Improvisation Playground
Take your instruments outside...without taking them outside!
It’s the start of a new school year, and there’s nothing like beginning-of-the-year tired. Whether it was my first graders - experiencing their first few days of all-day school - or my own self, who went to bed before 8 P.M., the beginning of the year is exhausting!
I love it when students think about music outside of music class, and what better place to encourage students to practice music than the playground? Plus, if you happen to have recess duty, you can embed some playground skills like sharing and safety in your lesson!
How to Use the Playground
This lesson is perfect for when you have an unknown amount of time in your lesson. Especially at the beginning of the year, I’m still assessing where my students are. Because this lesson is based on improvisation, you can work to reinforce both basic techniques of how to play an instrument while pushing those students who are ready to make their own musical choices.
Part 1: How to Improvise
Storification - transforming a topic into a story - is one of my favorite techniques to turn lessons into life lessons. The story simply discusses instruments who aren’t allowed to go outside, because they could be hurt. In Canva, I just popped some smiley faces onto my favorite instruments and ta-da - there are my characters! (If you go to the last page, you can make your own copy and sneak some of your classroom’s landmark instruments in there!)
One the stage is set - we’re taking the instruments “outside” by having them “play” the playground equipment - then the Canva goes into the “how” of how we improvise.
In our improvisation lesson, I start by looking at opposites or groups of threes. For this lesson, I wanted to use words that would be great for movement AND musical improvisation. The vocabulary is:
Fast/Slow
Disconnected/Connected
Energetic/Calm
Light/Strong
Rhythmic/Random
Upwards/Downwards
Low/Medium/High Levels
How many vocabulary pairs I explicitly teach to my students depends on my students. If they have been mine for the past four years, we are ready to do all seven sets. If I’ve just met them, we might only do fast/slow and light/strong - it all depends on the students I have and what I can safely facilitate.
In the Canva, you can explore the vocabulary or skip straight to the playground map. By clicking on the pictures you can travel to the different parts of the playground. I put an extra link to my word wall there just in case you needed it at hand, and clicking the return arrow will take you back to the map.
With my students (first through fourth) we explore these words and then equipment with movement first. Whether we go on to then explore with body percussion, unpitched percussion, or melody instruments depends on the age, interest, attention span of my students, and upcoming musical goals. For example:
First Grade
Identifying and demonstrating vocabulary using movement
Second Grade
Identifying and demonstrating vocabulary using unpitched percussion instruments.
Third Grade
Exploring barred instruments and correctly identifying/utilizing upwards/downwards and high/middle/low.
Fourth Grade
Recorder preparation for articulation using movement, vocal sounds, and one barred instruments per group.
I’ve found in my own personal practice, it is far better for retention and attention to do things in small chunks. On Day 1, we’ll review the vocab and maybe one or two pieces of playground equipment.
Day 2 and Beyond: Turning Exploration into Feedback
After we’ve experienced the vocabulary, in the next class we might try partner (if they are new to me) or small group improvisation/composition. Here’s how I structured it for second grade.
Choose a piece of playground equipment - from their real playground or my imagined one.
Choose two words from the word wall to describe that piece of equipment.
You can either print the word cards - here’s a link to the images - or place them into SeeSaw for students to highlight and/or circle.
Choose from egg shakers, rhythm sticks, or noodle scrapers (taking a pool noodle and cutting it up!) to create sounds to demonstrate your playground equipment.
Share with either the entire class OR another group, and give them feedback sentence starters.
You chose the word “fast.” You showed us fast by…
You chose the word “slow",” but I did not hear slow sounds or see slow movements. Can you show me again how you showed slow?
In the above process, I’ve found that whole-class sharings can sometimes result in anxiety, which then generates classroom-management issues. Having two students share for two other students, though, feels a lot “safer.” This is a very low-stakes lesson where you and your students can learn together how to give non-judgemental feedback to one another. My goal this year is to get rid of “good” or “bad” judgements and just focus on what the music we are listening to IS. Unlearning this is difficult for me, and I’m an adult and try to live this way!
