Inevitably, kids would come streaming in with their parents, run straight to the instruments and start hitting them with whatever was nearby. Little siblings would dig into cabinets and drawers and my room ended up a huge mess before the night was over!
Now, I plan ahead and pull out only the instruments that I want them to play, and have specific instructions written in several places for the parents.
I have an activity planned for each group so that even my wiliest ones can see that it's not a free-for-all. Thank goodness!
On a table, I set out buckets of instruments that are needed. I put everything else away.
I physically block off all areas that I do not want them to walk in (with chairs or tables or music stands) and leave one pathway to the seating area.
I hang a welcome sign on the door and on a music stand just inside the door. It lets the parents know that I would like them to come in and sit down and wait their turn, rather than walk around while someone else is performing.
Greet the first group that comes in the door and tell the group to take a seat and wait until I call their child's grade level. Then I start calling up grade levels to the instrument table, "Do we have any Kindergarteners in here?"
I have each set of students go get one of their grown-ups to come play instruments with them! They love this and the parents get a kick out of playing the triangle or the rhythm sticks! It's a riot!
I just have them stand around the instrument table and play for each other - no need for a special set up or formation. Most of the time the parents face the board (because I put the title or the instructions on the board), but they don't have to!
For the beginning of the year open house:
Setup:
1. several tubs of shakers (for K) on a table
2. a bucket of rhythm sticks and the tub of triangles (1st & 2nd)
3. 4 large drums (for 3rd & 4th) at the front of the room
Kindergarten:
I have my K students & parents pick a shaker and we shake along to Hokey Pokey. Super simple, a little silly, and very accessible for our newest parents.
1st & 2nd grade:
I have my first and second grade students play sticks with All Around the Buttercup and have their parents play the triangle on the rests. (1st graders don't know ta rest yet, so I say, "After each sentence, parents will play on the triangle.")
*Pro Tip: Give the student the rhythm sticks and have the parent play the triangle on the rests. You as the teacher can give them a big cue when it's time to play. It's very intuitive and the kids love to see their parents hold the little triangles!
3rd & 4th grade:
I have my third and fourth graders do an easy call and response drumming activity that my co-teacher taught me last year. (Thanks Karla!) I have a little picture of four "choices" to eat for lunch. Mom or Dad taps "What's for lunch?" on the drum and the student has to answer one of the choices.
We do this four times in a row and then I play a pop song for them to drum along to. This year, I used Joel Adams' Please Don't Go. It has a simple intro section followed by a 16-beat section with drumming. I've also done the Kidz Bop version of See You Again - my students love this one!
For middle or end of the year parent night:
Setup:
1. several buckets of rhythmic percussion instruments (for K & 1st)
2. buckets of wood blocks / tone blocks, triangles, and shaker instruments (for upper grades)
Kindergarten & 1st grade:
After practicing A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea in class, my students do an instrument circle with this song. We have various rhythm instruments set around the circle and in between each verse, they rotate to a new instrument.
For Parents Night, we let each student & parent pick an instrument and they play along to, "sea, sea, sea" and "chop, chop, chop" and "knee, knee, knee" and "tap, tap, tap."
Upper Grades:
After studying The Nutcracker Ballet in December, my students do a quick and easy play along to the A section of March that I blogged about here.
A section -
16 beats: Wood instruments
16 beats: Shaker instruments
+ Triangle on the last beat!
As people enter:
It's a revolving door and I play each of the songs 4 or 5 times, but it is a blast! As soon as new people come in the door, I try to shout out a "Thanks for coming in - grab a seat and it'll be your turn soon!" over the instruments.
How to finish:
After each group, we give our parents high fives and show them how to put away the instruments we got out. Then I announce the next group. So simple!
I'm looking forward to our next parent night because I just got a grant for some xylophones, mallets and ALL the books that go with Mallet Madness (Thanks Tri Kappa Gamma!). I can't wait to teach these and let the kids show off to their parents!
What do you do to make Open House manageable?
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