This morning I attended a festival for classroom music teachers in my county. It was my first time going to this particular festival, mostly because I haven't taught younger grades before. I'll be honest and say that I'm never all that excited to go to these things. HOWEVER, I always leave with new ideas, and that's all that really matters. Getting new ideas and staying fresh with teaching is so important. I feel like I can never have enough new lessons, games, resources, etc.
It's always inspiring watching teachers who just make it look so easy. I get way too focused on myself when I teach - what am I doing, what do I look like, what could I do better? Not that these are bad things, but I feel like it takes away from the kids! I put so much pressure on myself and am constantly analyzing myself that I might be thinking about myself more than the kids in front of me. I think I just need to have more FUN and also not be afraid to try certain things. I've shied away from singing with my 5th graders, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that it needs to happen. Even though I only see them for a short time, if I want to improve on the kid's reading skills, that's the best way I know how. It's also something I (obviously) feel comfortable doing myself. What I want to do is make sure I present it to the kids in the right way - that singing is just what we do in my class. I think the best way to start this next term is to incorporate it into warm-up activities, which I was already going to do.
I'd really like to see what others do with their 5th graders. My particular situation is different from most of my teacher friends in that I see the kids every day for 8 weeks and then I don't see them until next year. Many people have the kids from kindergarten through 5th - sometimes through 4th. Regardless, I'd like to spend some more time learning what other people are doing with their 5th graders. How much will 5th graders be willing to do as far as singing, dancing, etc.? What about instruments? I know it always depends on the group, but I'd still love to know more from my colleagues (which is generally the idea behind this blog). :)
As always, please comment! If you have trouble, you can always just comment anonymously. I also know those "prove you're not a robot" detector thingies can be really annoying. :)
I almost envy that "every day for 8 weeks" thing because then you can really make progress with them. I see mine once for a half hour in class and then once for a half hour in chorus. Talking over the whole year is really too long to do in a blog comment-- but next time we see each other I'm happy to take ya through it. :) The 5th graders are my "big kids", so I feel like they can pretty much do anything. It's really important to me that they have fun in music, so they feel compelled to take the classes in MS and beyond. It's not worth much if they learn a lot from me, but then they never take music again after they leave me.
ReplyDeleteIf you're looking for 'one big thing', 8 weeks sounds like the perfect length of time to put together a musical, "soup-to-nuts". You can have them working on all the elements-- costumes, scenery...they can have input on the blocking, choreography...even work with them on the finer points of acting. Depending on what kind of stage tech/system you have at your school, you can even pull those elements in. AND you're connecting them to ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, Tech, Art...and they come away with both a complete product and a really memorable experience.
Oh my goodness! I love Laura's musical idea for the 8 week curriculum!! They could even be responsible for writing their musical (maybe based on a unit of study they're doing in Social Studies, Science, etc.) -- what a wonderful way to not only incorporate other art forms/subject areas, but to review and introduce reading and notating pitch and rhythm (plus, it's a great way to "sneak" in the singing). Although I've been primarily at the high school level, my experiences with 5th grade have been that they are still open to doing anything (including singing) and generally want to please their teachers! I've found this to be especially true when I incorporate daily singing in 5th grade band (without any moans or groans)!!
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