Looking for a great way to keep students engaged and focused during music class? Today, I'm writing my first blog post in a series about classroom management in the music room. This post will be about one of my favorite strategies: star students in the music room!
So why choose a star student?
What is a star student?
A star student, in my classroom, is a student who has showcased exemplary behavior during music class. Perhaps this child was participating quite a bit, or was singing his/her best, or was helping another child. This child is chosen at the end of the class, and is given some kind of reward…more on that in a minute!
How does it work?
At the end of every music class, I choose two star students. When I had my students more often, I did one star student at the end of class, but now that I see them once every five days, I switched to two.
Those two children come up to my SMART board and spin a spinner, which looks like this:
You can make a spinner like this in SMART Notebook, by searching “spinner.” I've also created a file by searching “dice” and inserting an interactive die. Or if you don't have a SMART board, you could use a foam die and assign rewards to numbers.
For K-1, my rewards are:
- Star student pencil
- Sticker
- Play an instrument (I allow them 5 seconds to play whatever instrument they want–just not my recorder!)
- Prize box (see the picture below)
- Your choice (students choose from any of the above choices)
- Play an instrument
- Prize box
- Sit by a friend
- Special seat (students can choose any of my flexible seating to sit on for the entire class, in the next class)
- Karaoke (see info below)
- Your choice
Besides the karaoke reward, I can get star student done in a minute or less. I leave one minute at the end of class to choose star students and give the rewards. I write a star next to that child's name, and try to choose everyone in the class before circling around a second time…although if the last child on the list is not showcasing great behavior, I won't choose him/her until he/she does.Star student is a great way to reward students and get them excited. I think it's important to have a positive system in place, so students are honored for what they do well!Make sure to check out my blog each week, as I write about more classroom management strategies for your music room!Do you use star student? Feel free to comment below, and happy teaching!
