Lately, I've been writing with classroom management strategies in the music room. In this post, I wrote about star students, and in this post, I wrote about a point system for your music classroom. Today, I'm writing about one of my favorite ways to keep students' attention throughout the lesson: transitions!
I first learned about transitions when I began my Kodaly training at Capital University. In a music lesson, transitions are how we move from one activity from the next, so that kids stay engaged, and the lesson flows smoothly. Although I've thought of this as more of a lesson strategy than a classroom management strategy, I think it can do wonders to help students stay focused and excited!
Last year, I made this video about transitions in the Kindergarten music room:
Earlier this year, I made this video about transitions for first and second grade:
Here are some of the links mentioned in both videos:
- Free Kindergarten Lesson Plan
- Kindergarten Music Lessons #1-10 Set
- Kindergarten Music Lessons, Entire Year
- Music Lesson Plan for First Grade {Freebie}
- 1st grade music lesson plans (1st semester}
- 2nd grade music lesson plans {2nd semester}
Here is the animated transitions set I mentioned in the 1st and 2nd grade video:

If you'd like to see more videos like this, subscribe to my YouTube channel here. What are some of your favorite transitions? Feel free to comment below, and happy teaching!