Name games
I have 700+ students, and I do know all of their names...but after not seeing them for a couple months, it's good to have a refresher! I wrote about a couple of my name game favorites in this blog post (which also has helpful tips for remembering so many names!) One of my favorite name games is "Jump in, Jump out"; here's a video of the game below:David Row at Make Moments Matter also just recorded a podcast all about name games!
Talk to kids
My first several years of teaching, I was so focused on reviewing rules and procedures, going down class lists, etc., that I didn't take the time to ask kids what they had done this summer. Yes, it does take away instructional time, but it's SO good for building a rapport! You might not have time to ask every single kid what they did this summer, so you could say things like, "Raise your hand if you went to the beach this summer," or "Raise your hand if you went out of the state this summer," or "Raise your hand if you played video games this summer," and then, if time, have a few individual conversations from there (like "Sam, which video game did you play the most?" when you see Sam raising his hand.) I use an app called Smart Seat to do seating charts, and like to take pictures of half the class in the first lesson and half the class in the second lesson so they populate the seating chart. When I'm taking the pictures, I'll ask each kid what they did this summer.
Icebreaker
Many of the students in each class may not know each other, whether it be because some of the kids are new or they just haven't been in the same class before. For this reason, I love to do an icebreaker to help students get to know each other better. A name game like "Jump in, Jump out" can be a great icebreaker, but I take it one step further and do another icebreaker. For several years, I've done "Icebreaker bingo," which can be found in my Fabulous First Day set (which also includes editable lesson plans for K-5 for the first day of music.)This year, I'm going to try something new and do a dice icebreaker. I got the idea after visiting a teacher store in South Carolina when I was on vacation. The dice I saw had different questions on each side, so I thought I'd create one specific to music class! Here is a picture of the dice:
The class can be split up into small groups, and each group gets a die. Then they take turns rolling and answering the question! So if student A rolls "What did you do this summer?", he/she answers the question, then passes the die to the next person!
To download this freebie in my TpT store, click here!
Review
I'm all about review at the start of the year! The kids have spent their summers NOT thinking about school, so it's great to take some time to review. This is also helpful for students who are new to your class. On the first day, though, instead of reviewing the latest concepts they learned at the end of the previous year, we review the first concepts they learned the year before. So for example, if as second graders they learned do and re for melody and tika-tika and half note for rhythm, I'll review do and tika-tika in the first lesson and not talk about re or half note yet. Sometimes, in the first lesson, I might only review one concept, either rhythmic or melodic, so I might only practice tika-tika, then in the next lesson practice do, then in the third lesson move onto the later second grade concepts. I find this really helpful for getting students caught up!
Sing!
After rules, a name game, and an icebreaker, I always make sure to do some singing in the first day lesson! I typically don't teach any new songs in the first lesson, but do some well known songs from the previous grade. For example, this year, I'm having my fourth graders sing and play "Big Fat Biscuit" in the first lesson, to review low la. Here's the notation:
I learned the song in my Kodaly training; it can be found in An American Methodology. For the game, three
students are chosen, and they stand in a line. On the first “chewbelew,” the
first student does a standing long jump. On the second “chewbelew,” the second
student jumps, and on the third “chewbelew,” the third student jumps. The
student who jumps the farthest wins, and challenges two more students in the
next round. If any of the children touch the ground with their hands, fall, or
jump one-footed, they are disqualified.
Students LOVE this game, and it's a great way to get them excited about music AND review a melodic concept at the same time!
I hope this has been helpful as you think about your first day of lessons! What are your favorites to include on the first day of music? Feel free to comment below, and have fun! Sing. Teach. Love!
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