A system for multi-age classes contributed by Cheryl Burgemeister.
One of the more tricky classroom management issues is the thorny question of how do I use a program like Music Room with multi-age classes?
Multi-age classes (or ‘mixed grade classes‘ or ‘composite grade classes‘) will always be with us and it is a challenge to keep giving the students lessons and activities that they ‘didn’t do last year‘.
Our classroom music program, Music Room will consists of 7 books. This equates with 1 full year of lessons for each of the primary years. We decided to number each book, instead of giving them a grade level, because each state has a different system. The beginning year is called variously ‘prep‘, ‘kinder‘ or ‘reception‘. Some states have a ‘prep‘ year and 6 primary years. Some have 7 years. And so it goes.
Music Room book 1 is designed to work with the first school year – whatever it is called – and the rest of the books follow on.
But what if you have a prep/1, a 2/3 and a 4/5/6? How do you juggle the books?
Cheryl Burgemeister, a music/Arts teacher from South Australia, has kindly allowed us to share her system.
Here it is:
2024 (1 semester)
| 2025 (1 semester)
| 2026 (full year)
|
Next year… who knows, depends on class levels and which students are in which class & what they did in the previous year. As a classroom teacher split level classes are not a problem… as a specialist teacher they are a challenge, especially when they change from year to year!