3 More Tips for Using Google Slides in Elementary Music

I fell in love with Google Slides during distance learning and I now use them in almost every single lesson I teach as an elementary general music teacher. I shared some of my favorite tips for using Slides effectively back in 2020, which I still use all the time today, and in this post I want to share 3 more tips that I also use all the time! These will make your lessons run so much more smoothly, I promise!

1. Change Playback Speed 

If you don't already know how to embed videos in your Slides, check out my previous post on Google Slides for that- this is probably my most-used feature because I can choose specific clips from videos so I can set it to start at the exact part I want to show students, and it automatically removes ads. But did you also know you can change the playback speed of embedded YouTube videos right within the slide? Push play, click on the gear icon, select playback speed, and adjust it however you want! I will start slower when I'm having students do a particularly challenging play-along video (or if we start and I realize they aren't quite ready for that speed yet), or speed it up to add challenge if I have extra time. 

2. Mute a Video's Audio

This is another cool feature of embedded videos you may not have realized exists: you can mute the video so it plays without sound. It's funny how often this feature comes in handy because my job is literally about the sound, but I use it a lot when I want students to add their own music, sound effects, etc to a video, or if I want them to be able to watch a demonstration of a game or playing technique on loop while they practice independently. After you embed the video, click on the embedded video to select it, then open the format options (if it doesn't open automatically). Click "video playback" and you should see an option to "mute audio"- select that option to play it without sound. 

3. Link to Other Slides

Did you know you can link anything in the slide to another slide, not just a website? I use this a lot when I'm showing a bunch of different instruments within a family or from a specific culture, for example, when students are playing a game like Rhythm Battle where they go as far as they can and then go back to the beginning to start over, or when I want students to choose an answer or choose an activity. If I want to be able to quickly go back to the first slide of an activity or a "menu" slide that shows different options, I insert an arrow shape (click insert- shape- arrows) and link the arrow to the first/ menu slide (click on the arrow or whatever shape, click "insert link", then type "slide (insert slide #)"). To have several options of where you go next, like a "menu" slide where students choose from different songs/ activities they want to do, or a slide that shows several instruments that you are going to go through and show students videos of, or a slide that has a correct and incorrect answer that students choose from, I do the same thing but link individual images (of the instruments, or icons representing the options/ answers) to the corresponding slides. Then I usually add an arrow with a link back to the menu, or if it's a quiz game type thing, add an arrow with a link to the next question.

I hope you'll try out these features in your own lessons- I know they have made a huge difference for me! If you haven't already, don't forget to check out my previous post with 3 more tips for Google Slides, including using them to do "drag and drop" activities, embedding videos, and embedding audio!

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What To Do With THAT Class: argumentative

The helpless feeling you get when nothing you do seems to work with that one class can be absolutely horrible. Over the years I've had classes that leave me in tears, fill me with dread, make me want to take a sick day, or just leave me feeling like I have no idea what I'm doing. It's disconcerting at best, and can leave you completely miserable if you let it get the best of you. A few years ago I started a series sharing some strategies that have helped me improve my ability to work with some challenging classes with various difficulties- now I have another to add to the series! Today I'm focusing on classes that are constantly arguing, with each other and with you.

When I first started this series years ago I shared my advice to keep those challenging groups from making you miserable- if you haven't already, I encourage you to read that post by clicking here. Hopefully the solutions I'm sharing today will help you improve your relationship with your tough class, but that process is going to take time and you need to make sure you keep the situation manageable (for you and your students) in the meantime.

One of the points I shared in that post is to be prepared with a plan B, C, D, and E. There's a good chance the first strategy you try won't work! Remember that this is a process, and a very important one at that. Don't give up.

Argumentative

Sometimes you just get a mix of students in a class that really just does not get along, or has a lot of students in it that can very easily be set off by small annoyances. At any moment in the lesson, it can instantly go from completely calm to a full-on screaming match, seemingly out of nowhere. When you have short class periods like we do for music, this can be especially difficult because there's not enough time to really help mediate and talk through every disagreement to fully resolve it and still have time to actually teach the lesson!

tip #1: keep it moving Sometimes distraction can be enough to "power through" and keep everyone engaged and productive without even giving them a chance to get a word in! Making sure there is some type of activity that you can start immediately as students are entering (I use these student-led warmups) and having your entire lesson completely memorized so you can seamlessly transition between activities with no down time (and I mean not even a second to pause and think) can help prevent arguments from even starting.

tip #2: avoid conversation To go along with the last point, having students be engaged in active participation and giving them as little time when they are supposed to be sitting and listening to you (or another student) as possible can help prevent a lot of arguments. Limiting verbal directions/ instruction can also help a lot with avoiding the feeling of a power struggle (which can lead students to start arguing with the teacher). Model and have them copy, point to a word on the board and jump in, start with a familiar activity you've already practiced and go from there, or use silent gestures to get students doing what they need to do.

