As an elementary music teacher, you’re probably being asked to implement more technology with your students each year. Also, right now you’re constantly looking for ideas to implement with your students while you’re teaching virtually.
Elementary music technology is a huge part of the music classroom now, as you’re very well aware of. Kids just learn differently, and we’re constantly struggling to keep up with the ever changing needs of our students.
It’s so tough to find something that’s easy enough to use, even for the most non tech-y of music teachers. I’ll be the first to admit that technology overwhelms me and honestly doesn’t come easily to me.
That’s why I’m always on the lookout for websites and apps that I can easily navigate around, and that will help my students learn music!
But on top of that, teaching kids to sing has always been a little out of my comfort zone. I’ve always been a pianist and in band and orchestra, and was never in choir. So, teaching students to sing, where I can feel confident, and therefore can help them find confidence, has always been top of mind.
I’m excited to tell you about a website AND app that not only is one of the easiest pieces of elementary music technology I’ve ever used. It seriously is so much fun and every child who comes through your classroom doors will love to sing!
Elementary Music Lesson Plans
With so many resources available: from books, to online programs, to apps, how to choose what to use in your elementary music classroom can be overwhelming. WURRLYedu offers an online music education program that comes will go hand in hand with other resources you’re already using in your classroom.
It’s so hard sometimes to find lesson plans that not only keep your students engaged in learning, but that you enjoy as well. Let’s be honest. Teaching the same lessons over and over each year can become redundant. Using something like WURRLYedu will help you to find new ideas and give you a new excitement for teaching music again. If you enjoy teaching a lesson, you know your students will enjoy learning it as well.
The WURRLY app has been around for a while, but now there is a web portal that goes hand in hand with the app. What’s a web portal you might ask? Well, think about the old music textbooks we’ve all used before. They have different songs to teach, objectives your students will learn, extension ideas, and assessments. A web portal is just simply a way to organize video and audio lessons and lesson plan ideas online.
My favorite parts of the web portal are:
- The online video and audio recordings that can be used on several different types of devices including Chromebooks, iPads, iPhones, and computers. Every teacher has different types of devices available to use in your classroom and for your students to use at home.
- There is a large music catalog with tons of different styles and genres of music. A lot of music teachers want to include popular music in their music classrooms, but you simply don’t know how. WURRLYedu not only includes popular music, but has lesson plans that align with music standards for you as well.
- Along with mallet instruments and recorders, a lot of elementary music teachers now also use pianos, guitars, or ukuleles in their classrooms as well. WURRLYedu has a recording studio with tabulated lyrics, chords, and fingering charts for each of those instruments.
Sample Lesson Plan
On the web portal, you’ll find a variety of lesson plans for general music, modern band, musical theatre, jazz, and vocal. Since I focus on elementary music, I explored the lessons in the general music and vocal categories.
The WURRLYedu app has been around for a while now, but the website is new. I had so much fun exploring the site and really found it easy to use from a teacher standpoint.
I decided to choose a lesson and then I downloaded the app as a student in my class as well. That way I was easy to see what it was like from the teacher and the student side of things.
One of my favorite things to teach to upper elementary, especially 5th grade, is composing. I’ve done class composition activities in the past, so I wanted to create a lesson plan around this concept.
Before I explain the sample lesson plan I did, you should watch this video. It shows you how easy it is to create a lesson for your class. It also gives you a behind the scenes look at what I’m writing here today.
Ok, let’s move onto my sample lesson plan and how I would use this with a 5th grade music class.
- I set up my classroom, which is so easy to do. You can call it whatever you want, so I just called it “Jessica’s class.”
- Then, I went to the music catalog to search for a song I wanted to use for this assignment. I chose the basic drum beat that WURRLY created, although there were several other songs with lyrics I could’ve used. I chose this one based on the assignment I was creating.
- Next, I went to the lesson plans and looked for a composition lesson. I found one called “Rhythms with Words”. Students will be creating rhythms using different words on the Little Kids Rock website, while using the basic drum beat I chose.
- I created an assignment called “composition activity.” There are tons of sample assignments already there, which you can assign to your class. Or, you can create your own like I did. In the assignment, I wrote out the instructions for what I wanted my students to do and chose how they would be graded. I included the song I chose in the instructions, so students can find it on the app or Chromebook.
- After creating the assignment, I went to the app acting like I was a student in my class. I played the basic drum beat while completing the lesson in the instructions provided by the teacher (who is me in this example).
- After submitting my completed assignment, I went back to the website and listened to the recording and gave the student in my class a grade.
