Songs of the Month

Once upon a time I nearly had a music teacher breakdown.  It wasn’t because of the increasingly difficult amount of paperwork, the political takeover of education or even challenging students.  One April I looked back at the number of songs my kids had learned in a year and was flabbergasted by how FEW there were for some grade levels.  One grade had only learned 15 songs (that included songs for two concerts).  Now, they had composed, improvised, explored, played keyboards and more but they didn’t sing too much more than that.  YIKES!

It was then and there that I devised a plan to remedy that.  There is such a wealth of folk songs, seasonal songs and more that I could not allow this to happen again.  I sat down and devised a plan for Song of the Week.

My plan was to introduce a song (folk song, patriotic, children’s tune, MK8 favorite, camp song, etc…) every week.  I knew that it would be a little tricky because at that time I was teaching Preschool through 8^th grades.  I decided that some classes would just “experience” the song.  Some weeks that meant that PK-2 used the song as a way to keep steady beat and/or explore movement or form.  Some weeks that meant that 7^th and 8^th Graders used that song to identify pitch names, add rhythmic ostinatos or sang it as a warm-up. 

I used a rainy day to compose a list of songs that I might like to use and I sketched a few bulletin board possibilities.  I wanted to create a display so that when we had a few minutes at the end of class we could pick some of our favorite songs of the week to sing.  Here are a few that I've tried over the years.

When I started song of the week I saw my classes for 30 minutes twice a week.  When my schedule changed to see my kiddos just once a week for 50 minutes, I needed a new plan.  I would sometimes go a couple of weeks without seeing a group (especially if they saw me on Fridays).  So, Song of the Week became Song of the Month.  This worked well because students could sing or “experience” the song a few times that month.  They were still getting about 10 “bonus” songs every year and I was thrilled that my whole school new many classics!

Some Ideas for Songs of the Month

August

Star-Spangled Banner (every August, every class)

September

She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain

The Apple Song (MK8)

My Aunt Came Back

Wheels on the Bus

I Love the Mountains

October

Eight Legs (MK8)

There’s a Spider on the Floor

Grandma’s Feather Bed

Pumpkin March (MK8)

Ghostbusters

November

Over the River and Through the Woods

Mashed Potatoes (MK8)

Jingle Bells

Something patriotic for Veteran’s Day

December

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Christmas Makes Me Sing (MK8)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Frosty the Snowman

Mary Had a Baby

Joy to the World

January

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

Oh What a Beautiful Morning

Clementine

What a Wonderful World

February

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

Follow the Drinking Gourd

Wade in the Water

Peace Like a River

March

Music Alone Shall Live

I’ve Got Rhythm

Music is Always There (MK8)

Over the Rainbow

Danny Boy

Old Irish Blessing (MK8)

April

Red River Valley

Take Me Home, Country Roads

Sakura

You are My Sunshine

The Bunny Hop

May

You Make Me Smile (MK8)

This Land is Your Land

Oh Susanna

Home on the Range

Cat Came Back

American Tears

I know that some of these songs seem random.  *shrugging*  They may be chosen for the month based on a holiday or theme or may just be songs I like doing around that time of the year.  That’s the beauty of Songs of the Month.

Do you do Songs of the Week/Month?  What are your favorites?  Let me know in the comments.

I've created a set of posters that you may like for your songs.  Sometimes I'll use the "Song of the Day" poster and just leave it up for the month.

This year I am using this bulletin board to record our Songs of the Month.  I’m just writing the name of the song(s) on each sheet with a dry erase marker.  I’ve laminated them so I can save them and use them for something else if I want.  You can snag them here.