September 10, 2003

Music in the Classroom

My biggest innovation this year is that I created a compilation CD of miscellaneous oldies songs that are appropriate for kids and express certain sentiments. I mostly use these songs for transitions. For example, when it's time to go to recess, I play Elvis' "Don't Be Cruel," since I want them to be nice on the playground. When they hear this song, they have a checklist of 5 things they need to do before they can excuse themselves. This way, I don't have to repeat myself every day saying the same thing to excuse them for recess. When it's lunchtime, we leave to "We Are Family." At the end of the day, during clean-up time, I play "Yakety Yak" which of course starts with "Take out the papers and the trash!"

Here's a list of the songs on my classroom compilation CD:

Song Title / Artist
1 Return to Sender/ Elvis Presley
2 Good Day Sunshine/ The Beatles
3 Return to Sender/ Elvis Presley
4 Don’t Be Cruel/ Elvis Presley
5 We Are Family/ Sister Sledge
6 ABC / Jackson Five
7 Rockin’ Robin/ Jackson Five
8 Don’t Worry Be Happy/Bobby McFerrin
9 Yakety Yak/ The Coasters
10 Hello Goodbye/ The Beatles
11 Be True to Your School/The Beach Boys
12 Great Balls of Fire/ Jerry Lee Lewis
13 I Heard It Through the Grapevine/Marvin Gaye
14 Surfin’ Safari /The Beach Boys
15 Splish Splash /Bobby Darin
16 That’ll Be the Day /Buddy Holly
17 Hit the Road, Jack /Ray Charles
18 Dancin’ in the Streets /Marth & the Vandelas
19 So Long, Farewell /The Sound of Music
20 Surfin’ USA /The Beach Boys
21 Who Wrote the Book of Love?/Oldies
22 Happy Trails /Dale Evans

Let me know if you have any questions about how I'm using music with my third graders. Or, we can chat about how others do it... in the Forum. Thanks!