Lesson Plans that Work Between Spring Break and Summer

Finding lessons that will keep students engaged after spring break is difficult. Younger students are antsy, older students are checked out. On the one hand you don't want to try to teach new concepts because they're probably not going to remember it by next fall anyway, but there's no way you can "tread water" and just review for 2 months without losing them either! I've found there's a certain sweet spot that keeps students engaged without going beyond what they can handle that works really well for me and my students between spring break and summer that I highly recommend implementing to make the end of the school year actually fun and not something to just hope to survive!

I've realized there are some common threads in all the lessons that I've found effective this time of year, no matter the age group: they take skills and concepts that are comfortable and put them in fresh new contexts. The lesson activities feel new and interesting but not intimidating. Basically I imagine the "zone of proximal development" shrinks after spring break- that space that is past the "I already know this and it's boring" but not at the "this is too hard so I'm checking out" still exists and is still what I'm aiming for, but it's a much smaller circle than it is the rest of the school year. 

1. Application instead of review

I definitely plan lesson activities that are "just" review at the end of the year as well, but I certainly can't do that for a full 6 weeks without students checking out! I've realized that what really works is essentially taking the skills and concepts I want to review and teaching students to apply them in different ways. This is where the units I do each spring on a specific culture's music work really well (see those plans in this previous post), as well as units I've done this time of year with older students on composition. These lessons definitely aren't just reviewing things they've already done, but they are taking those fundamental skills and concepts they've been working on all year and applying them to a new context and/or combining them in new ways. It feels new and exciting- kids go home saying "guess what I learned today"- but it doesn't require much mental stretch, it doesn't feel overwhelming.

2. New material instead of new skills

I learned early in my career that as soon as I give up on teaching and just try to fill time, even if it's fun activities, I start to see a lot more problematic and disruptive behaviors in my classroom. But that doesn't mean their brains are ready to handle, let alone retain, new learning! The key is to keep the "how" new, not the "what". So I'm taking concepts and skills they're familiar with already and applying them to new contexts, whether that's new genres like the music from a new culture, or new ways of contextualizing like composition projects that give students a chance to combine and implement concepts and skills in new ways instead of practicing them in isolation. 

Maybe this is a strange analogy but I think of this phase of the school year kindof like retirement: you want to still be productive and have meaning and purpose in life, but you don't want to work too hard- you want to celebrate the work you already did and enjoy the fruits of your labor and the relationships you've built along the way. 

I really believe there are a lot of different factors that can contribute to a positive experience between spring break and summer, and I know one thing that can hold teachers back from planning lessons like I've described here is the sheer burnout we feel from just being exhausted ourselves. One thing that can help is making our own mental and emotional wellbeing a priority- I've written about what I do to maintain a positive mindset for myself at the end of the school year in this post. And hey, the links above to my posts on music from different cultures and composition projects will take care of the lesson planning work for you! Here's to thriving in the final stretch between spring break and summer!