If you want a specific example of a lesson that works this way, here is one of my new favorites for upper elementary called the Team Rhythm Challenge.

tip #3: opportunity for expression A lot of times the easiest way to help students move forward when they get upset about something is for them to have a chance to tell you what happened/ what they're thinking. But if you have this type of argumentative group, letting them speak in front of everyone else will probably result in the whole lesson dissolving into an argument. Instead I have blank notecards and sticky note pads with pencils in a few different strategic places around the classroom, where they can be away from the rest of the class, that I show them to use to write down what's bothering them and give to me silently. I try to quickly skim it when they hand me a paper and follow up, either immediately if needed or I tell them I'll talk to them later and put it in my pocket. In that case I either talk to them at the end of class when everyone is lining up or, more likely with an argumentative class I'm trying to keep on task, I'll go find them in their homeroom later to talk to them. 

tip #4: catch the good This can be really helpful for a lot of different difficult class dynamics but catching them being successful and giving them positive reinforcement for that can help them want to continue working together to do well. Again, the warmups I do at the beginning of class can be a great opportunity to get them doing something simple enough that they can do successfully and I can immediately reinforce. Having something visual to recognize things the whole class does well like my letter system (see this post) is important here so you can give that positive reinforcement without having to stop and talk, which we already know we're trying to avoid.

tip #5: practice listening to each other It may take some time to get to a place where you can do this successfully, but the first step to helping students learn to interact with each other more positively is to learn how to listen to each other, and circle discussions are perfect for that. With groups that are really argumentative, I use a lot of quick, easy questions as prompts- nothing that would get too serious- to practice only speaking when it's your turn. See my discussion of community-building circles in this post for more details on how I do these.

tip #6: use catch phrases The "we listen and we don't judge" trend came in super handy for me this past school year with the couple of really argumentative classes I had. Having a catch phrase like that that you can repeat as a reminder for students not to get caught up in an argument can be really helpful. I found that, especially with one that students had already heard on social media, after I used it a few times they started saying it to themselves and to each other whenever someone would get upset at someone over a minor annoyance, and it became a strategy for self-regulation!

I hope these suggestions help you find a positive way forward together! They may not ever be the easiest class to teach, but if you continue to make it a priority to improve the class for everyone involved, you're bound to see positive changes over time!

If you have any suggestions of your own or questions you'd like to ask about this topic, please leave them in the comments below. I highly recommend taking a look at all of my previous posts in this series here for more tips on working with other types of difficult classes right here. And if you'd like to read more about how I handle "behavior management" as a whole, here are all my top posts on the topic.

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Songs and Dances from Around the World for Every Grade

Over the last few weeks I've been sharing the songs and dances my K-6 elementary students have performed in our annual International Music Festival, and today I'm compiling them all for easy reference! If you're looking for something to add to your concert, informance, or your general music classes, I highly recommend all of these!

In each of these lists I've noted the specific grade level I use each piece with as well as a brief description of what students do/ how I arrange the song, but obviously these can be adapted for different grade levels, equipment/ instruments, etc so I highly recommend looking through all of them to see what might fit your needs.

Kindergarten / 1st grade: Native American, Bolivia, Colombia, and Syria

 2nd / 3rd grade: Maori New Zealand, India, and Philippines

4th / 5th / 6th grade: Japan, Korea, Mozambique, and Brazil

I hope you find some new songs and dances to teach your students! If you're unsure about how to teach music from unfamiliar cultures, or want to see more of my lesson plans with music from around the world, check out all my posts on the topic here. If you have any questions or other songs you'd add to the list, leave a comment below! I love hearing from you!

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Team Rhythm Challenge

I am so excited to be able to share this new lesson plan that I came up with for the end of the school year with my most challenging 4th and 5th grade classes that I knew were not going to want to listen to ANYTHING I had to say or want to do anything that felt like "work", but also would dissolve into chaos if we were just playing freeze dance or something the whole period. I already have so many ideas for ways to adapt this game for band, orchestra, or choir classes in middle or even high school, and it's a great way to review rhythm notation and music vocabulary for whatever they're working on! Introducing: the Team Rhythm Challenge!

