I love music and always include playing songs in my classroom. When my students enter my classroom I will always play a song in the background to help set the mood as I greet them as they enter. I find it a good way for students to feel good and get their minds in a positive mindset. This make them ready to learn.
Instead of playing a video with animation or movement (this will easily distract them), I display the lyrics of the song on the board. This allows them to learn the words of the song so they can sing along, and also helps to motivate them to read.
Sometimes I will have a task for students, such as search for a sight word ‘the’. When students see the sight word they will just wave their hands in the air so they don’t interrupt others. At the end of a song, students will tell me how many sight words they found.
I love the excitement I see when they sing along or asks me what the name of the song is. I believe that music helps put learners and teachers in a better mood!
Here are some of the songs my first graders really like:
- One Call Away – Charlie Puth
- Over the Rainbow – Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwoʻole
- Count on Me – Bruno Mars
Here is an example of students singing a classroom management song. They are reading the lyrics and searching for sight words.
Here is a sample video montage of a day in Grade 1. At the start of the video you can see how we start our class. The song is called Proud of You.
Do you have a classroom management song?
I would love to hear what song you use in your classroom to help manage students. If you don’t have one yet, which one do you think you would like to use?
