Keeping the Music Flowing Smoothly

Whether you’re just getting ready or already back in the classroom, now is the perfect time to set up routines for success! Establishing key systems early will help your year run smoothly. Today, I’m excited to share teaching tips for smooth—and musical!—transitions in the music classroom. From line-up songs and circle chants to other fun activities, these ideas will keep the music flowing as you move between different parts of your lesson.

Transitions Between Activities:

• Give directions in a musical way – for example: Teach the instrument rule using body percussion. (If You Play Before I Say I’ll Take Your Instrument Away) Say/play it at different dynamic levels. Try new tempos.
• Clap, step, or use body percussion to show the rhythm from the song as you change location/activities.
• Sing the melody of the next song you’ll be learning. As students listen and move, ask them to focus on something specific in the song. For example, if you’re teaching “Bee Bee Bumblebee,” ask, “What does the bee sting in the song?”
• Move to the melodic contour of the song you were just singing. Encourage students to be back at their spots by the end of the song.

Make Me a Circle Chant

Musicplay General Songs

Teaching Suggestions: This activity requires LOTS of practice and won’t work if you jump straight into the chant. First, work together to decide the best way to form a circle in your room. Practice the formation before adding the chant. Keep practicing every class during the first few weeks of school. Challenge students to see how many beats it takes to form the circle and encourage them to improve their time.

Enter and Exit - Tips and Tricks:

• During the first week of school, spend time teaching your students the correct pathways to your music spot and around the classroom—make it silly and fun!
  • Start by deliberately showing them all the wrong ways to walk the paths. When you “mess up,” students will find it funny and get more engaged.
  • After the laughs, demonstrate the proper way to move through the space. 
• Use a visual cue to show students exactly where to line up.
  • This helps keep students spaced out and organized, preventing crowding near the door—making it easier for you to open and manage the entry/exit smoothly.
  • You can mark where you want students to line up with painter’s tape, Velcro strips, or adhesive dots on the floor. 

• Dismiss students in smaller groups—by colors, rows, or one by one—to keep things organized and calm.

  • Make it more engaging by adding movement themes like Space Walk, Robot Walk, or Tiptoe.

  • You can also incorporate drumming or other instruments to match the movements, making dismissal fun and helping students stay focused.

Follow, Follow Me

Musicplay Kindergarten - Song #9

Teaching Suggestions:  This song gives students a chance to explore different ways of moving. Choose a leader, and have the class follow their actions. At the end, everyone stops and freezes. The leader moves to the back of the line, and the next student becomes the new leader. Repeat as many times as students can create new movements.

This song is also great for ending class—use it to help students line up. Start with the teacher as leader, guiding students to form an orderly line before dismissal.

Musicplay Mentorship

Session #1 - Getting Started and Core Skills

About the Webinar: