I find that I talk about food in my classroom all the time. It’s one common thing that unites all culture and peoples around the world because we all love to eat! Even my English language learners who might be brand new to the country learn food words really fast because they encounter t...
If you’ve spent even a few minutes on my blog you know that I love using children’s books in the classroom. So it makes sense that in December I like using books to explain holidays, teach songs, and expand the worldview of my students. I’ve got books for Christmas, St. Nicholas Da...
I love December in my classroom (post concert stress) because it means we have a few days or weeks to explore lots of different cultures and traditions. So much of this learning happens through singing songs and playing games. We learn about the tannenbaum, celebrate caroling, sing a...
As a kid, I remember that every single time I was able to try out a “push a button and listen” style of interactive book I was filled with pure delight. There is something so joyous and exciting about flipping through a book and seeing the little bubble telling me that it was time to P...
With Thanksgiving only one day away, can Turkey find a place to hide from the farmer who’s looking for a plump bird for his family feast? Maybe he can hide with the pigs . . . or the ducks . . . or the horses . . . Uh-oh! Here comes the farmer! Run, Turkey, run! This story takes us ...
I absolutely love using books in my classroom because they open up so many possibilities. You can add a song, poem, or rhyme to make the book come to life and sing/speak it every few pages. You can teach a song that’s related to the content you read about in the book. The story you read ca...
I use children’s books all the time in my classroom! They build up a kid’s love for stories and they open up a child’s imagination to all sorts of things they haven’t experienced before. I use books as a springboard for any sort of activity. Want to bring in a lesson about cr...
Do you ever see a project in a Facebook Group or on Pinterest and immediately think “I could do that!” This DIY music crayon project came from one of those a-ha moments after surfing through a music teacher Facebook group. The original poster in Elementary Music Teachers, Jennifer ...
A few years ago I was in the hallway after school fumbling with butcher paper, bulletin board border, and a freshly laminated set of posters based around the National Standards for Music Education (at the time I was still using the NAfME standards from 1994). I was halfway done with the b...
Teaching the Nutcracker is one of my favorite things to do every December. I got my first Nutcracker as a gift when I was in second grade and ever since I have loved to find new nutcrackers, retell the classic fairy tale, listen to the music, and share with others. As I started to unpack a...
I once had a professor say that it wasn’t enough to learn about a culture by reading facts, figures, and statistics. This professor assigned novels written by members of certain communities so that we could hear stories and see the culture through the author’s eyes, learning from t...
Click any picture to enlarge I love thinking about classroom design and function. When I plan out my classroom (the bulletin boards, the general layout, where and how to store the instruments, decorative details) I always try to keep kids in mind. I want to think about how the room functions fo...