Fun Elementary Music Lessons to Teach Music Skills – October 2024
School is in high gear and schedules are hectic! Consider paring down your elementary music lessons to teach more.
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By October, school is in high gear and you are CRAZY busy! There is always way too much on your agenda and never enough time. Many times you can accomplish more with careful planning and paring down lessons.
Your students may feel more confident and achieve more when you focus on fewer multitasking music lessons that target specific learning objectives.
October lesson plans lend themselves to many fun themes. So, choose a few focused seasonal activities that align with your elementary music curriculum and stay on track.
Take a peek at the special dates and observations below.
What’s in this post? Click to open the Table of Contents
October Observances
Consider integrating a few special observances into your elementary music lesson plans.
- October 2 – World Farm Animals Day/International Walk to School Day/Rosh Hashanah
- October 3 – Look at the Leaves Day
- October 4 – International Walk to School Day
- October 9 – National Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work & School Day
- October 14 – Columbus Day/Indigenous People’s Day
- October 16 – Unity Day
- October 25 – International Artists Day
- October 26 – Pumpkin Day
- October 31 – Halloween
- October 31 – November 1 – Diwali (A Festival of Lights)
Weekly Observances
- October 6-12 – Fire Prevention Week
- October 21-25 – National School Bus Safety Week
- October 23-31 – National Red Ribbon Week
Monthly Observances
- Bat Appreciation Month
- Celebrating the Bilingual Child Month
- Italian-American Heritage Month
- Stamp Collecting Month (There are a TON of music stamps. Collecting digital music stamps could be a FUN project.)
- Squirrel Awareness & Appreciation Month
Evaluate Your Previous Lessons. Keep, Revise, or Toss?
Take a little time to evaluate your lessons from last year and last month. Ask yourself these questions.
- What lessons went especially well? Those are KEEPERS for sure.
- What lessons did not go well? TOSS or REVISE them.
- Where are your students excelling? Your lessons have been effective for those skills.
- Where are your students struggling? Look for activities to strengthen these skills.
Check your yearly curriculum charts (free to subscribers) and your monthly scope and sequence to help pace and focus your lesson plans. Build on or emulate lessons that went well. Revamp or cull lessons that didn’t live up to your expectations.
Below are some of my favorite tried and true elementary music lessons that have proven successful in many varied classroom settings. Take a peek below to discover some new music classroom favorites.
Seasonal Rhythm Reading Play-Along Video
Your students will LOVE this simple rhythm play-along video posted by Elementary GrooveTracks. The no-prep activity includes the following music elements.
- Quarter note
- Eighth notes
- Quarter rest
- Repeat signs
The Perfect Storybook for Your Elementary Music Classroom
Rin, Rin, Rin, Do, Re, Mi by José-Luis Orozco (Affiliate Link) with illustrations by David Díaz is a bilingual picture book written in Spanish and English.
Rin, Rin, Rin is a part of the Scholastic Lee y Seras literacy campaign, but it’s also perfect for the elementary music classroom. Check out the Scholastic book order for this title or ask your librarian to order it for your school.
Teaching Treble Clef Note Names is Fun!
Teaching treble clef note names might not be among every elementary music teacher’s favorite lessons, but I enjoy it. There are so many interactive ways to make learning fun!
Take a peek at these interactive PowerPoint Games that are perfect for Microsoft Schools.
Note: These activities MUST be used in PowerPoint. They are NOT compatible with Google Slides.
Boom Cards Engage Even Reluctant Learners
Self-checking Boom Cards are always a favorite for both teachers and students. And there’s no better way to get started than with a FREE set. These sequential decks have a FUN soccer theme that will hook even your reluctant students – Complete Treble Clef Boom Cards Bundle.
Boom Learning allows you to play the first four cards of any set for free. This helps teachers determine if a particular set aligns with your music curriculum and your students’ needs.
If you’re new to Boom Cards, start by setting up a free teacher account (referral link) and follow the easy prompts. Explore some free decks to get started.
Wondering what Boom Cards are all about? Check out this blog post with Simple Steps to Get Started Using Boom Cards. It includes a a quick introduction and a short video tutorial. Boom Cards are easy to use, but we’ve got a few tips to help you get started smoothly.
Note: Boom has made a few recent changes. These changes make it much easier to access and purchase Boom Cards directly from Boom Learning. The other basic functions have not changed.
Innovative Ways to Use Boom Cards in the Music Classroom
Boom Cards don’t have to be used just as 1:1 activities. One of my favorite ways to use them is with the whole class. For treble clef sets, I turn it into a class-wide activity by having all students answer each question using sign language.
Pair Treble Clef Note Name Boom Cards with Sign Language
- Display the Treble Clef Boom Card on your classroom whiteboard.
- Instruct students to “hide your answer hand” to allow for adequate think time. (A good place for students to hide their hands is under their shirt tails.)
- Prompt ALL students to “show your answer” at the same time.
Get 5 Free Boom Cards Decks and learn how to use interactive Rhythm Dictation and Melodic Dictation Boom Cards with simple manipulatives when you subscribe to our helpful elementary music teacher newsletter.
Oktoberfest is a Highlight for Elementary Music Classes
In Munich, the site of the original Oktoberfest celebration, the holiday is traditionally celebrated from the last two weeks of September into the first week of October. In the USA, Oktoberfest celebrations often continue throughout October.
