Oh, that last month of school… the assemblies, the field trips, the squirrely kids, and the tired teachers…. Yes, it can be a furious race to the finish line, but it’s a chaos that’s best embraced. I’ve written about the end of the year before, but more from the planning aspect. What I want to share with you today are some of my favorite end of the year music activities so that you can save some time and sanity while still providing engaging lessons to the very last day of school.
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Make It Seasonal
My favorite way to put a fun twist on music lessons is to make it seasonal. Certain activities that we do regularly in the music room can be easily modified for a seasonal twist. Do you use mini erasers as manipulatives? Break out the snowflakes in December or the suns in May! Do your little ones do vocal exploration pathways? end of the year is great for pathways with water, summer, or bug themes. At the end of the year, I use my Summer Music and Movement Cards with some Beach Boys music. My students do music and movement cards all year round, so it’s familiar, but with a summer twist. The same goes for composing; they compose and decode with icons all year, but at the end of the year, it has a summer theme. To see a bundle of end of the year music activities I use, click here.
Choice Day
One thing I like to do for the last day of each music class is have a choice day. Your kids will love being able to vote and choose their favorites to ring out the school year in music class. Students raise their hands and tell you their favorites, which you write on the board. Then they all close your eyes while you hold a vote. Do the top activities from that vote, and you’ll probably have a class of happy campers. If they choose karaoke time, make sure they are songs that you know the lyrics are appropriate, or do a quick google. Actually, if they choose karaoke, I’ll take song requests, then start them on another activity they voted for, so they stay busy while I pull up the karaoke videos on YouTube and double check the lyrics. For instrument time or play-alongs, kids can play their rhythm instruments along with a play-along video from YouTube. So fun!
Write the Room
Rachel of Music from B2Z creates such fun seasonal resources. Her Summer Write the Room would be the perfect way to add summer fun to end of the year music activities. A Write the Room is basically a scavenger hunt to help kids practice writing their rhythms correctly, and recognize the rhythm patterns they see. They can work independently or with partners as they move through the room, making it the perfect activity for a tired music teacher.
Go Outside
A simple change of scenery can make such a difference. Try taking your students outside for a game, dance, or story.
For stories, just about any story would be great to take outside. But a story about taking a walk, a bustling city, or anything about the sounds around us would be a hit. I love The Listening Walk by Paul Showers, or City Street Beat by Nancy Viau. Gina from Music Plus Coffee has an excellent Instagram reel with book ideas to take outside, too!
Virtual Field Trip
Jessie from Music and Motivate has the BEST virtual field trips! A great one for the end of the year is her Summer Camp Virtual Field Trip. If you haven’t used one of her virtual field trips before, they are no-prep or very low prep, and super engaging. Kids practice musical skills in a variety of ways, all based around a fun theme. I love that they still get up and moving, too! And if you really want to set the scene for the ultimate of end of the year music activities, you can set up a pretend campfire, a lantern, tent, or some outdoor sounds on your sound system. Not necessary, of course, but super fun!
Whatever you do in those last weeks of the school year, I hope you’re able to make special memories with your students, especially those promoting out of your school after the last day.
Happy teaching!
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