Musical Playground : Designing and Implementing a One-Week Summer Experience for K-5 Children

Abstract

Through this project, we provided content for and led a five-day summer music program in Owen Park for elementary age students. The daily programming consisted of 5 stations with different activities, each lasting about 15 minutes. Throughout the summer we each spent time researching lessons and activities that would work for students in grades K-5. We knew that we had to plan for unpredictable ages, weather, developmental levels, etc., so we had to be ready to adapt our lessons day to day. After each day of camp, we debriefed as a group. We gave each other feedback and feedforward, which we then took to further revise our future lesson plans. As the camp progressed, we also became more familiar with each other and the students, improving our collaborative classroom management. We had to learn how to adapt and modify our lessons quickly. We also learned that routine and structure is critical for this age group; timing and pacing did not always turn out as we thought. The kids that participated brought unique behavioral traits and learning styles. As the week went on, we became more confident as instructors, resulting in a fun learning experience for both the campers and leaders.