I knew I needed to come up with a lesson that would be engaging, require as few directions from me as possible, have some level of friendly, low-stakes competition, and also get the kids to work together in teams. What I came up with was the idea of the Team Rhythm Challenge, and it kept even my most difficult classes engaged the entire lesson on their very last day of music class before summer (so I think that's saying something).

Setup

Before class, I set out a music stand at the end of each row of seats. My students sit in 6 rows that I label as "color teams" (read more about all the ways I use them in this post) so each team got one music stand at the end of the row. I rarely use music stands in my general music classes- they're mostly in the room for the band and orchestra to use- so this immediately piqued their interest when they walked in and saw something new. I also had a scoreboard at the front of the room to keep track of points, so they knew something was about to go down!

Process

The primary goal was for me to give as few verbal directions as possible, so that I wouldn't have to bother getting their attention. I put the basic directions on the board, told them at the beginning that they will win the most points for their team if they paid attention, then breezed through the game without stopping to wait for anyone. They figured out pretty quickly that they would lose if they weren't paying attention, so they did!

The basic idea of the game is that each team has a rhythm that they have to count, then count and clap, then count and clap with a dynamic marking, then play with the same dynamics on an instrument, then play as an ostinato with a track. They get 1 minute to practice with their team before each level, and they can earn 1 point for doing it correctly. The team with the most points at the end wins the challenge. Here's a sped-up re-enactment of how I ran it to avoid verbal directions as much as possible and keep things moving quickly: 

There are so many ways to adapt this game and customize it for whatever vocabulary and notation students are reviewing! I will definitely be keeping this for right before breaks with my older students. If you want the full details on all the different ways to play the game, plus all the slides and print-outs I used, you can get those here. 

What are your most successful lessons for the end of the school year with upper elementary/ middle school classes? It can be tricky to find something that they will get excited about but this one was a huge success! If you have any ideas or questions please leave a comment below.

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World Music Performance Pieces: upper elementary

I've been doing a school-wide International Music Festival, where every grade level performs music and dance from a different country, for a few years now, and it is probably my favorite performance event I've ever done but it is a lot to put together! Although for the most part each grade studies the same culture each year to fit in with the skills and concepts they are learning in general music, each year I change at least some of the pieces so it's never the exact same program. Here are the performance pieces I have used over the years with my upper elementary grades- each of these would work well as part of any concert, informance, or program on their own, or you can use this list to put together your own International Music Festival!

I'm listing the pieces by culture/ country below, with the grade level I used them with in parentheses. Obviously many of these could be done with different grades as well, not just the ones I use them with!

Japan (4th grade)

• Akatonbo (students sing the song, first together and then in a round, while playing different triple meter ostinato patterns on various instruments- I use things like finger cymbals, tone blocks, hand drums, and metallophones- along with other color instruments in between sections- I use ocean drums, wind chimes, etc)
• Sakura (students sing the song while some play different ostinato patterns on percussion and barred instruments and some play harmony on recorder- link includes arrangement)
• Tokyo Ondo (students stand in a circle (or two concentric circles if the group is large) and do the Tokyo Ondo dance with this track)

Korea (4th grade)

• Arirang (students sing the song, first together and then in a round, while playing different triple meter ostinato patterns on various instruments- I use things like finger cymbals, tone blocks, hand drums, and metallophones- along with other color instruments in between sections- I use ocean drums, wind chimes, etc)
• Buchaechum (students each hold 2 fans and do some basic moves with the linked recording)
• Janggu (students play the introduction and basic janggu drum rhythm pattern with the linked recording, using a mallet and rhythm stick on boxes)

Mozambique (5th grade)

• Timbila (students gradually layer in repeated lines similar to the linked recording on bass, alto, and soprano xylophones)
• Bombela (students sit in a circle and pass beanbags on the beat while singing, each verse the passing pattern gets gradually more difficult)

Brazil (6th grade)

• Batucada (students stand in rows by instrument and step in place on the beat while playing some characteristic ostinato patterns on guiro, tamborine, tube shaker, tubano drums with the carrying strap, and agogo bells)
• Escatumbararibe (students sit in a circle and do the cup passing game demonstrated in the linked video while singing the song)
• Tambores (students stand in rows facing a partner and sing while doing the clapping game demonstrated in the linked recording, with 3 different versions gradually increasing in difficulty)

If you have other songs or musical performances you've done representing these cultures, or other ways you've used these songs, I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below! I've split up my lists of performance pieces I use in my K-6 International Music Festival into grade spans- here are the pieces I use with K-1/ early childhood, and here are the pieces I use with 2nd and 3rd grades. And if you are thinking about putting together a similar program, you can find all the information on what I do and how I do it, from logistics to teaching to stage setup, in this post:

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