Teachers love the word plan. Lesson plans, sub plans, plan time-each have an important place in our school days, weeks, months, years…sometimes our bests laid plans go awry. Then there are those rare moments when the simplest of plans exceed our expectations.
This was one of those days.
Freddie the Frog and his adventures on Treble Clef Island are breathing new life into my K-2nd grade classes. (See earlier post-The Innocence of Imagination.) The plan for today sounded simple, and came with very little explanation. I was actually nervous that I hadn’t added something, afraid it wouldn’t take enough time. Students were going to learn how to create stories using barred instruments such as xylophones by having the story characters, Freddie and his elephant friend Eli, talk back and forth to each other.
Let me just say, having kindergartners play xylophones can be a daunting task. Imagine twenty-something of them having to wait their turn, holding mallets, making sure the mallets only touch the instruments…enough said. But I really have to brag on them. They did such a great job!
We brainstormed before moving to instruments, creating conversations between Freddie and Eli. Everything from “Do you want to play?” “Yes I do!” to “Would you like some waffles?” “That sounds great!” Each class came up with at least four different question/answer phrases, their very own ideas. I spoke the words in rhythm, they echoed, then we repeated the activity on the instruments.
We played, we laughed, we created…I was both energized and exhausted all at the same time. My plan is to do it again tomorrow with a different set of kiddos. Will it work exactly the same? Possibly, but probably not. And that’s okay. Tomorrow is a new day.