Around March, I find that my fifth graders start getting spring fever and I need an elementary music project to keep them engaged. They start dreaming of summer basketball games and what the fall will be like as middle schoolers. Keeping them engaged in music can be a challenge. Boys’ voices begin changing around this time and they are “too cool” to sing, and they don’t want to sing the “baby songs” that they enjoyed just a few months ago.
Cue Genius Hour. I began implementing this choice project with an antsy group of students. I was amazed at how creative and interested the students were! Immediately I knew that this was something I wanted to continue with even more classes.
What is Genius Hour?
Genius Hour, or Passion Projects or 20% time, is the idea of giving students time to pursue their interests. The concept comes from Google, which allows its employees to pursue their passions for 20% of the week. The company found that employees were more productive when given time to work on their own projects. In fact, Google News and Gmail were both developed during this project time!
Genius Hour in Elementary Music
My first thought was, “Wow, this sounds great! But I only see my students 60 minutes each week- if I’m lucky. How can I possibly give up any time to do this elementary music project?” This was my biggest concern! I decided that I would tell the kids about it, but not make the time guaranteed. I decided to tell the kids that if we couldn’t get through our entire lesson the first class, it would cut into their genius hour time during the second class of the week.
On the other hand, 20% of our hour of music per week is only 12 minutes. How could I expect kids to make any type of progress in 12 minutes? So, as an experiment, I planned on having at least 20 minutes of the week devoted to genius hour. If we could get through the content we needed to in the first class of the week, the students could have the entire half hour the next time I saw them to work. This worked really well for motivation! Students wanted to work on the projects they had picked, so they worked extra hard on the regular lesson material so they could have more time for their project.
How I Use Our Time Now
After having done the unit for several years, I have switched to doing this to be a whole unit that takes up the entire class (for about 6 weeks) rather than the last part of class. Part of this was because my schedule changed from two classes per week to one. I also found that 20 minutes just wasn’t enough time for students to get their journals, fill them out, and get into a truly focused, deep work mode before it was time to pack up. However, I also chose to front load my year and overall scope and sequece so that by fifth grade, we are learning mostly concepts that feel like icing on the elementary music cake. This way I can still take time for units like our big Broadway Jr musials and Genius Hour.
Expectations for Genius Hour
At first, when I told the kids about the project, they were less than thrilled. Another project?? I also decided to keep the projects music related. The students could incorporate it in any way they wanted, but it had to be primarily music related. I had to help quite a few students relate music to sports. Once they were able to make the connection they were excited to get started.
The first question I always get for any elementary music project is if they can work with a partner. I allow students to work with one person of their choice if they would like. I always give the disclaimer that I will separate students if they are not working and those students will work by themselves. If someone’s partner is absent, he still had to keep working and he could catch the partner up next class.
Genius Hour Journal
Their final couple of expectations were that the project would be presented to the class when it was completed, and that the students would keep a journal. At the beginning of class, students were expected to write what their goal for their class time was, and at the end of the class they wrote what they accomplished and if they had any questions or concerns they needed to tell me.
I think having a journal of some kind is important for accountability. It helps students think about the next step they need to take during class and then reflect on what actually got done. I also like that it gives them a place to communicate with me about any questions, issues, or materials they may need for the next class. They can be printed or shared via Google Docs, but it is a good piece to incorporate into your unit. If you would like to see the journal I use in my classroom, you can purchase that here.
Genius Hour Examples
I also gave students some examples of elementary music projects they could try out if they couldn’t think of anything. Here are some of the projects I listed:
- How do different types of music affect the speed a person runs?
- Create a basketball routine to go with the genre and beat of a song
- Compose a song with lyrics in the form of a pop song
- Learn how to play a song on the piano
- Create a new instrument (the final product depended on the resources the students needed or had at home. One student had a parent who enjoyed woodworking and helped build an instrument, another student drew the concept of an intricate design. Either way, they had to know and explain the science behind how the instrument worked!)
- Create a presentation on the life of a favorite singer, including how the singer got into the business and how they come up with topics to sing about
- Create theme songs for favorite characters from a book
- Create a guitar
- Research music from the country her family emigrated from
Adapting This Unit
Ok, so how can you adapt this project to fit your classroom? Here are some tips:
First, I want you to know that this doesn’t have to be a big, scary elementary music project! I had built this up so big in my mind! When I finally tried it, the kids really took the lead and did such a great job. Every year I’m amazed at how well they do. When they have the autonomy to pick what they learn about, they want to do a good job!
Could you start with one class? Maybe you can strategically choose one fifth-grade class to try this with while the other classes do their normal lessons.
If you’re not ready to let the whole class go do their own thing, you can start with having your entire class pick one topic to learn about. Maybe the majority votes on a ukulele lesson. Can you borrow ukuleles from a neighboring school or look into grants to purchase a set? If your class wants to research music around the world, you could have small groups take different countries to research or you could incorporate that into each class and create a big presentation from it. This whole group option is great for younger grades, too!
Conclusion
This elementary music project has turned into one of my favorite parts of my music curriculum! The amount that I am involved varies. I have actually had several groups that have asked me not to come talk to them because I disrupt them! For the most part, I get to walk around the room and listen to the kids talk and collaborate. I ask questions that help me get an idea of how efficiently and realistically they are working and give some suggestions if they need it. Their presentations are well-prepared because I don’t give a timeline unless I have continually had to keep the group on track.
Don’t forget to check out the journal I use here. Have you tried choice projects like this? What kinds of group projects do you do in your classroom that your kids enjoy?
