Early in my career I established a very predictable routine
for the beginning of every class. I think somewhere in my methods class,
someone must have discussed the need to address times of transition. And though
it is true that children thrive on routine and attention to transition periods,
I truly think that I developed these routines more for my own benefit than for
that of my students. As it turns out, I also thrive on routine! My first year
of teaching was pretty overwhelming as I was placed in three different
buildings, saw over 1100 children per week, and was well over my contractual
minute-count. In order to keep my sanity throughout the day, I quickly realized
that I had to do something to give me a bit of breathing room as the children
cycled in and out of my classroom.
For the beginning of each class period, I developed warm-ups
that addressed the most basic elements of music education—rhythm and melody.
All of my students always had assigned seats, and on the first day, I would
model my expectations for how students should enter the classroom and go to
their seats. As soon as the last child processed in, I would go to the front of
my room and launch into the echoing of rhythm patterns (clap and say). I would
model this exercise with the younger students, but by the end of the second
music class, they always had it down. As the year progressed, we would always
begin each class by echoing rhythm patterns, but I would throw in silly voices,
or no voices, or different levels (such as stomping, patting, head turns,
shoulder shrugs, etc.) to keep things fresh and fun. I would also use more
challenging patterns as the rhythmic figures were learned to keep the students
engaged. For advanced classes, I might even choose a student leader to conduct
the rhythm warm-ups.
After rhythm warm-ups, I would move immediately (and without
discussion) into vocal warm-ups, beginning with descending “sirens.”
Occasionally, I would perform the vocal exercises for the students to echo, but
more often than not, I would use a slide whistle for them to echo. I picked
this technique up from John Feierabend. After a few descending sirens, I would
include ascending sirens, and some sillier sounds (like someone sneezing). The
students never tired of this activity, so I did it with every class, every
grade, every day, every year. My slide whistle still travels with me and has a
special hiding place in my home to keep my own children from running off with
it.
Following these basic vocal stretches, I would proceed right
into echoing melodic patterns, using age-appropriate pitches and intervals.
Next up for the lower elementary students would be a greeting song during which
the students would pat the steady beat. I would change the greeting song
periodically to keep interest, but we would always have a greeting song.
Following this would be our song of the month (a new song each month, chosen
from the list of 100 songs every child should know). My expectations for the
song of the month would be different for different grade levels and would change
each week. The first class of each moth usually introduced the refrain. Then we
might learn a verse each week thereafter; incorporate harmony; discuss the
form; listen to another variation, etc. Upper elementary classes would move
right into the song of the month. Typically, these warm-ups would be followed
with a non-verbal cue (more on those on another day), directing the students to
the area in the classroom where our focused lesson would get started.
While this seems like a lot, it was never much more than five
minutes of any class, and those five minutes of settling time were invaluable
for me. This time allowed me to mentally prepare for the lesson. If needed, I
would grab my plan book for a quick refresher or reset the room as the students
were echoing me. I might make mental notes of how I should adapt the lesson to
a specific student or class or review notes from the week before if the lesson
was multi-session. These warm-ups also allowed me to review names and faces as
I would take attendance based on the seating chart. We would also repeat the
greeting song in lower elementary, and I would choose new students to select
beat placements/body percussion with each repetition. This assisted me in
learning names quickly.
For the students, I believe this predictable routine helped
them transition to my specific expectations and methods from whatever they were
doing before they entered my room. It also provided them with the fundamental
melodic and rhythmic language from which they could draw for improvisation and
composition down the road. This routine also ensured that they were singing in
every music class.
Since having children of my own, I’ve read over and over
again in countless parenting books about the benefits of routines. I truly
believe that much of my success in the classroom came from the tone that was
established with these warm-ups. If you use a routine in your classroom, please
feel free to share it in the comments below. Remember, new routines can be
established any day, so try a new one and let us know what you think!
Jeanette attended Ithaca College, majoring in Music
Education with voice as her primary instrument. While at Ithaca, she performed
with the Women's Chorale under the direction of Janet Galván and was a founding
member of the college's first women's a cappella group. She completed her
Master of Education degree from Wayne State University while teaching
elementary music in L'Anse Creuse Public Schools. In her more than eight years
of teaching elementary music education, Jeanette was the writer and recipient
of several educational grants, director of after school music clubs, and one of
the directors in a district-wide choir. She has also taught Elementary Music
Education: Methods and Assessments as an adjunct professor at Rochester
Community College in Rochester Hills, Michigan. In 2008, Jeanette became editor
of Activate!, a magazine for music
educators, and in 2009, she accepted the position of Classroom Resources Editor
for Heritage Music Press.
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