Tips for Secondary Teachers "Stuck" in Elementary Music

Teaching lementary general music is a fabulous opportunity, but if you used to be a band/orchestra/choir director and you get thrown into an elementary position, it can be overwhelming!  Here are some thoughts from my 14 years in the elementary music world:

1.  You will be okay.  The teaching experiences you already have will be beneficial to you!  Think about what you want students to know by the time they get to middle school and base your curriculum on that.  Also know that younger kids need to first feel/experience a musical concept to put a name with it--if you just put definitions on a board, students aren't going to keep that information well. 

2.  Go to Orff, Kodály, Music Learning Theory, Dalcroze, or Education Through Music workshops as soon as you can find one near you.  Not only will you learn valuable teaching ideas and lessons, you will also network which is imperative for you!  You need to have someone to ask questions to! 

3.  Speaking of Orff, Kodály, and Music Learning Theory--take a levels course for one or more of these during the summer, it will explain so much about elementary music teaching to you.  The courses are normally 2 or 3 weeks long, but they are life changing!  If you aren't sure which one to take, you can research it.  Here's a comparison between Orff and Kodály level 1. 

4.  Find a curriculum to pull activities from so you don't have to kill yourself coming up with lesson plans your first year.  You may even want to teach the same lessons to K/1, 2/3, and 4/5 so you are only coming up with 3 different lessons each day you see your students instead of 6!  There are tons of curriculum options out there--ask in the elementary music teacher page on Facebook to see what other teachers like and why.  You will have to find something that fits your style.  Teachers Pay Teachers is also an incredible resource for general music teachers!  You can find classroom decor, games, movement activities, sub tub supplies, composer of the month/music history, and other resources that will greatly impact your teaching!

5.  Your first week of school should be about setting clear expectations and learning names.  If you are totally new to this position, it will likely take you 2-3 weeks before you have most names down.  It will feel overwhelming at first, but it is worth it and means everything to your students.  Find name games on Pinterest and through music teaching blogs.  Don't worry about teaching content until you know names! 

6.  You need to know that kindergarten students are like a bunch of kittens or puppies at the beginning of the school year.  Find simple activities such as a few games where they stay in one spot, sing a book to them, or games where they sit.  Perhaps create posters for a few classic kid songs (Oh Mr. Sun, Down By the Bay, Old MacDonald, etc.) and sing those with them to help them become comfortable with singing.

7.  Use your strengths!  If you are a great vocalist, rely on activities that feature your voice.  Those with instrumental backgrounds might be more comfortable working on Orff instruments (I recommend Mallet Madness or As American As Apple Pie as a good place to start).  Keep in mind KG and 1st grade students won't be able to do much with instruments yet other than learning to hold mallets and keep a beat.  If you are a great guitar player, your students will love to do activities while you strum along.

8.  Your "go to" elementary music resources (besides Teachers Pay Teachers) will be West Music, Music Is Elementary, and Music In Motion.  Check out their catalogs--it may be worth spending a bit of your own money to have less stress in your life, and you will use it for years to come!

9.  Games are everything in elementary music!  Students at this age love to play!  Check out Chicken on the Fencepost, Doggie, Doggie, Shanghai Chicken, Pass the Beat, and Bow Wow Wow to get started!

There's so much to learn about teaching elementary music, but hopefully those ideas will give you something to think about.  I'm sensing that I might need to write on this topic a few more times in the future! 

Catch you next time I have something noteworthy!

Please note:  Noteworthy By Jen is an Amazon affiliate.  Links may be monetized to help support the upkeep of this blog.  This affiliation does not influence my honest opinion on book reviews or resource recommendations.  

Kodaly Level I vs. Orff Level I

     I am currently taking my Kodaly Level I course at Central Michigan University and learning so much about the Kodaly process!  That being said, I also learned a TON from my Orff level I class at VanderCook College of Music.  (I have also trained a bit in Education Through Music and Music Learning Theory--perhaps another blog post in the future!).  So, I thought I would throw out a few thoughts about the differences and similarities between the two.  This is just my opinion and please keep in mind that I have only taken one level in each methodology, so I am by no means declaring myself an expert :)

Kodaly and Orff Similarities:

1.  Great music, mostly based on folk songs and nursery rhymes. 
2.  Great people in the classes.
3.  Great and knowledgeable teachers of the levels.
4.  Movement activities.
5.  Singing activities.
6.  Games.
7.  Music notation (though one does a better job of explaining sequencing).
8.  Folk dancing.
9.  Makes you want to take Level II.
10.  Gives you great connections to ask questions in the future.
11.  Solfege.

