Creating Community; One Song At A Time

From day one, my first grade students demonstrated a tremendous liking toward music and the free-spirited joy of singing together. On the first day of school, my students arrived to my classroom wearing various emotions; some giddy, some grim, some apprehensive and some just very curious about the in’s and out’s of being a first grader in a whole new wing of the building. Many of my students’ grim faces disappeared after lunch when I aksed them to tell me all about the tasty foods they consumed in the cafeteria. Our meaty discussion prompted me to spontaneously teach them the song, “Peanut Butter & Jelly,” to which many, if not all my students, immediately took a liking to. In that moment, the sense of apprehension about the first day of school lessoned and my students began to relax and feel at home in their new environment. For the first time all day, students seemed to let their guard down and smile.


From that day on, singing has become a significant and much anticipated part of our daily schedule. We quickly dabbled in fun rhymes and well-known children’s songs before delving into folksongs from all over the world. Our latest favorite songs include “Whole World,” and “This Land is Your Land.” New songs on the way include “What a Wonderful World,” and “This Little Light of Mine,” (two songs I am eager to teach to my students.) Our love of songs has lent itself to many other academic endeavors across subject areas. We have used songs to illustrate numerous math number stories (“10 in a bed” was a big hit,) and listened to rhythms and beats to bring patterns to life.

During literacy centers, my students have written the lyrics of many of our songs on paper in tandem with creating beautiful illustrations, which these lyrics bring to mind. We have used our song lyrics to help understand word families and search for sight words of all shapes and sizes. Our exploration of well-known songs has carved a path for students to create their own original songs. Most notably, as a group, students helped to write lyrics and brainstorm a melody for a class song, individual to our class only. This song has become a staple in our repertoire and a reminder about community building and friendship. Recently, during a tiff between two students revolving around who is friends with who (a popular first grade debate in my room), another student interjected that “we are all friends, just like our song says.” That is all the proof in the world I need to know that at least something is going right inside my classroom.

I will not attempt to sugarcoat reality. Building community in my classroom has not been easy. My students come from different homes with an array of weighty individual experiences that they have acquired along the first 6 to 7 years of life. Inappropriate words fall off the tongue of too many of my students and a tendency to hurt one another, physically or emotionally, can often rear its ugly head. Many of my students are quick to lift their fists if they feel that their self-image is being threatened or tampered with. The power of singing together enables my students to channel their all too often, negative views of their peers, into a more positive and rewarding activity. When we are singing, I see my students giggling, beaming and exuding pride at one another. Students showcasing diverse personalities and experiences are suddenly all sharing space with one another singing common lyrics together in a bond of cohesion.


I know I am doing my job when I overhear my students singing verses from our songs throughout our daily activities. It is even more touching when groups of students join together to sing during periods of independent exploration. The power of singing in my classroom has helped to break down the walls between so many of my students and instill a sense of community, one song at a time.