that I want to hear from them and that we won't laugh if they are unsure about something.  I feel as though I know them better as people and musicians.  And more and more kids are offering answers and asking questions.

I didn't do anything radical, I just made one simple change but what impact it has had.  Some of the ways that I try to get to everyone every day are:

Asking them to help with a task (running and errand, getting the lights)
Answering a question
Demonstrating a skill
Sharing a musical experience related to what we are learning
Complimenting them on behavior
Greetting them and saying goodbye

These are things we do everyday and it really isn't hard to make sure that every child is included during every lesson, even in a small way.

Agendas

You know those earth shattering, eye opening moments when you think Oh My Gosh, why haven't I always done this?  Well, a few years ago I had one of these moments during rehearsal.  One morning I thought I would write an agenda on the board to help keep myself organized during rehearsal.  Over the years I've learned I can't keep one on my stand or in my hands because it very quickly gets lost somewhere in my room.

My rehearsal that day went so smoothly.  I felt like I was on my A game and my chorus was so well behaved.  They were never an awful group but always chatty, bubbly and full of so much energy.  At the end of rehearsal I remember thinking, "What was different today?".  When I realized that it was the agenda, I tried it the following week, and again great results.  

Now I don't claim that an agenda is the end all of managing a chorus or orff rehearsal but it is a great tool.  My kids know what we need to accomplish and they can see how far we have made our way through the list.  They are so proud when we accomplish everything and humbled when we don't.  This is because what keeps us from accomplishing our goals seem to be behavior problems.  

Agendas also help to define time for specific tasks, like signing in or asking questions.  I have 3rd graders in my group and a lot of gifted students.  If you know anything about having an after school group with these students, you know there are A LOT of questions!  I have started a policy of not answering questions about concert dates, attire, etc. until the end of rehearsal.  I usually leave about 5 minutes for this before packing up.  We fit in the questions we can, the rest are left for the next day or an email from a parent.  I have noticed that I deal with less of these questions throughout my rehearsal because it typically is part of our agenda for the day.

This has become an integral part of how I run my chorus/orff groups and I can't imagine life without it. The best part is, it takes less than a minute for me to do before rehearsal.

Seat Numbers Part 3

I posted this beautiful picture of my risers with their seat numbers back in August.

They looked beautiful, all evenly placed but I don't know what I was thinking.  I cut these tiny, cute, little, petite squares of contact paper that just overlapped each seat number by a bit.  Ha!  They lasted like that for all of 3 days.  After they started falling off left and right, I cut bigger squares and I must say they lasted a long time but over the last two weeks they all started biting the dust.  

You can see there aren't many left!

I have them piled on my desk, new contact paper ready but they have been laying there unattended for the last few days because I can't figure out how I want to proceed.  Do I re-contact paper them to the risers or is there a better way?  Any suggestions out there?  I must admit the contact paper works well  but at this rate I would have to redo them at least once a quarter and I know there has to be something that is more practical than that.  While I know that I probably don't need them at this point, my kids know where their seats are, I want something permanent that I don't have to redesign next year.  So, until I come up with a solution, they will sit on my desk!  

Newsletters

I may email/send home more newsletters than most, but I think it is sooooo important to keep parents informed of what is going on.  In addition to emailing parents reminders and updates about after school performing events, I also help organize our quarterly special areas newsletter and send e-news to specific grade levels throughout the year.  Below are some of the templates I use to help keep my parents informed.

Clef Notes News is the newsletter for my performing groups. 

 This is just the view of the 1st page of the document.

Specials All Around goes out quarterly to help inform parents about what is happening in special areas.  

This is just the 1st page of the document.

If you are interested in these templates, you can request them in the Freebies section of my blog.

Spotlight Performers: Freebie

Every month I select a class that has been working together to be the Spotlight Performers.  This group then records a video that goes on the morning announcements for the whole school to see.  I never really know what I will be videoing from month to month, think of it as more of an informance than a polished piece.  This gives the kids a chance to see what other kids are learning and the adults a snapshot into the music room.  I also include a photo of the Maestro of the Month in the video.

I created my video using iMovie and I use the same template from month to month, year to year.  The only thing I have to change out is the month and name of class/maestro.

You can request this template in the freebies section of my blog.  Remember, this will only work on Macs.

