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It’s back to school time! As music educators, we have a million things on our beginning of the year to-do list: setting up our rooms, staff meetings, district training, pacing guides, the list goes on and on.
But before you get too far into your to-do list and planning, I want to encourage you to remember to do first things first: make a plan for how you will welcome your young musicians!
Being intentional in how you welcome your young musicians is an essential part of how you start the new year, and part of the important foundational work we must do in order to ensure a culturally responsive and accessible music room, and a place where all of our young musicians thrive.
One simple way to welcome students into the music room is by saying their names! Such a simple thing, that has a big impact on how students will feel in the music room. Saying their names is an easy but highly impactful way to help your students feel seen.
I encourage you to say each young musician’s name every class period, even if it’s just saying hello to each student by name as they enter the room. Make greeting each student at the door or at the beginning of class a part of your routine and stick to it all year long!
Now, I know what you’re thinking, “I have hundreds of students that I see for short periods of time once or twice a week, how am I going to remember all their names to greet them?!” I know that as music educators we have an extra challenge when it comes to learning names because we often have hundreds of students and limited time. But the reality is that saying students’ names (the names they want to be called, and pronouncing them correctly!) is literally the very least we can do.
Names are important because they are a part of our identity. Saying their names helps them to feel seen by you, and ultimately helps them feel valued in our music classrooms and that’s what’s really important. We can tell students they’re welcome in our music rooms all we want, but until we make them feel welcome, it doesn’t matter. And saying their names (the names they want to be called, and pronouncing it correctly) is such a small way to help them feel welcome.
Musical Activities to Welcome Students by Name
Learning and practicing names is important for us as music educators, but also for all of the students! It’s important community building work to make sure that students know each other’s names and refer to each other by name.
Here are a few of my favorite ways to learn and practice names with musical activities at the beginning of the year:
- The Name Game
An oldie, but a goodie! The goal here is for all the students to say their own names, and all the names of all the other students.
Have all the students sit or stand in a circle. Choose a student to go first (for this game, I like to go last and I’ll share why in a moment!) and they say their name and make a motion/sound effect. Then everyone in the circle repeats that student’s name and their motion/sound effect.
Ex. Julia goes first and says “Julia *snaps fingers*” then the group says “Julia *snaps fingers*”
The first student chooses left or right, and the student sitting or standing to their left or right goes next by saying their name and making a new motion/sound effect. Then everyone in the circle repeats this second student’s name and motion/sound effect, then the first student’s name and motion/sound effect.
Ex. Walter goes second and says “Walter *makes a siren sound” then the group says “Walter *makes a siren sound, Julia *snaps fingers.”
This continues all the way around the circle, always adding one more student’s name and motion/sound effect until finally it comes to the last person: the teacher! At this point, I like to then say every student’s name and motion/sound effect by myself as a challenge. I never get it all correct, and actually that’s not the point of why I like to go last by myself: as I stumble over names and motions, the group helps me to remember. This serves two purposes:
- I model that I’m not perfect, I’m going to make mistakes and that’s ok! Students need to see us make mistakes so they know that mistakes are ok and perfection is not the goal!
- In the music room, we help each other because as a group we can accomplish more than what we can accomplish on our own.
Music making is a collaborative activity! Right away I want to be intentional about modeling how we are a community of musicians right from our first time together.
Being intentional about modeling these two important facets is how I start laying the foundation for how we’ll work together all year long right from our first time together.
- Hickety, Tickety Bumblebee
Another oldie, but goodie I like this simple rhyme for younger students. The goal here is also for all the students to say their own names, and all the names of all the other students.
Have all the students sit or stand in a circle. You go first by chanting “Hickety, tickety bumblebee, can you say your name for me? I am (your name), let’s all say it!”, the group repeats back your name, then you lead them to practice the name in a few different ways: “let’s all clap it (everyone says the name while clapping the syllables), let’s all sing it (everyone uses their singing voice to sing the name), let’s all shout it (everyone shout the name), let’s all whisper it (everyone whisper the name).”
(If you want to hear what this sounds like, click the audio player at the top of this post for the audio version of this blog!)
- “Your Name is a Song” written by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow. Illustrated by Luisa Uribe.
I love this picture book about a young Muslim African-American girl who is frustrated by her teachers and classmates mispronouncing her name, and her mother’s response which results in a musical walk through the city as her mother teachers her about the musicality of names from African, Asian, African-American, Latine, and Middle Eastern cultures.
Here’s a video of the author pronouncing the names in the book:
While reading the story or after (I like to engage in discussion throughout the reading), engage the students in discussion. Here are a few suggestions:
- How did the girl feel because no one could say her name correctly? Have you ever felt that way?
- Why should we say people’s names correctly?
- What can we do if we’re not sure how to say someone’s name?
Consider pairing a reading and discussion about the book with a name game for the first day of music class!
A Warm Welcome: The First Step Towards a Culturally Responsive & Accessible Music Room
However you decide to welcome your young musicians into your music room this year, remember that before we get into curriculum or content, we must first make sure that students feel welcome.
I would love to know what you do to welcome students to your music room at the beginning of the year! Share below or share on social media and tag me: I’m @ACuthbertson10 on Twitter & Instagram, and @ACuthbertsonConsulting on Facebook.
Also, let me know what you think of this post! If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for my email newsletter where I send blog posts and other music ed resources and tips each week to help support you ensure all of your young musicians thrive.
Until next time,
Ashley
P.S. Want to talk more about strategies for fostering a welcoming environment in your music room? I invite you to join me on Wednesday, August 17th for a free webinar “4 Strategies for Cultivating a Welcoming Environment in Your Music room”!
In this free webinar, I will share 4 key strategies for intentionally promoting a welcoming environment in K-8 music classrooms as we begin the new school year. This is part of the important foundational work in ensuring a culturally responsive and accessible music room, and a place where all young musicians thrive.
Live participants will receive my free Guide to Cultivating a Welcoming Environment in the Music Room!
Mark your calendar and register today!
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