Today, I'm blogging about singing games in the music room: why use singing games, how to keep track of turns, and more, as you plan your next school year!
- Singing games are FUN and students enjoy them.
- They provide a relaxation aspect to the lesson, especially after students have done something concentrated, like rhythmic dictation or writing on the staff.
- Singing games also allow students to connect to their cultural heritage, as well as the cultures of others.
#1: Leave them wanting more
#2: Reward them
#3: It's okay to run
That's my take on it. I've taught for 17 years, and nothing bad has happened from kids running in my room. And they've had FUN!
Now, if you are still hesitant, and/or you don't have a huge room, you could take my friend Andrew Ellingsen's advice and have them run on their heels. It stops them from running full-speed and is still a fun challenge! (And if you've never seen Andrew present, you really should…he is AMAZING!)
#4: Teach them more than one version
You know how there are often seventeen different games for one song? Well, that might be an exaggeration, but there are easily 2-3 for most singing games I know. I have typically just decided which one game I like and taught it to the students, but in the past year or two, I have at times taught students more than one version. It's fun for them to see there is more than one thing we can do with any given song, and then once they know more than one version, they can vote on which they'd like to play! It's an easy way to allow students to choose, and it broadens their horizons a bit!
#5: Keep track of who has had a turn
In the past, I have simply chosen students each class to be “it.” I've asked them to only raise their hands if they haven't had a turn, but inevitably, a.) a student doesn't remember, b.) a student does remember, but chooses to raise their hand anyway, and/or c.) another student yells out, “He had a turn!”
This past year, I decided to try something different. I bought an interactive attendance set by Pink Cat Studio, and used it for keeping track of turns for singing games. I was going to write out a whole explanation of how I did this, but decided to make a video instead, so you can see how cool this set is! Here is the video:
Since I'm doing a monster theme in my classroom this year, I started off buying just the monster set, but have since bought the bundle. It's so fun, and a great way to keep track of turns!
What are your tips for using singing games? Feel free to comment below, and have FUN!