Section Leader: Update

Over the summer I posted about Section Leaders.  I have been using the clothespins for a little over a month and I am very happy with how they are working.  The kids have taken on the responsibility for coming in getting their pin and taking care of their team.  I must say these clothespins are pretty resilient, which surprised me.  I thought for sure one would break quickly, but fingers crossed, we haven't lost one yet!

If you want to try this out, a couple things to think about.

1.  Jumping is a risky adventure!
The clothespins tend to come off fairly easily when moving briskly.  They don't go flying but they fall pretty hard.  I have not decided how I want to handle this but it may just be to take them off before movement activities.

2.  Oh the places clothespins go!
I specify that the clothespin should be on their outfit.  I really don't care where (collar, pocket, short leg, etc.).  It is a bit amusing to see all of the different places the clothespins end up.  I have seen them as earrings, nose clips, pinched to the extra skin on their arm, their friends hair, and one little boy decided to pin his to the inseam of his pants!  I quickly redirect the student in these cases and if it continues I make sure to remind them that this is a special privilege for a responsible student and if they can not use the clip responsibly I may have to select a new section leader.

Chorus Sign In

I can't remember where I read this (I feel so bad, I would love to credit the source) but someone had posted about chorus procedures.  One that I knew I needed to improve upon was taking attendance.  I hate having to call roll, it wastes so much time, but I hadn't found another way of doing it that worked for me.

Over the summer I bought command hooks and clipboards and this week I attached them to the book cases by my back door.  When students arrive for chorus or orff, they have to sign in by putting a dot next to their name.  This speeds up the attendance process by a few minutes, which means more time to make music!

Next to each clipboard is a marker attached to the book case with velcro.  These markers are actually overhead pens.  My plan is to eventually laminate these rosters so that they can be reused from week to week.  I just have to wait a couple more days until all paperwork/fees are turned in.

Time to Pause

Tomorrow is Friday and I don't know which makes me happier, the fact that it's Friday or that I get to wear jeans!

Anyways....early I posted pics of my classroom and at that point I was waiting for a few things to be laminated.  One of those was my thinking spot poster. This is new to my room this year.  I wanted something that included directions for what a child should do if they have to take a time out.

Here's my poster!

Below are the directions, feel free to print and use this.

5-S Line

I'm sure you have seen the 4-S Line posters all over Pinterest.  This is how Mrs. M (my art teacher buddy) introduced me to the world of pinning.  She was making a sign for her classroom and she had changed the poster to 5-S.  Since she shared Pinterest with me, where she originally found the idea, I have been a Pinterest junkie!

The 5th S that she added was sitting.  We both have the kids sit in line and wait for their teachers to pick them up, so this was the perfect addition.  Over the summer I made my own poster in Photoshop and now it is hanging on the inside of the door to my classroom.

Do you like this poster?  If the answer is yes, then I have good news for you.  I will be giving away a poster to a member of my blog.  More details coming soon.

Instrument Procedures

You may have noticed that I have had a number of posts regarding Kindergarten:

Kindergarten

Kindergarten Visuals

Seating Charts

Good Listener

Magic Microphone

This is because I find them the most challenging to plan for out of any grade I teach.  Every little detail of my lessons have to be thought out; down to how I will explain activities, demonstrate concepts and move from one part of the room to the other.  I love my Kindergartners (for 45 minutes at a time) but man do they wipe me out.  :)

Anyway, this year I have finally refined my instrument procedures to a point I am very comfortable with and that seems to work well with the kids.

Instrument Positions:
1. Waiting = instrument on the floor, hands in our laps.
2.  Resting = instrument on our knees, waiting to play.
3.  Playing = holding the instrument with the proper technique.

Resting Position

The first row of kids sitting like "Nicki"(they named the girl on my Good Listener Poster) get their instruments.

Walking Position 

(Sorry for the blur, my phone doesn't do so well with a moving target!)

When we are all done, we put our instruments away using walking position.  I think it is important for students to learn this responsibility.  Instruments are not toys and we need to make sure that we put them away carefully and that they are stored properly so that they do not get lost or broken.

Storing Seating Charts

I have posted information before on my seating charts (Seating Charts) but I thought I'd post some images of how I store them and use them on a daily basis.

  

Everyday I pull out the folders for the classes I will be seeing and put them on my clipboard.  It's a great way to make my folders mobile.  I can carry the clipboard around the room with me and quickly jot down assessments or store paperwork from students.

When I'm not using a classes folder, it is stored in a file sorter next to my doc cam at the front of the room (Classroom Tour).

