Having a typical flow in your music classroom allows students to come into an environment where they know what to expect. This is very important for students and teachers, as we all benefit from having a familiar schedule. A classroom flow eases transitions, encourages participation, and discourages misbehavior.
The Flow
My typical flow in the music classroom is as follows. While very dependent on what grade I am teaching, I generally follow this structure when teaching elementary grades. I have found that the variety of activities, from movement to down time, helps students to stay engaged.
Have students enter and sit in their designated seats on the floor. Go over expectations for the day, including what we will be doing (5 min)
Movement activity that reiterates a previous taught lesson or transitions into our new lesson (5-15 min)
Down activity, such as sitting down and doing something interactive. This is a good time to teach new concepts and review old (5-10 min)
Movement activity that emphasizes what has been learned in today's lesson (5-15 min)
Down activity that requires focus on something pleasurable, such as coloring to music or a color by number, or an easy game
Transitions are crucial in between each of these. This goes for any class, music, other specials, or general ed. Why? Because it lets students know that we are about to move onto the next activity without actually moving on. It gives them time to finish up what they are doing and to mentally prepare for what's next. This greatly diminishes meltdowns because they were given a fair warning. This is particularly helpful for students who focus on something and need that time to shift their focus to something else.
If you're interested in a lesson plan that follow this flow, I have a K-2nd grade lesson plan in my freebie library here.
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