Join the FUN with our unique differentiated Oktoberfest Music Activities.
Included in this K-5 resource:
- German Folk Song (sung in English and German)
- Two screencasts to teach German pronunciation
- Orff accompaniments
- Boomwhackers notation
- Hand clap activities
- Early elementary and upper elementary Oktoberfest history, traditions, and more.
Enjoy!
October is Squirrel Appreciation Month!
Yes, we are supposed to appreciate those little critters that hang upside down and eat all of the bird seed out of our feeders. Oh well, they’re hungry too.
Any time of year is a good time to learn Hop Old Squirrel, but, what better time than during Squirrel Appreciation Month! The rhythmic ostinato and recorder notation allow this lesson to span multiple grade levels.
Elementary music teachers LOVE this song and game. But more importantly, kids love it too!
FUN Ways to Develop Rhythm Reading Skills
These Halloween Interactive Rhythm Flashcards include 8 differentiated levels for grades K-5. Level 1 uses iconic reading while levels 2-8 use standard notation and build sequentially adding one new rhythm at a time.
Need fun engaging ideas for ways to use rhythm cards? Take a peek at this post for 10 Ways to Use Interactive Rhythm Flashcards. This post includes techniques to easily incorporate rhythm patterns into your elementary music lessons.
Halloween Rhythm Clip Cards as Observational Assessments
Make rhythm practice and assessment fun with Halloween Rhythm Pattern Clip Cards. Whether you need a review, practice, or assessment tool, these versatile clip cards have you covered.
They work great for whole-class activities or center tasks. With leveled options for grades K-5, they’re a valuable addition to your classroom resources.
This Halloween Song and Game is Infectious (in a Good Way)
OMG! My students want to sing this song all year, and that’s okay! The K-5 differentiated lesson includes a game and a complete Orff arrangement. Each grade level has unique activities that may also be used for differentiation within the grades.
True Story – One year, my kindergarten teachers made me promise not to teach this song because they couldn’t get the kids to stop singing it in class. I reluctantly agreed. The next year, their kindergarten students began singing it on their own. They had learned it from their older brothers and sisters. 🎃
Lyrics Changed into a Fall Song and Game
Not all schools or families celebrate Halloween. If this applies to your school, take a peek at Pass the Pumpkin Pie. This lesson offers the same activities as Pass the Pumpkin but with a neutral fall theme.
Please note that this is NOT a Thanksgiving lesson. Students who do not celebrate any holidays should still be comfortable with these activities.
Bonus – You can use this lesson during the entire fall season.
Diverse Winter Holiday Music Lessons
The winter holidays are right around the corner. Do you have your holiday music program planned? Take a peek at our blog post about using Diverse Winter Holiday Songs in your classroom and for performance. Teaching diverse holiday songs provides the perfect opportunity to teach about cultures different from our own.
Fostering respect for different cultures is essential in our society. This post includes links to fun songs for Ramadan, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Chinese New Year.
Instrumental Listening Maps to Hook Your Students
I’m a huge fan of listening maps! They’re perfect for guiding students in recognizing melodic and harmonic lines. Musical concepts become visual as well as auditory. With listening maps, it’s easy for students to identify thick or thin textures, along with other key musical elements.
And the best part? Students LOVE these listening maps.
Toccato and Fugue in D minor, Bach
Thank you to musanim for posting.
Danse Macabre, Saint-Saëns
This listening map by The Cleveland Orchestra also helps students learn to identify the timbre of various instruments.
Play-Along: In the Hall of the Mountain King, Grieg
This popular piece from Peer Gynt Suite is perfect for teaching about tempo. This fun listening map by Pequeño Mozart has a simple rhythmic play-along accompaniment that is attainable for most mid and upper-elementary classes.
Find the Perfect Elementary Music Lessons
Need help finding the perfect songs and activities to teach specific music elements?
This easy-to-use Free Elementary Music Activities Guide includes a detailed index of music elements that’s easily scannable. This makes it easy to find the ideal activities for your classroom. The guide includes many FREE and paid resources that you will find helpful for your elementary music classroom.
Guard Your Time and Enjoy the Fall Season
Planning and creating lessons that meet your students’ learning objectives can be time-consuming. We’re here to help you take back some of your time. Take a peek at some of the time-saving resources in this post and find a few lessons to fill in the gaps in your music curriculum. You’re sure to discover a few new favorites to enrich your elementary music repertoire.
Enjoy the fun fall festivals, cooler weather, and changing seasons. Leave the stress and busy schedules behind when you leave school each day. 😊
Auf Wiedersehen!
More Ideas and Activities for Your Elementary Music Lesson Plans
- Elementary Ideas and Activities for November
- Elementary Ideas and Activities for December
- How to Use Digital and Printable Composition Templates
- Teaching Improvisation in the Elementary Music Classroom
📚 Featured Storybooks
Meet the Author
Terri Lloyd is a former elementary music teacher with over 25 years of experience. She holds a Bachelor of Music, a Master of Science in Education, and a Technology Certificate in Instructional Design.
Terri is active in music education through blogging, presenting and attending workshops, and curriculum development. She serves on the music staff at her church and volunteers for an after-school children’s program. Terri is an active musician in the community, performing in a local Big Band, pit orchestras, and various events.
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