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.
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