It really is that simple at WURRLYedu to find a song, look through the assignments and use one provided or create your own, lay out a lesson for your students to follow, and for you to give your students a completed grade.
Students can work on assignments alone, in small groups, or as a whole class and can customize their compositions by changing the key, speed, and instrumentation of their song.
How to Use the Website As a Teacher
Like I said before, one of the things I love about WURRLYedu is its ease of use for a non-techy type of teacher like me. You’ll see more engagement from your students, while they’re also (unbeknownst to them) developing not only the musical side of themselves, but also applying social and emotional skills that are so important to have in life.
One of the thoughts I had while looking around the WURRLYedu site is how often music teachers are asked by your administrators to show your students work, but you just don’t know how to. In a regular classroom, teachers are easily able to show their students work, because it’s a different type of a learning environment. With the WURRLYedu website and app, teachers can easily show a sample of what their students are doing in music and the creativity that’s happening in the music room.
On the WURRLYedu website, you’ll find easy to use music and instructional videos, so many different activities, easy instructional flow and lesson plans, easy it’s so easy for the teacher and students to communicate whether in class or from home. The lesson plans also include the common core standards for music.
The assignments are easy to create and manage from the teacher side of things, and your students can complete and turn the assignments in easily. You can also add in your own music from your collection, like a choir piece your students are already working on, and add that as an assignment as well.
Another thing I thought about is the fact that music teachers are always wanting to bring more popular music into our classrooms, but we’re not quite sure how to do this. Not only does WURRLYedu provide tons of popular songs to choose from, your students will be able to sing with their favorite songs karaoke style.
Who WURRLYedu Will Benefit the Most
Honestly, any music teacher, whether in elementary, secondary, or as a private lesson instructor would benefit from using WURRLYedu. But, here are a few of the teachers I see benefiting from it the most:
- Choral directors can use it with their students to practice their solo, melody, harmony, or part singing
- Inner city and rural programs without a music teacher can use it with their general classroom teachers who don’t know anything about music as part of a music curriculum
- State level virtual programs can use this as a way for students to virtually connect with their online music teachers
As Nadine Levitt, the founder and CEO of WURRLYedu said, “WURRLYedu’s program enables any school to offer a high-quality arts education. Because the portal is device agnostic, the barrier to entry is dramatically lowered, so learning can take place anytime anywhere. We built a cloud-based recording feature so students can easily select a song, customize the key and speeds or start from scratch, record themselves, add one touch audio and video filters to enhance their recordings and share them with their teacher and classmates.”
Ways Your Students Can Use the App
WURRLYedu allows any student to access WURRLYedu on a web browser including a Chromebook. That means, students can access it anywhere at any time from school or home. Just hear what students have already said.
Kids can use the app at home on their own time to complete assignments while using an iPhone, iPad, or another device. Their assignments easily save, so they can start them, and finish them at a later time while turning them in when they’re completed.
A lot of schools use the “Clever” app, and WURRLYedu can easily be accessed from there as well. This allows students to easily sign in and makes it easy to access the WURRLYedu app when all of their school apps and assignments are in one place.
If there are only a few devices in your classroom for students to use, students can take turns practicing rhythms or playing melodies, record themselves for a grade, or even singing their individual verses, chorus, and harmony parts of a song one at a time.
Every song is available in any key, so students can practice in their unique voice range. Students also have the ability to browse through their class feed and collaborate with peers while practicing as well. So, if a student gets stuck on their particular part, they not only have the support of their teacher, but each other as well.
Technology is such a huge part of a child’s education today and it’s not going away any time soon. I believe a well rounded music education should include singing, instruments, movement, rhythm reading and writing, body percussion, composing, and that the right technology can definitely enhance the learning process.
How do you use technology in your classroom? Are you ready to try something new like WURRLYedu? I’d love for you to tell me all about it in the comments below.
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WURRLYedu offers culturally relevant content and interactive digital tools to make music education fun, effective and accessible. For teachers, WURRLYedu offers a content platform with lesson plans, an extensive music catalog and a library of video tips from Grammy Award-Winning Artists. For students, WURRLYedu offers creation tools, including access to thousands of popular songs, customization tools and a portable recording studio with one-touch audio and video filters. Class feeds and collaboration tools are also included so that students have all the resources necessary to discover, practice, and record music both inside and outside the classroom. For more information, visit: https://www.wurrlyedu.com.
*Full disclosure: I was given free access to The WURRLYedu app and website and was paid to write this review. I only review products I’m proud of and would use myself. If you’d like me to review your app, course, or product, check out my work with me page.
