The day after any Halloween is where teachers can be truly tested. Sleep deprived students, still recovering from the excessive sugar intake, the excitement, and the overstimulation of the ultimate kid holiday are in no mood for your antics. IYKYK. Trying to keep students on track can be trying and pushing too hard never works because their bodies and minds are tired from the day before. So how can music class be musical on a day like this? Here’s some easy lessons for students coming down from a sugar high.
1. Music History
Let them chill. Today is a great day for a composer or musician highlight so they can have some time to just be. While I advocate for multicultural resources all year long, since November 1st starts Native American Heritage Month, it’s a great time to pull out a lesson on a Native American composer. There are several links to authentic resources that you can find in this blog post here.
2. Composing
It’s a good day to let them have some creative time. Pull out the boomwhackers and try color composing. Try Halloween composing since they are likely still in the Halloween mood, or pull up Chrome Music Lab, Incredibox, or Isle of Tune and do a class composition.
3. Responding to Music
Today is a great day to try some activities that respond to music. Responding to a listening selection, creating their own folk dance (maybe try making up a folk-style dance to Thriller!), or learning some common social dances would be a fun way to keep the day light and engaging. Check out this free lesson plan template for creating your own folk dance.
Some great common social dances that would be great to teach:
- Chicken Dance
- HokeyPokey
- Thriller
- Cupid Shuffle
- Electric Slide
- Old dance moves (lawnmower, mashed potato)
- Tik Tok Dances
- The Hora – While the “hora” does not specifically refer to the dance done at Jewish weddings, it is best known for this. The dance itself is from the Balkans and there are variations on it. However, as it is, most people know it as the dance done at Jewish weddings (sometimes spelled Horah) which is why I’ve included it in the list for “wedding dances”.
- Boot scoot and Boogie
- Bunny Hop
- YMCA
- Macarena
If you are looking for worksheets to help guided listening, check out these worksheets in my store with several adaptions for different ages and types of listening.
I hope that this has given you some ideas for some easy lessons for this week!