Things I liked about Orff a little more:

1.  Instruments.
Kids light up when they are playing them, and even the biggest stinker in the class is finally glued to you so they won't lose their chance to play a barred instrument.  Also, let's face it, some people are great musicians but not great singers.  I worry that Kodaly might miss those students a little in the early grades.

2.  Recorders
I think Kodaly also does recorders, but I liked that I got to start learning how to play the recorder in Level I of Orff.  I'm guessing Kodaly doesn't do them until Level III since they are so sequenced :)

3.  Movement
Creative movement is an essential element to Orff and I LOVE the expression that comes from these activities in Orff.  In Orff, we had part of the day dedicated just to movement every day.  There are movement activities in Kodaly, but they seem less playful and aren't asking the students to come up with their own creations.  Again, this may happen in later levels for Kodaly, and I'm just comparing the Level I classes.

4.  K-5 in Level I
Orff Level I can be applied K-5, whereas Kodaly Level I is for K-1.  This makes it a bit more appealing for music teachers who are starting out and want tools to help their entire student body.

 

Things I liked about Kodaly a little more: 

1.  Sequencing, sequencing, sequencing.
If you don't know what order to teach things in and how to go about it, this class will save you years of grief.  So detailed and it makes sense.  If you want to learn more about sequencing in the Orff world, take Orff Curriculum and Design--which was a fantastic class and totally worth taking I might add.  But I still think there are a couple of more in-between details explained in the Kodaly method. 

2.  Prepare, present, practice.
This goes along with the sequencing.  I just love the idea that it's okay to keep practicing something over and over again to really nail it!  Sometimes I feel like my Orff curriculum jumps a little too fast for students to know what we were doing.

3.  Singing and Solfege.
I love the emphasis on the music literacy and musicianship of the teacher themselves.  At first I was a little annoyed by it (being honest here, please don't hold that against me).  Solfege class tests your sight-reading and coordination abilities.  Singing in a choir again after a decade of not doing so--heavenly!!  I forgot how much I love alto lines . . . no seriously, I am in love with singing alto.  I can't believe I forgot how much I loved making music just for my own satisfaction.  Kodaly has brought that back out in me!

Final Thoughts:

     Whatever your style of elementary music teaching is, taking a levels course will GREATLY improve your teaching.  Please consider taking a level in Kodaly or Orff.  Perhaps what I've noted above will help you choose which one is right for you!  My personal philosophy is to study as many methodologies as possible and steal the best stuff from each one!!  I guess that makes me an Orff/Kodaly/ETM/MLT splat teacher, but I don't think my students mind.  They just know they are loved and making great music.
     Catch you next time I have something noteworthy!

Reviewing My Resolutions

     Well, since it's about half way through the year, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on my resolutions (for better or worse!).  So I'm linking up with Mrs. Miracle's Music Room to review the goals I set waaaaaaaayyyy back in January:

Personal:  Devotions and prayer
     I have to say while this has increased in my life, I could still use more discipline.  Perhaps a continuing resolution for many years to come!

Professional:  Take a levels course.
     I'm SUPER excited that I will be taking Kodaly Level 1 at CMU in just a couple of weeks!!  I LOVE professional development opportunities because I know I will always walk away a better teacher because of them!

 

Classroom:  After-school music club
     Well . . . . I was interested in that whole "after-school music club" until I found out I was going from K-5 to K-12 next year.  I guess I will have to save that after school time for my own planning for now :)

Blog/TPT: Stay active/don't second guess. 
     I have decided to pace myself as a TPT seller because I have a husband and two young daughters at home.  I haven't put out as many new products as I would have liked to which is kind of disappointing.  But, in another way, I'm so proud of myself for spending time with my daughters as my main priority in life (although this whole K-12 thing is taking a lot of my time right now too). 
     Don't second guess.  Well, I think I still do that sometimes.  But a big step forward for me is that I will be presenting about Teachers Pay Teachers at the Michigan Music Conference.  Make sure to come see me if you are attending.  I would love to meet you!

 

Just for me:  Proactive about health.
     Without going into the boring details, I've had lots of nagging health issues for many years.  I DID stick to this resolution and am happy to say that going gluten-free has pretty much wiped out my migraine and stomach issues that I have had for years!!!  Now I can work-out again--which I have been doing regularly for a couple of months!!  So glad to have a healthier body :)

     I hope your year has also been blessed with great successes!  Feel free to share something wonderful that has happened to you or something that has made you proud of yourself!  If you would like to see other resolutions from music teachers, and how they are going, click here! 
     Catch you next time I have something noteworthy!