The new school year can be particularly challenging for many students. Whether they have transitioned into a new year level, or they are finding it difficult to adjust as they move from one activity to the next, music in the classroom can help students regulate their emotions during challenging times.
Using music during transition periods is a fun way to help students to focus and regulate their emotions. Providing positive social and emotional learning experiences builds resilience to support students who may be experiencing uncertainty.
Music-based activities can help students to develop routine in the classroom while creating a sense of belonging. Students learn empathy by working together and grow in confidence as they develop their individual and group decision making skills.
Enjoy these five activities utilising music for transition and connection. The resources align with the Personal and Social Capability of the curriculum as well as the Arts.
Transition Songs for F-2
Transition songs motivate, focus and help children to engage and participate fully as part of a group. Regularly including transition songs in classroom routines provides a sense of order and predictability. They also support teachers to maintain classroom expectations which assists in creating a positive learning environment for everyone.
Harmonic Shift: Songs of Resilience
Encourage children to build their resilience, develop literacy skills and foster respect. This collection of songs and stop-motion animation videos centred around wellbeing, introduces a series of techniques that empower students to create their own song lyrics.
The ten lessons are packed with creative activities that support students to foster resilience, develop new vocabulary, explore socio-emotional themes and gain musical confidence.
Transition Songs for Early Years
Songs have been used to educate, soothe and organise children for longer than the written word! This resource presents a series of fifteen short useful songs that can be integrated regularly to create a calm, unified and orderly early learning centre or classroom. Many of the songs are based on the melodies of existing children’s songs to make them easy to learn and teach.
Songs to sing together to signal a specific transition include Greeting Song, Focus Song, Calming Down Song. They are perfect for students starting school or for students in Foundation, Year 1 or 2.
Musical Games for Early Years
This resource includes six original musical games that use age-appropriate techniques to get young children improvising, playing instruments, responding to music and composing in small or large groups. These games use simple fun songs, narratives, props and characters to engage and excite children. Musical games are a playful way to engage children with music and each game can be extended to explore specific musical elements or adapted to support diverse groups of children.
Painting the Music
Periods of transition can be stressful for students. Combining music and artmaking can bring focus, relaxation and calm. This course encourages students to paint what they are feeling. What images does the music evoke? What colours, lines or shapes does the music inspire? Through creativity students sharpen their listening skills and explore the links between feelings, ideas and artwork.
SUBSCRIBERS BONUS!
‘Roll Call Game’ from ‘Introducing Rhythm and Beat’ course
This fun musical game is a fantastic way to for classes to share and talk about themselves, building confidence around their greatest character traits! It is aimed at upper primary students and is based on a scene from Spike Lee’s, 1996 Get On the Bus film.
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