Rhythm, Tonal, and Song provide the musical content for lesson plans. How you order the activities, design each activity, and execute each activity affects the energy of the children, hence their ability to stay with you throughout the class.  Fortunately, tonality and meter are very compelling to the musical mind, so musical content might even save an activity with poor execution technique. However, the better you can manipulate children’s energy through the series of Rhythm Activities, Tonal Activities, and Songs, the more you will create a satisfying experience for all, and the more you will maximize music learning with the content you choose. Shape a lesson plan that meets children’s musical needs, while directing the energy of children into highs and lows, stretching a little here, resting a little there, exciting a little here—to most enhance the experience of musical content and stimulate music learning. 

Every child brings boundless energy. Every song, every activity, every transition, every technique, plays with that energy.  It is up to you to charge, focus, and sustain that energy. The challenge is to keep it flowing, and keep it steady, so there is sufficient energy to engage throughout the entire class—choosing movement that stimulates, but not too much; props that excite, but not too much; songs that calm, but not too much; techniques that settle, but not too much. Creating a lesson plan based on the principles of music learning is integral to good teaching. Further developing the lesson plan to effectively manipulate children’s energy is an art.

You will be selecting musical content based on the principles of music learning. Here are energy factors to consider when further shaping that musical content into a lesson plan.

Rhythm—Generally, Rhythm Activities are more highly charged than Tonal Activities, and Activities with unusual meters can be most energetic, with Triple meter being one of the calmest, and Combined even more so.

Tonal—Generally, Tonal Activities are less energetic than Rhythm Activities, with some tonalities being more calming than others, (perhaps Phrygian and Aeolian), depending also upon the meter of the Activity.

Song—The various kinds of songs provide great latitude in maneuvering energy. The tonality, meter, tempo, and text of each song contribute to its energy. Play Songs are generally energizing. Those that invite movement charge the energy, whereas those that invite sitting in mommy’s lap are generally calming. Art Songs are most often highly musical, inviting very expressive movement, but not the fury of a Play Song. Gem Songs can be every bit as energizing as a Play Song, yet every bit as musical as an Art Song.  There are many choices within each category of song to choose from to facilitate the flow of children’s energy.

Movement—We use movement with everything, yet different kinds of movement and different levels of activity stimulate different levels of energy. Standing and sitting affect children’s energy in different ways. Moving in place or in space has an impact. Moving with a quickly paced song affects energy differently than moving expressively with a slow song. Moving macro and micro beats propels energy more than flowing movement, and flowing movement while standing propels greater energy than flowing movement while seated. 

Props—Various types of props and various options for using props affect the flow of energy. Rhythm sticks charge children, who are not so nearly charged by scarves. Hoops can serve to charge energy, with each child having a hoop to manipulate. Or, hoops can serve for hopscotch-like activity on the floor, with children moving one at a time, far less energetically. Or, one hoop with several children sitting on the floor holding on to the hoop for a Rhythm Activity might charge energy too much for some groups of children. 

As you prepare your lessons, plan energy flow through every activity, between activities, and from one activity to another. Consider your movement “on stage,” the passing out or collecting of props, transitions, hellos and good byes. You will surely learn by trial and error, when you see children get carried away or tune out with whatever activity, making better choices as you go. View and review the lesson plans that are provided in the online coursework. The principles of energy management are built in, while still leaving room for your own creativity.

Once you lay out the musical content of your lesson plans, address how to execute each activity, so that energy levels of the children are sustained throughout. Balance high activity with calming activity, whether that is through the choice of songs, rhythm/tonal, standing/sitting, singing/listening, moving/using props. Your first commitment has to be music learning. From that perspective, create your “seamless children’s play” that runs as smoothly as a well-oiled machine, engineering children’s energy to create highly musical, highly joyous classes.