Ideas for Subs When the Music Teacher Fails to Leave Lesson Plans
If you’ve ever worked as a substitute teacher in any grade level, you know how thankful you are when the regular teacher leaves clear lesson plans for you to follow. However, this isn’t always the case. It’s then that you need some emergency plans in your subbing bag to get your through the school day.
Having subbed in all grade levels for ten years, I’ve found that it’s most often in the art and music classes that the teacher failed to leave specific lessons plans. That’s when I started filling up my sub bag with my own plans. Here are some helpful lessons plans whenever you substitute for an art teacher…
*Preschool through second grade—-At the early grade levels you’re most likely able to get away with just singing with them. Don’t worry if you can’t carry a tune in a bucket—they probably won’t notice. A few of the favorites for younger children include finger play songs such as the all-familiar, “Itsy Bitsy Spider” or action and movement songs as “The Hokey Pokey. Or why not teach them the finger play song, “Where is Thumpkin”, selecting five kids to hide as an appointed “Thumpkin” looks for them throughout the classroom. Another idea is to distribute “instruments” such as sticks and tambourines and have a marching “band.” As the kids bang on their instruments, singing their favorite songs, they’ll soon warm up to you and feel relaxed. It’s also good to have a a tape or CD in your subbing bag of favorite songs for young children. Just be sure to arrive in plenty of time so another teacher or school employee can familiarize you with the CD player. In fact, musical CDs and videos are also a big hit with students of any age.
*Third grade through fifth grade—-On many occasions when I wasn’t left with music plans, I used the popular musical video “Grammar House Rock. Not only did the kids sing along with the video, but they also got a lesson in the parts of speech. Children this age also love to sing in rounds. For example, start by dividing your class up into three sections and then have them sing “Row, Row Row Your Boat” in three rounds. Think of other popular songs for this age and sing them in rounds. You can also make up scrambled words relating to music and have the students unscramble them. Just do an internet search for “word scrambles” and make copies for the children.
*Middle school grades—-“Match the Sound”—- If your music room has access to instruments and you have a musical background, go through each instrument and make its appropriate sound. Then ask volunteers to “find the instrument.” After you’ve gone through all the instruments, playing their different sounds, ask for a volunteer to be blindfolded in a chair in the middle of the room. Select an instrument to play a few notes. Then either have that volunteer tell you which instrument it is or let him walk over to the instrument, trying to choose the right one and match the sound. This is an excellent way to help middle schoolers with their listening skills, as well as acquaint them with different musical instruments and their functions. Again, musical videos, age appropriate for middle schoolers, are also a good idea.
*High school grades—Tell the kids to write their own rap song. Start out by explaining that raps are talk songs and not sung but spoken. (This will free up any kids who are too shy to sing in front of their classmates.) Point out that most raps have a heavy beat and lots of rhyme (explain that lines 3 and 4 rhyme, but don’t rhyme with the other lines of the rap. After a brief explanations and sharing examples of rap songs, give the class about 15 minutes to compose a single rap song. Then, have each student stand up and share their songs, explaining why they chose the words.
