As someone who absolutely LOVES music, I just naturally brought it into the classroom with me. Through trial and error, I figured out a couple of fun ways that music could play a big role in making my classroom successful. I'll be sharing 8 of those ways over the next few weeks. Feel free to subscribe to my feed or follow by email (in the sidebar) so you don't miss any of them!
This idea is a little bit like our #7 way to use music in the classroom. In that one, we learned how to use music to transition your class from one activity to the next. Now, we're going to focus on using it to reduce the number of times we need to raise our voice in our rooms.
Our first instinct when surrounded by 25 chatty voices is to try to raise ours to be the loudest one in the room. Instead, try singing a 'quiet song.' (Don't you love my the ingenious way I came up with a creative name for this song?) ;) It can be any song, but when the kids hear it, they know they need to start singing and turn their face toward the teacher. When the song is done, they should expect that you have something you want to tell them to do.
I would recommend picking a short 4-6 line song. Something simple that doesn't drag on forever. After all, if you have them sing all five verses of "Amazing Grace" it might defeat the whole idea of having a productive day. Your song might go something like this:
(Sung to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle)
Quiet, quiet friends of mine
How I like to see you shine.
Quiet mouths and quiet ears,
That is what I like to hear.
Quiet, quiet friends of mine
How I like to see you shine.
Alright, I know that needs a bit of work. I mean, quiet ears? What does that even mean? I'll do better next time, folks. :)
But you get the idea, right? Just a simple song that can gently attract students attention, invite them to sing along (so their mouths are occupied), and draw their focus to you...all without you having to say 'I TOLD you to BE QUIET!'
Need more ideas for how to get the attention of your students without raising your voice? Check out these creative ideas here.
Check out the rest of the series 8 ways to use music in your classroom :
#1: Start the day off in a calm way
#2: Clean your room in 3 minutes
#3: As a free and easy reward
#4: To lower your stress
#5: To keep the room quiet
#6: To Teach a set of facts
#7: Create smooth transitions
#8: Grab students' attention without yelling
How do you use music in your classroom?
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