Top 5 Elementary Music Class Routines

Elementary Music class routines are a must to make your classroom run smoothly. In this blog post, I share my top 5 elementary music class routines. My students’ favorite way to learn music routines and procedures is through “Do’s and Don’ts videos” in my classroom. Through these videos, students can see and hear what is expected of them in music class. If you have procedures and expectations AND your students know and practice these procedures and expectations, your teaching year will go much smoother. Students will spend more time on the activities and you will spend much less time on classroom management.

Do’s and Don’ts Videos

I first stumbled across a do’s and don’ts video on YouTube about Orff instrument expectations and used it a few years ago in class. My students loved it! I mean…they really LOOOOOOOOVED it! They kept asking to watch it. The video was engaging and showed teachers from the school as the “students”. In the video, the music teacher would give the direction and you would model what to do. Then, the “students” would totally mess up and do it all wrong. Accompanying this was an audio track of “happy music” for the Do’s and “scary music” for the don’ts. This is perhaps the best part of the videos and the ability for students to remember what to do. In addition, the video would be in color for the “do” portion and in black and white for the “don’t” section.

“Yeah, but will my students remember the elementary music class routines and expectations as well as perform them correctly?”

…The short answer is yes. It won’t magically happen, but with consistency, your classroom will run like a well-oiled machine.

5 steps to ensure your students will follow your expectations

Watch the video as a class and have students model the behavior

After we watch a video, I ask a student to model the correct expectation, and then a couple more students do the same.

Have the whole class practice together.

Two or three times, have the entire class practice the expectation. Practicing is an important step and sometimes needs to be repeated if expectations are not met minutes, days, weeks, or even months down the road.

If a student does not follow the expectation, have them practice the right way.

Every time I see a student not follow the expectation, I ask them to go back and “show me the right way.” This may seem like a pain to do, but it is VITAL to your students’ success and your sanity. Moreover, it shows the class that you mean what you say and that every student needs to follow expectations.

Rewards help reinforce great work!

Paper “happy notes” to take home to family
A note to the principal about how great the class followed my expectations
Spoken compliments to their classroom teacher work wonders. I ooh and ahh about how amazing their class did at following expectations or how well the class went.
Paper bracelets or awards for students to wear
Classroom points

Whatever works for you, it is important to make sure you reinforce your students’ great work.

Reteach when a new student comes to school

Teaching the concept to new students is just as vital as any other step. Usually, I have my students do the teaching this time. Often, we watch the video again (because they love it!), and then the new student gets to practice, and the class practices again together.

Now, here are my top

5 Elementary Music Classroom Routines and Expectations

Xylophones

In teaching procedures surrounding xylophones, be sure to include every step: how to walk to the instruments, how to sit at the instrument, how to hold the mallets, what to do when they first get to the instrument, ready position, how and where to play on the bars, how to remove and put back the bars (and where to put them temporarily), how and where to place the mallets when they are finished, how to stand up and walk away.

Coming into class

Firstly, how do you want students to enter your classroom? Will you meet them in the hallway or will they come in on their own? Secondly, do you want them to enter and sit down ready to listen, or do you want to have them enter and start a “warm-up” activity immediately? I use my Pillars Of Power to begin all of my classes. You can read more about that in my blog post “Pillars of Power” linked below.

Lining up and leaving class

How do you want students to line up? Often, classes have a line order and I expect all of my students to follow their classroom line order…whatever it is. I don’t keep track of it, I expect the students to know it (except for Kindergarten – the first few weeks of school I help out!). Do you want them to wait quietly for their teacher? Do you have a line game you want them to play if they have to wait? Is there a student leader for that or will you lead it? For me, students are not allowed to touch any instruments on the way in or out of the classroom. They always need permission to touch and play instruments.

Finding Partners

I want students to feel safe and welcome, so I expect that if someone asks you to be their partner you should be their partner unless you can give them a good reason why it’s not a good idea. Let students know their reason needs to be something recent, such as, “remember when you pushed me down on the playground today? I don’t feel safe yet, but maybe another day we can be partners.”) I also use the phrase “share the love” – meaning, you shouldn’t always have the same partner. This can be an issue as friends love to be partners. I use this phrase not only in this instance, but also when I give out awards, compliments, or when students choose (or I assign) instruments, etc…) Finally, the last of my top 5 elementary music class routines are…

How to make a Circle (two lines, etc…)

This one is important in my classroom because we often sit in a circle and do circle dances or singing games. Teach students how you want them to make a circle. I do this by having all the students hold hands, connect the two ends, spread out the circle evenly, and then drop hands.

Beyond my top 5 elementary music class routines

you may want to consider passing out materials, selecting instruments, drumming, keyboards, technology, gathering materials, etc. What classroom expectations, routines, and procedures do you have in your classroom? I’d love to know! Please comment or send me an email. And…be sure to subscribe for freebies!