Halloween is my absolute FAVORITE holiday of the year. My students know this and expect to do spooky things the whole month of October! We love to crank a KidzBop playlist and have a blast!
I think one of the reasons they enjoy these activities (besides the fact that they’re super fun!) is that I let them choose what activities they’d like to do! I have SO many Halloween activities that we use different ones every time they come to music!
Since my last couple of blog posts focused on Student Directed Learning (SDL) in the elementary music classroom, I thought I would show you how I put that into action. In order for SDL to work properly, students need to have the independence to work alone for their allotted time. Obviously you’ll be helping them with their tasks here and there, but SDL is all about teaching independence!
Student Choice
For this whole SDL thing to work, you need to trust your students. As a self-proclaimed control freak, this is always a hard one for me. Show them you trust them by giving them as much choice as possible in your classroom.
Sometimes in my classroom we do “Free Choice Stations” where the kids get to choose which activities they want to do. Unlike a regular station rotation, the students may not get through all the activities and that’s okay! My kiddos seriously LOVE these days because in their brain, it’s just a free day. But I know they’re really mastering concepts! Score! 👏
Giving them the choice to decide where they want to sit, who they want to work with, and what activity to do helps them feel empowered in your classroom. Your students will be engaged in the activity because they CHOSE to do it!
I have a group of 4th grade girls who choose to color any time we do free choice stations. They’ve been doing this since 1st grade! In my Halloween Centers, there are some coloring sheets where they have to match the color to a music symbol. I always print a set of these out because I know my coloring group will die if I don’t!
Activities They Don’t Want to Put Down
Now that you’ve given them the choice of what to do, you need some amazing choices! It doesn’t matter how many choices they have…what matters is that you choose centers that they will WANT TO DO!
One of the Halloween Centers is a Pitch Match Up that uses Target mini erasers. They use the erasers to spell words on the treble clef staff. My kids will seriously run to this station because they want to use the erasers. In fact, I usually end up putting out two pitch stations so they don’t argue over who gets to use them!
THIS is the kind of independent activity you’re looking for. If they’re fighting to get to that station, chances are they will be engaged the whole time!
Interaction with Students
Ok, you’ve got the activities. You’ve given the kids a choice of where to be. They’re working and having a blast. You could sit at your desk and put your feet up. Wouldn’t that be nice?! 😂
NOW is your time to go sit with a group. Play a game. See if you can make a really hard rhythm to challenge them. Hang out with that coloring group and color a picture with them! Pull a small group of students and have them complete a special project with you.
This time is invaluable to you. Your students are seeing you participate and make music. And you get to interact with your kids INDIVIDUALLY! How often does that happen for a music teacher?!
Are you ready for your students to work independently while you get the chance to interact with them individually?! This set of Halloween Activities for the music room is a great tool for you to get started with Student Directed Learning. Here’s a list of everything that you’ll get in this bundle! ALL of these can be used as independent work with your students!
- Halloween Music Centers
- Rhythm Task Cards
- Pitch Match-up Cards
- Clip-It Matching Cards
- Coloring Sheets
- Ghost Rhythm Craft
- Spider Rhythm Craft
- Halloween Rhythm Bingo Game
- Digital Halloween Interactive Rhythm Game
