Submitted by Caryn Mears, Kennewick, Washington
Idea posted July 29, 2011
I've been at my school for 14 years, and most of the students know the rules, so I figured it was time to make entering music on the first day more fun than just going over the rules!
Another reason that I decided to "change" is because several of our new students are not allowed to start school on the first day. They are invited to come in during the afternoon of the first day, and then they are equally distributed amongst the grade levels.
I've decided to do more fun things, like introducing the rhythm instruments. Then, when I get the entire group on the second, third, or fourth day of school, we incorporate the rules into the activities.
I sing the rules that I have and teach them the little songs that I made up. When we do a lesson, I will ask them, "Which rule do you think we were focusing on?" The rules are:
- Do your best.
- Raise your hand to share.
- Cooperate.
- Keep your whole self under control.
- Be responsible with the books and instruments.
- Follow directions.
For instance, they will say that we did our best, we cooperated (because we didn't have enough instruments for everyone to play at the same time), we kept ourselves under control, and we were being responsible with the instruments while following directions. They find out very quickly what the expectations are, because I am constantly reiterating them during the lesson with my language, such as, "I like the way Row 1 traded with Row 2," or "Thank you for using the instruments appropriately!" I always have the students tell me what rules we are using, and we also learn to sing the rules. When we get someone new in class, we always sing the rules for them, and then we show them how they work with different activities.