"Quiet Music"

My district is in the midst of The Big State Test. Literally every space in my school needs to be used for testing, including the room right next to the music room with a thin wall in between. Much of the next few weeks will be spent doing "quiet music class". Yes, music class is not normally a quiet thing. My students always point out to me that music is sound and sound isn't quiet. We all agree it's not our favorite, but it's necessary for the good of the school overall. If it's really nice I try to take students outside, but the gnats and rain have been keeping us in and quiet most of the time. Singing as a whole class can sometimes be quiet enough, but no students playing instruments and low amounts of rambunctiousness are required. Here's a few "quiet music" activities I use with my students:

For upper elementary:

Articles and questions about musicians

I don't do a lot of teaching "about" musicians, so this is a good way (along with sub plans) to squeeze in some contextual information. NewsELA is a great source of articles with pre-written questions, and they have musicians from a wide variety of genres. This year, my students are reading an article about Esperanza Spalding, and one about Lauryn Hill. Once they complete both, they will compare and contrast the two musicians based on what they read in the article.

Videos

I'm typically not one to show a lot of long videos, but quiet music time I am a little more open to using them to keep students engaged, learning and quiet. It's also a really good break for students who have tested earlier in the day and are totally fried. This week, I've been showing a walkthrough of the Benning Violin Factory by Music Express to my students. It's a relatively short video but has led to good discussions about the different string instruments and about careers in music beyond teaching and performance. You can find the video on YouTube here. There are similar videos for other families of instruments, and Music Express also has a video series of composer interviews that are quite good.

For lower elementary:

Echo songs and patterns

For whatever reason, I find my students are able to control their singing volume more effectively when they are echoing rather than singing a song that they already know. The Feierabend book of echo songs is great for this purpose, as are simple tonal and rhythmic patterns. I also challenge students to echo sing a pattern I play quietly on an instrument, which helps them hear and respond to pitch across different timbres.

Move Its

I adore the Move-It DVD! It's a lifesaver when my voice is shot or I otherwise need 2 minutes of engaged focus from younger students. It's especially great when we have to be quiet, since silence is part of my pre-existing procedures for move-its and many of the songs are slower and more relaxing. I'll often do this to settle a class back down if they start to get overexcited and a bit noisy.

Singing Games

Some of my classes enjoy the challenge of staying quiet enough to keep playing a preferred singing game. I always warn them that if they get noisy the game has to stop right away since we want the students testing to be able to focus and do their best work. Usually even the chattiest or most rambunctious class can keep themselves together for five or ten minutes to do a game they really love. Obviously, I don't use games with running or major competitions to set students up for success in staying quiet. Acka Backa, Doggie Doggie, and similar games tend to work well for me.

Quiet music class is definitely not ideal, but when it has to happen there certainly are a variety of options that allow students to keep learning music. I'll definitely be glad when testing season is over and we can bring out the xylophones and drums again!