Cognitive Engagement

Cognitive Engagement 

• Rehearsal: Ways to keep your choir engaged 

  • Classroom Management:

    • Bulletin Boards/Google Slides: information central for announcements, celebrations, birthdays, calendar

    • Bathroom: Provide incentives for going before and after class or only when really needed

    • Phone: Place in hanging shoe racks, phone stack, put on the piano, charging station

    • Supplies: Pencil pouch with all supplies needed at the beginning of the year. Supply table with extras.

  • Critical Thinking: Ask open-ended questions in rehearsal

    • Safe space: Create a safe space for students to reflect or answer questions 

      • Click HERE for the Wheel of Names: a fun way to randomly select students

  • Pacing: Ask for short tasks with clarity and efficiency 

    • Feedback: Give specific feedback (Judy Bowers’ 1-2-3 approach)

    • 7 words or less: instructions in 7 words or less

    • Small chunks: 10 min per song or activity 

  • Rewards: Give students a goal!

    • “American Idol”: You select a leader who comes forward to watch the choir and select the next winner. They will be scanning the choir for best _______ (vowels, face, etc.)

    • Chairs: When the choir is memorized, the students get to stand on their chairs to sing!

    • “Educational Tools” (aka: candy!) 

    • Lip Smackers: Swipe a bit of Lip Smackers Lip Gloss on your student’s hand for a smell good teat! Click HERE for Lip Smackers.

    • Progress Poster: Coding system to show the choir their process of learning their music 

    • Recognition: “Wall of Fame” #GoodNewsCallOfTheDay”, Audition gift bags

    • Trophies/Medals: let the choir sign the back of the UIL trophy

  • Humor: Create a joyful environment! 

    • Choose a fun song to sing every Friday! Click HERE for an example.

    • Nerf gun fun! Click HERE for a funny example with Director Chelsea Berner.

    • Share a silly YouTube video, sing funny songs in warm up, dad jokes

    • Be involved in festival games (dunking booth, pie smash, duct tape fundraiser)

• Musical Skills: Enhance your student’s music skills!

  • Eliminator Games: Students turn back to the whiteboard until the question is asked, first to write or draw the correct answers wins

  • Exit Ticket: Ask a question for your students to complete on this ticket as they exit the class.

  • Guess the Song Kahoot: Create a Kahoot quiz with video clips from YouTube. The students have to guess the song to win! Check out these free quizzes: https://kahoot.com/academy/study

  • Jeopardy Review Game: Review music terms or sight-reading with a Jeopardy game. Click HERE for a free Jeopardy Template!

  • Key Signature Bingo: Play Bingo with key signatures. Click HERE for Key Signature Template.

  • Lip Sync Battle: Students come up with a routine while they pretend to sing a song. Click HERE.

  • Musical Chairs: Students have to quickly find a chair when the music stops! If not, you’re out! Click HERE for video.

  • Pass the Beat: Students stand in a circle and say the pattern,  “Pass the beat a-round the room (clap)”. Each student says one syllable to the beat and if they say the wrong word,, they are “out”. You can take a word out and add an action to make it trickier! Click HERE for video.

  • Recital Hour: Students perform for the class! Students sign up on the whiteboard and can perform as a soloist or in a group. 

  • Sight Reading Competitions: Create a variation of sight-reading competitions! It could be an Eliminator game, a scavenger hunt (with pictures and/or videos), a retreat or “boot camp”, “the olympics”, “choir hunger games”, etc.

  • Snap Cards: Get your kids up and moving around the room! Post snap cards of short sight-reading exercises and divide the class into groups. Each group has 20 seconds to audiate and then they have to sing the exercise. 5 points for the entire group if they can sing it correctly and 10 points if an individual singer can perform it correctly. You cannot repeat singers. Rotate around the room until each team has sung every line. The team with the most points wins! Click HERE for Snap Cards.

  • So La Mi: Teacher sings solfege patterns and the choir sings them back. The catch is that students cannot sing So La Mi in that specific order. If they do, they are out!

  • Solfege Eliminator: Pair up students back to back and the first person to turn with the correct solfège syllable hand sign (use chromatics) is the winner

  • Solfege Jenga: You will need to buy a jenga game and write different solfege patterns on each block. When they play the game, students have to sing the solfege pattern written on the block.

  • Trashketball: Divide the class into two teams. Each team takes turns sending up a player. The player up will be given a musical challenge. If they answer correctly, they can shoot a ball into a trash can for points. Shooting from first step= 1 pt, second step= 2 pts, third step= 3pts.

  • Video Worksheets: Click HERE for musical movie worksheets. Great substitute lesson plan! 

  • Woo Ball: Students throw a ball back and forth while using their voice to siren up and down. Their voice should “follow the trajectory of the ball” by going up and down. 

“Hot and Cold” Dynamics Game: One student leaves the room while another hides an object. When the student returns, the class has to sing louder the closer they get to the hidden object.