Ideas for Surviving the End of the School Year and a $2 Tuesday Flash Sale

I am linking up today with Amy Abbott and several other music teachers to share some ideas for surviving the end of the school year.

TIPS #1: Keep them moving with singing games and folk dancing

Jump Jim Joe

This is the closest version I could find to the one I do with my kids.I use the recording from the Amidons and I have the inside circle move because it is a shorter distance to travel. When teaching a double circle dance, make sure you are always on the outside so that you can see everyone! This will eliminate a lot of problems.

Our Old Sow

I learned this game from Jo Kirk last summer and my kids LOVE IT!

TIP #2: Keep them "on track" and engaged in music learning until the end. I usually spend the last 2-3 weeks as review time to practice the concepts we got through that year as well as looking ahead to next year to prepare the upcoming concepts for the fall.

I've been using my "Race to the Finish Line" planning guide to keep myself and my kiddos "on track" from January through May.

(click the picture above to see it in my TPT store)

It includes song lists for each grade as well as an excel file for each grade that lays out the different concepts through the second half of the school year.  Since it is in excel, it is totally editable. You can add song titles under each concepts, or move the concepts to a different month depending on where you are in your sequence.

TIP #3 Remember the good times!

Music should be a JOYFUL experience for your students. It is so much fun to take a moment and reflect on the experiences shared together in music. I created some "Music Memories" pages for each grade level so that I can see what they remember most about our year together, their favorite singing game, favorite piece we listened to and more. The packet is totally editable, so you can add your own questions if you think it is something you would be interested in using with your kids.

(click on the picture above to see it in my TPT store)

One more fun thing I wanted to share with you was the a bunch of music teachers will be teaming up for another $2Tuesday on TPT. Enter "$2TuesdayMusicFlashSale" in the search bar on TPT to see all of the hugely discounted items from some amazing TPT music teacher/authors.

The file from my store will be my melodic flashcards for preparing and practicing sol-mi.

(click on the picture above to see it in my store)

These flashcards are amazing resources for melodic transitions between songs. I could have a mystery song on the board like this: 

Starlight Starbright

See Saw

I don't have cards for "2,4,6,8" but I had my kids construct it using the cards from the other songs. Then we added the rhythms above. Next time we will transfer to the staff.

The kit includes 164 flashcards designed to go with the following songs:

Bee Bee Bumblebee
Blue Bird (1st measure)
Come Back Home My Little Chicks
Doggie, Dogggie (1st measure)
Hey Hey Look at Me
Lemonade
Rain Rain Go Away
See Saw Up and Down
See the Old Witch
Snail, Snail (1st measure)
Starlight Starbright

Pitch is shown using: 
Icons only (can be used in the preparation stage)
Icons w/ solfege
Icons on staff
Rhythm stick notation w/ solfa (where rhythms are appropriate)
Icons on staff with solfa
Standard notation with solfa inside note head

What are your tips for surviving the end of the school year?

End of the Year

At the end of the year, I enjoy wrapping things up by saving a day or two to sing and play the kids' favorite songs, games, and stories. You know how you have the kid who asks you every time they see you "Mrs. Jervis, are we going to play Closet Key today?" and you always have other things planned, well I think it is more than ok to let them re-live their most exciting musical memories. I even let them pick songs/games/books from previous years. I display our favorite books where they can be seen and explain  that it is going to be a students' choice day. I call on several quiet hands and we make a list of possibilities on the board. After we have a good assortment, I have the kids close their eyes and vote for two favorites. We start with the game/activity that has the most votes and go from there. Most classes have time to play 3-4 games in 30 minutes, it just depends on the activities.

It is fun for me to see what they remember. Some students picked games all the way back from October!

With every class they really seem to be amazed how many songs/games/books we did throughout the year, and they really just scratched the surface.

It makes for a really great review of the songs and concepts from throughout the year.

Another thing I do with my first graders to review the comparatives (Fast/Slow, Loud/Soft, High/Low) is a little End of the Year Comparatives Quiz.

I put it up on my Teachers Pay Teachers store as a flash freebie. For those who may not know, a flash freebie is free for a certain amount of time. You can take advantage of this free PDF today (5-14-13).

 Here is a list of the songs/chants that I use that correspond with the clip art above and an answer key.

"Two Little Stars" is an altered poem. I might use the Bella part and my pink star manipulative for number 8. Find the poem here.

"Mortimer" is a book that I use for loud/soft. The kids just love Mortimer. This book is great for loud/soft, fast/slow, high/low and vocal exploration, but I bring it out specifically for preparing loud/soft.

You can buy it on Amazon here:

I've also included a blank one in case you have different songs you would like to use in the download from my store.

You can find the file this quiz here.

What kind of activities do you do to wrap up your year?