The first day of music class is an exciting time for both teachers and students! New possibilities and musical adventures await! But, it’s also a little bit scary (not just for students, but for the teacher too!). New faces, personalities, and maybe a best friend from last year who isn’t in your class anymore! It’s tricky to build a relationship with each student and between students. But, it’s so important that everyone feels included, understood, and engaged. Positive relationships set the stage for music classroom management and more engaged students!
In this post, I’m sharing 5 get-to-know-you activities to build relationships on the first day (or first week) of music class.
Activity #1: Find Someone Who…
‘Find Someone Who…’ is the classic icebreaker game we’ve all played at some point! It is a great way to get your students (even the shy ones!) talking to each other and making connections.
You can easily create your version of this game for your first day of music class:
- Make a table (3×3 or 4×5 works well depending on your students’ age and your class size).
- Fill in each box with a statement. For example, ‘has a dog,’ ‘went camping this summer.’ Or more musical questions such as ‘likes to sing’ or ‘enjoys country music.’
- Or, you could use this activity as a review of musical concepts. For example, ‘Find someone who knows what “forte” means’ or ‘can name the 4 instrument families.’
- Once the student finds someone who fits the statement, they write their name in the box. Then they should look for a new person to fill in their next box. It’s best to set a time limit for the activity and see who can fill in the most boxes.
- You may wish to have students share their answers at the end so you can get to know everyone as well!
Activity #2: Conversation Games
Have you tried creating a deck of musical conversation cards to use as icebreakers in circle activities or group work?
Creating these cards can be as simple as writing questions on small cards or pieces of paper. Questions could include things such as: ‘What would you ask your favorite musician if you met them?’ and ‘Do you think playing an instrument is hard?’ It may be fun to ask students to come up with some musical questions to add to your conversation card deck!
There are so many activities you can do with conversation cards. The simplest is to have students sit in a circle and take turns answering the question. A more engaging twist is to have one student draw a card and answer the question, then toss/roll a beach ball across the circle. The next student to catch the ball answers the question and passes the ball to someone else across the circle. Every 3-4 students, you can draw a new card to keep things interesting.
The spider web game is another variation of this game. Instead of a beach ball, students toss a ball of string or yarn. Each person holds onto the string and passes the ball of string to someone across the circle (without letting go of the part they are holding onto). Once every student has answered a question, they will have formed a spider web of crisscrossing strings in the middle of the circle!
Check out my conversation card deck for even more activity ideas!
Activity #3: First Day of Music Class Student Surveys
Student surveys are an excellent way for you as the teacher to get to know your students at the beginning of the year.
Some questions you could ask on the first day of music class include:
- What they did this summer.
- What type of music they enjoy.
- What they remember from music class last year.
- What their favorite musical activities are.
- If they sing or play music outside of school music class
- What they hope to learn this year.
You might be surprised by what you learn about your students’ musical likes, dislikes, and favorite activities!
Activity #4: Student Interviews
Student interviews are similar to student surveys, but instead of having students fill out a survey just for you to get to know them better, you have students pair up and interview each other about all things music (for example, their favorite song, whether they like to sing, what musician they would most like to meet, etc.).
These interview pages can make a fun back-to-school bulletin board display that encourages students to find commonalities and get to know each other. It’s easy to form a new friendship over a shared favorite song or musician! You could even add a photo of each student if you have access to one.
Activity #5: Would You Rather
‘Would You Rather’ is another classic getting-to-know-you style game. ‘Would You Rather’ is a fun way to build relationships with students and get to know them better without taking up a lot of class time. Plus, students love this activity!
You present students with 2 options (either serious or a little bit silly!). For example, ‘Would you rather… listen to country music or listen to pop music?’
You can choose to have students show their choice by standing up/sitting down (first choice they stand/second choice they sit down), or by raising their left or right hand.
Another option is to hang a chart with a new question each week and have students sign their names to show their choice.
Have you tried any of these get-to-know-you activities on the first day of music class?
Want to try all the activities, but don’t have time to create everything before the first day of school?
My back-to-school music activity bundle is what you need! Just print-and-go or open Google Slides™ and go activities for everything above! Click here to learn more or to purchase.