A Scripted Example
Also, this is how this would ACTUALLY work in my classroom:
Choose a piece of playground equipment - from their real playground or my imagined one.
Me: “Let’s brainstorm parts of the playground we could turn into music!”
I write student answers on post-its/notecards/scratch paper.
Me: “With your partner, choose a piece of equipment for your project. If you can’t agree in two minutes, I will give you one of the class ideas.”
Me: Sets timer for two minutes.
Choose two words from the word wall to describe these instruments.
Timer dings.
Me: Models choosing two words from the word wall to demonstrate a swing: "I’m chosing upwards and downwards because swings go upwards and downwards! I think one more word might help me - what would you pick?” (Takes student answers into consideration).
Me: Passes out Slide 44 from the Canva, already attached to clipboards with fat, sharpened kindergarten pencils attached. “Write your names on your papers. With your partner, circle at least TWO vocabulary words from this paper that describes your playground equipment.”
Note: I would love to use SeeSaw and avoid murdering trees here, but this is an early-in-the-year lesson and student success with iPads is sometimes tricky.
Me: “Class, can you hold up with your fingers the number of words I asked you to circle?" Students: *hopefully* holding up two fingers. “Perfect! Two words are the fewest you can underline. If you want to circle three words, that’s okay, but please make sure you have an artistic reason.”
Me: Sets timer for three minutes.
Choose from egg shakers, rhythm sticks, or noodle scrapers (taking a pool noodle and cutting it up!) to create sounds to demonstrate your playground equipment.
Timer dings.
Me: “Give me a thumbs up if you have your words circled! Thank you! If your words are circled, I want you to talk about with your partner which instrument or instruments would be best for your playground equipment: rhythm sticks, egg shakers, or scrapers? When you get your instrument, start trying to play music that sounds like your instrument! You will probably need to add some motions.”
Me: Dismisses groups back to unpitched percussion racks.
This exploration would probably be where it would end on the first day of group work - we have a lot of routines and expectations to build! Here’s a continuation of the lesson.
Me: “Here’s your papers from last time! You and your partner have three minutes to remind yourselves of your equipment and the instruments you chose and why you chose those instruments.”
Sets timer. Circulates and lets students collect instruments.
Timer dings.
Me: “You have three minutes to practice your instruments “playing” on the playground equipment!”
Share with either the entire class OR another group, and give them feedback sentence starters.
Me: “We’re going to practice for a pretend audience first! Know that your audience will know what words you chose. When they are done they might say something like this:
You chose the word “fast.” You showed us fast by…
You chose the word “slow",” but I did not hear slow sounds or see slow movements. Can you show me again how you showed slow?
Me: “Let’s practice giving Ms. Bright feedback! I’m choosing a Swing, and my words are rhythmic, upwards, and downwards. Why do you think I chose those words?” (Discuss).
Me: Demonstrates the words very poorly. Students give feedback, and I reframe that feedback into the above-mentioned format.
Me: “Thank you for letting me know. I’m going to try again. (Demonstrates.) Now what did you notice?”
Me: “When your group is ready to share, let me know and I will give your group a partner group to share to.”
Some classes have worked with me before, make their artistic choices, and are ready to go! Other classes require a lot more teaching of routines and procedures and building those relationships. One of the most interesting (and frustrating) parts of this career is the fact that something can work beautifully in one class while not meeting expectations in another - that’s okay. In my classroom, we all learn together - including and especially me.
Your Elemental Musical Adventure for the Week:
Go play in the Improvisation Playground yourself! How can you make your piano sound like a swingset? How on earth can your maracas demostrate a slide? Your students can figure it out, and I bet you can, too!
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Note: There will be no blog next week!
I am moving next weekend, so I may not have the privilege of time or an internet connection to put all my thoughts together. Have a lovely week and I’ll be back two weeks from now!
Oh Kate! Thank you for sharing your talents with us! You are such a gift to the music community and I am so grateful for you and your passion for sharing so freely! Your heart is truly in the right place-a place that helps educators find the absolute JOY in music making with our students! ❤️ This resource is amazing!