[HANASHIR:7972] Re: Help with 7th Graders...

[SingingGr8 <SingingGr8...>]

    Last year I had a 6th grade class (actually Dave, this might be your 7th 
grade class now) who was very very uninterested in music.  But I picked out 
all the fun songs I could think of.   In my car, on my way to teaching one 
week I suddenly, out of the blue, remembered the song "Artik"  So I decided 
to teach it to them and teach them what the Hebrew meant.  (for those who 
don't know the song it is simply a commercial for ice cream)  
    The teachers got really really into it and so did the kids.  I showed 
them a dance I learned to it and before long they challenged the 5th graders 
to see who could sing and dance faster.  The real key to making this working 
was the teachers. The 5th and 6th graders would each line up and dance facing 
each other but the teachers danced in the middle.  They thought this whole 
thing was so much fun and they opened up to the idea of other songs.
    I think that there are two things that I got out of this situation.  

The teacher's participation is really really important!!!!!!!  (when they see 
their   teachers excited about it they get excited)  I have noticed that when 
teachers    leave a class to do other things the children act completely 
different, even in  classes where the kids are usually excited about music.

Sometimes making a competition out of who can sing louder, or faster really 
does    work, even in the older grades.  

I hope this helps
Beth Goldstein

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