Backup Plans

Hi teachers! One of the challenge a lot of new teachers run across is having a backup plan when their lesson doesn't go as planned. Even seasoned teachers hit a brain block and want fresh ideas.

One of my favorite backup plans is books. They are ready to go lesson plans, and you can adapt them to your class. The easiest books to grab and use on the fly are the books that are a song already, just put into a book. Iza Trapini has written a lot of them. Just search your favorite folk song at Barnes and Noble and see if there is a picture book for it. We have a book list full of other book ideas here, too: click here

Games are another great backup plan; especially games that can be student led. (For those times you need to be working with one student alone, but you don't want to lose the rest of the class.)
Here are a few game ideas: Enjoy!

The Name Game
Grades: upper
Equipment: none
Objective: become king or queen
Play: Students perform the following ostinato on quarter notes: pat, clap, snap, snap. To start play, the King/Queen says his/her name on the first snap, then a different student's name on the second snap. Play continues. Whichever student messes up the steady beat has to go to the end of the circle, and everyone else moves up one seat closer to becoming the king/queen.

Rhythm Telephone:
Grade: 1-6
Equipment: optional, premade rhythm patterns on flash cards
Play: Students are lined up back to back. Choose whether you want to play this in teams, having multiple lines/rows, or one long line as a class. Teacher either shows the last person in the line a rhythm, or taps it on that students shoulder. That students passes the rhythm by tapping it on the next students shoulder, and so on until the rhythm gets to the last student. Check to see if the rhythm stayed the same, or if it was altered.

The next couple games are from A Galaxy of Games for the Music Class, by Margaret Athey and Gwen Hotchkiss.

Add a Clap
Grades: k-2
Equipment: none
Directions: the first player claps any pattern on a predetermined number of beats (suggest 2 or 4). The second player immediately repeats that pattern and adds a pattern of his own (same length). Each new player repeats the patterns of the previous players, adding his/her own new rhythm until play becomes impossible.

What Did I Jump
Grades: k-2
Equipment: none
Directions: Player A is chosen to be "it." He jumps a rhythmic pattern and asks player B to to repeat the pattern. Player B then jumps the same pattern. A correct response earns the privilege of being "it."

Instruments Around the Room
Grades: K-3
Equipment: A rhythm instrument for each player. Piano, other instrument for the teacher, or recording.
Directions: The chairs are arranged in a single circle. on each chair is a rhythm instrument. Each player stands behind the instrument of his choice. At a signal from the teacher, all of the players accompany the piano or recorded music. When the music stops, each player stops playing, moves to the next chair, and prepares to play a new instrument. People who fail to stop or start on signal are eliminated from the game. If a teacher is pianist, it works well to ply three certain chords between instrument that always mean "ready!" Set!" Play!" C, F, and G7 chords work fine!
Variation: If melody instruments are used, we recommend using the C pentatonic scale (c-d-e-g-a) and restricting your piano playing to the key of C.

Rhythm Puzzle:
Grades: 3-8
Equipment: None
Directions: It stands in front of the class and claps the rhythm of a familiar song. He calls on the other players to name the song that he is clapping. The player who names the song correctly gets to be "It" for the next round.