Be a Good Listener!

I saw this pin from First Grade Garden earlier in the summer....

I loved this idea but I needed more girls represented in my room, so here's my version.   The only other thing I changed was "eyes on the conductor".  Gotta get vocabulary in as frequently as possible for these little munchkins.

I have taught my welcome lesson three times now and this is so much better than trying to go through my regular rules with the little ones.  As they tell me something that they see the girl doing, I add the words to the poster.  I love how this worked with them and having the image in front of them was such a great reminder throughout the lesson.

Seat Numbers Part 2

Earlier in the summer I posted the images of the seat numbers I had created for my risers (see the post here:  Seat Numbers)  Here's how they turned out!

I printed them on white cardstock, then cut them apart and mounted them with contact paper.

Look Who's a Shining Star!

This was my student recognition bulletin board last year.  Each month the Maestro of the Month (see post Maestro of the Month ) and the Spotlight Performer's (a select class that was doing an outstanding job) were recognized with a star on the bulletin board.  Wish I had a better picture, I thought I did.  Still, thought this was an idea worth sharing.

I also added stars for students who were selected for our All County Honors Music Festival and students who had completed every belt in the 4th and 5th grade recorder karate books.  Students got to decide where their star went on the board.

Beginning of the Year before the owl.  I was waiting for it to be laminated.

End of the Year:  Unfortunately, little fingers got to the "a and h" but I'm sure you get the overall idea.  :)

Stop back soon to see how my 2012-2013 student recognition board will look!

Seat Numbers

I assign seats on the FlipForm risers for my 1st through 5th graders but I'm sick of hearing "She's in my space".  :)  This year I thought I would try adding seat numbers to my risers so that each child has a more defined space.  In the past I've tried using a sharpie to write the number on the riser but it fades very quickly.  So this year I'm going to try using contact paper to attach numbers to the front of each step.

I have made 3 sets to match the colors of my FlipForms. I made 12 numbers in each color because I have 2 of each FlipForm (2 blue, 2 red, 2 green) and I seat, max, 6 kids per riser (3 on top, 3 on bottom).

My rules for the risers:
1.  Sit in your spot.
2. Hands and Feet are still.
3.  Feet flat on the floor in front of you.

Seating Charts

I have written before about how I seat my kids but below are the actual seating charts I use in my classroom.  I love to keep my room organized and these seating charts really help me do that.

K Chart

1st - 5th Chart

Each class has it's own seating chart and each seating chart is stapled to the front of a color coded file folder.  EX:  All kindergarten charts are mounted on purple file folders.  (I'll take pictures of these during pre-planning.)  

Last year I made color copies of my seating charts on card stock and had them laminated at Office Max.  You could laminate them at school but I wanted the heavy lamination so that these would hold up for a few years.  I use vis-a-vis markers to write on the lamination so that I can easily change things as the year progresses.

Section Leaders

Section Leaders are something I started last year to help me keep my sanity and as another way to recognize student achievement.

In my classroom 1-5 sit on my FlipForms (love FlipForms you can check them out here http://www.wengercorp.com/Teach/TeachTool.html) and my K students sit on the floor. Since I have three flip form colors, I can easily divide each class into three sections and give each child a specific seat on the risers.

At the beginning of the year I explain to my students that orchestras are divided into sections and in each section there is a leader. In our music room the section leaders jobs are to set a good example and help keep everyone prepared for the lesson. I then choose 3 section leaders (one per color) to be in charge of their section.

This helps me out in a number of ways:
1. I always have messengers to pick up/drop off a student or materials from another room.
2. There is always a designated student to pass out materials.
3. They can get the lights or control the stereo.
4. Great role models to refer other students to.
5. Demonstrate idea/concept.
6. In the upper grades: explain procedures. I.E. - recorder karate

I pick new section leaders at the beginning of each 9 weeks, so throughout the year 12 students in the class will get a turn to be a section leader. Although I do use these students to help me out, they aren't the only students I call on throughout the class. This is just a great way for me to help keep things organized while giving some great kids recognition.

Last year I had some trouble keeping track of who my section leaders were in each class. I put a star on my seating chart next to each section leaders name but I hated having to constantly refer to the chart. This year I found these great clothespins at Michaels. They will be great for the kids to clip somewhere visible on their outfit so that I can quickly find my leaders.

I found these just a few weeks ago and they had several patterns available in the dollar section, so if you want some head to Michaels!!!