One of the biggest questions when planning instruction in the music room is around how long to spend on a song or idea. In this blog post, and on episode 276 of The Elementary Music Teacher podcast, I talk about how I make these decisions. I consider my students, what I’m wanting to accomplish with a song, and many other factors you’ll read about.
Read the room
The first thing to do is to do while considering how long to spend on a song or idea is to read the room. How are your students responding to the lesson you’re teaching? Are they enjoying the song or activity or are you losing their interest? While reading the room, of course consider the ages of your students and grade levels as well.
Look at your Scope and Sequence
One of the most helpful pieces of considering how long to spend on a song or an idea is to look at your scope and sequence. This is your guide to help you determine where you are in your pacing and where you want to go. The concepts you’re covering might only need one week of instruction and others will need a few weeks. Nothing is ever set in stone, so pencil in what’s working and what you want to change or edit it on a live document.
Go back to data
Data should help you with making decisions on a daily basis in your music room. Sometime you’re tracking data informally by observing. Then, other times you’re tracking data, just like you do on your scope and sequence. This data will help you decide if a sons should be one and done or if it’s needing to be extended across several lessons.
Think on what you want to do with the song
Anytime you decide to use a song, there should be a reason behind it. The song will be used to teach towards certain standards or concepts. Not only that, one song can be used for multiple purposes. You might use a song, for example, to teach form. Then, you could pull the song back out in a few weeks to cover certain rhythmic patterns. So, although a song can be used in back to back lessons, it can also be used in separate lessons or units as well.
How do you decide how long to spend on a song or activity? Tell me about it in the comments below or share your thoughts on social media as you share this post. I’d love for you to share this post or any of the resources on my website with a friend or colleague who you know NEEDS to see it too.
P.S. Are you feeling frustrated or stuck as an elementary music teacher? Check out these free resources to help you teach elementary music with confidence!
Also…I wrote a book called “Make A Note: What You Really Need To Know About Teaching Elementary Music” to help music teachers move forward in your teaching career. You can get your copy here.
