By Jeanne Kitayama, Haines School District

Time is precious within classrooms, and so much of it can be lost in transitions between activities. Music and songs make these times quick, efficient, and joyful.

If you stop to add up the minutes lost here and there in the course of a school day, by the end of the year you may find that you’ve lost a week or more in instructional time. Chatting, dawdling, and other distractions are much too attractive to children as they move from one space to another. And directing children to hurry along can often add emotional stress to students and staff alike.

My musical talents are close to zero, and I tell my second grade children that I only sing within the safety of our classroom. But with the help of a wonderfully talented volunteer parent, we sing every morning for about 5-10 minutes. Daily singing builds classroom community, circulates oxygen to the brain, starts the morning joyfully, and gives us songs to then use for transition times. This particular mother teaches us traditional and seasonal songs, which gives us a bit of history and at the same time builds background knowledge for the students. She has built our class repertoire to include the Alaska Flag Song, My Grandfather’s Clock, Dona Nobis, Spoon Full of Sugar, Old Man River, John Henry, and Make New Friends. Additionally, her large song charts give students additional reading practice. Children remember lyrics easily, particularly with the hand motions and sign language she adds. I only need to know the first line of many songs, and they carry the rest. 

I also use specific CD music to mark time, with specific beats per minute, matching the pace of any given activity. In Eric Jensen’s book, “Tools for Engagement, Managing Emotional States for Learner Success,” he discusses how different beats per minute encourage different states of mind. You can record the tunes he suggests for different activities. Recording your own copy allows you to leave more space between tunes, so you don’t need to run to turn it off at the end. For it is important to use caution in how and when you use the music, so as not to “contaminate” it when the class is off the intended task for the music.

From my experience, you might try the song Help!(Beatles) or the Theme from Pink Panther (Henry Mancini) for setting students up to clean the room at the end of the day. The theme music from Jeopardy is also a great one, for defining a limited amount of time. For example, this selection can be used as a “musical deadline” to brainstorm a topic, or when students take a walk around the room to browse other students’ work for ideas. When the class has made a great accomplishment you can set the tone with a couple of minutes of Hallelujah Chorus (Handel) or Everybody is a Star (Sly and the Family Stone).  The last two pages of Jensen’s book categorizes many popular tunes you can use to create different states of mind.

In the words of my students, music truly has brightened our days and our learning:

            “It was really fun because we got to work on our singing voices and we learned more songs than we’ve ever learned before.

“Whenever I start singing one of the songs my Grandma says ‘Oh that’s one of my favorite songs.”

“My favorite was Dona Nobis because it was in a different language. You have to go high, medium, low, and you sing in different voices.”

“My favorite part was we’d learn the song and then someone would start one, then another, then…(rounds)”

             “Singing in the hallways was awesome!”

“I like singing in the morning because it makes me happy.”

If you have other ideas for what works in your classroom with music and transition times, please share with the rest of us!