Winning Upper Elementary

When they "hate" everything

This is a common refrain I hear at my workshops and in online teacher communities… “My fifth graders hate everything.” Perhaps people see the introductory activities that I recommend at my clinics and they think “my older students will never go for this.” And… they aren’t wrong! Bringing fifth graders into a movement-based curriculum takes time, a cultural shift. But there are SLAM DUNK activities that your most difficult adolescent students will go for, and will allow them to practice ADVANCED musical skills without even realizing it! In this post I’ll share some of my thoughts on upper elementary strategies and a video of a GUARANTEED winner of a game to play TOMORROW. But first…

Housekeeping:

I am so thankful in this season for all of the opportunities I’ve had to share my values and find all of YOU who resonate with this work. To close out 2024, I’m offering a 24% discount on the TEAMM Subscription, to invite more like-minded folks to join our community!

There’s also my Minnesota workshop on 4/5 CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

I’ll be presenting at Texas Music Educators Association conference in February!!!!

Don’t forget about Ohio MEA

Kodaly Educators of Eastern PA at Millersville University in February!

You can PRE-ORDER my FIRST BOOK RIGHT NOW!

From the Archive:

First of all its important to remember that upper elementary kids are going through a very vulnerable period of IDENTITY FORMATION. This is a hard time for them! Many of these kids feel OBLIGATED to “hate” things. It is hard to admit you like something, and it is even more difficult if there are a few students who are expressing a genuine distaste for the material. In this light, I try to take their “eye rolling” and scoffing with a grain of salt. I think that down deep most of them love the class and just can’t express it. As music teachers, we’re used to our class being a love-fest… but that’s just not a realistic expectation of this age cohort.

That being said, I think its also important to understand that building a strong upper elementary program is a MULTI-YEAR project. When you matriculate students up through a strong movement-based curriculum in K-3, they will be much more likely to “play ball” with you in the upper grades. Give yourself a few years “swimming in the waters” of MusicXT before you give up hope!

OK… but there are DEFINITELY some things you can do TOMORROW to engage these kids and bring them into a JOYFUL experience. One game in particular I use with this age range that forms a foundation for some fundamental musical skills and also seems to excite the kids and invite them to participate.