Music In Our Schools Month's 30th Anniversary!

One of my favorite months is March, because that is when we get to celebrate MIOSM. I always try to think up some really fun activities that I wouldn't normally do during a lesson. This year is the 30th Anniversary of MIOSM, so I thought it would be fun to celebrate the last 30 years of music. I am always teaching the kids about classical music, but we never spend a lot of time on the music they are most familiar with. Each week was dedicated to a different decade: 80s, 90s, 00s, and today. Here are some of the activities I have been doing all month.

1) I created a display in the hallway with pictures of our staff members from the last 30 years. The first week I posted pictures of them in the 80s, the next week I posted pictures from the 90s, and finally the 2000s. It has been really fun listening to the kids (and even the teachers!) meet outside of my room each day trying to figure out who is who.

 

2) Each day I feature a "Artist/Group of the Day" from the current decade on my door. I show the picture, but cover up the name. As the day goes on, I reveal different hints about the group, include names, genre, and famous songs. The teachers have really enjoyed this one! Here is an example of one my 80s groups.

 

 

3) I pick around 6-8 songs from each decade and during that week the kids get to pick one of the songs to listen to at the beginning of class. I picked songs from a variety of genres and showed the music video to go along with it. The 80s favorite was "Old Time Rock n' Roll" by Bob Seger and the 2000s favorite was "Sk8er Boi" by Avril Lavigne! The last week of March is the years 2011-2015, so the kids get to vote on a year, but don't know the song I've selected. I'll be wrapping up the month by showing the kids "The Evolution of Music" sung by my FAVORITE group, Pentatonix. What a great way to tie together all 30 years!

 

4) The teachers did a surprise dress up day during 90s week. Several of us came dressed up in our 90s clothes. It was fun to see the old sports jerseys, butterfly clips, and acid washed jeans! Of course I completely forgot to take pictures this day! Sorry!!

 

The best part about all of this is that I hear kids outside of my doorway walk by and say, "Yes! We have music today!". They have really enjoyed listening to all of the different songs and it has sparked conversations at home. Several students came back the next day with a list of their parents' favorite songs from the 80s and 90s. They even made requests. After telling one student that AC/DC was more 70s than 80s or 90s, he went home and looked up "Thunderstruck" and informed me the next day that it was released in 1991. Guess what his class listened to that day!?

 

Here is a picture of my bulletin board for the month: "Music Makes Me _________". Each class filled out two cards to be used on the board. Answers included: in the zone, confident, pumped up, proud, concentrate, go for it, energized, and motivated. Thanks to our 5th grade teacher for giving me the awesome rock star bulletin board set. It couldn't have been more perfect for my theme this month!