Using "Happy Birthday" in the classroom is the EASIEST activity to use and reuse with close to zero planning. My suggestions will be through the lens of a choral classroom, but they could be easily adapted for general or instrumental music!
I LOVED to have my students sing "Happy Birthday" to staff members around the school. In addition to making the recipient feel celebrated, these mini performances:
Here's how I introduced the activity:
"It's [insert random staff member's birthday here]'s birthday today! We have the opportunity to make them smile and bring them joy today. Here's the plan." From there, I give a set of directions based on the group I'm working with. Here are some ideas:
What ideas do you have? Share below, I'd love to hear!
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Senior Sunset is the perfect way to end the year with your senior class. It's sentimental, provides closure, and is a time where your attention isn't split with the other grade levels. It has provided some of my favorite memories before students graduate, and I hope it does the same for you!
This event is paired with Senior Sunrise (check out the blog post about that here), but if you're reading this at a time where it's too late to do both, you can absolutely have one without the other. I do go into much greater detail about the specifics in that post, so if you haven't read it prior I encourage you to do so! It's also important to note you can do this *without* all the preparing. If it's half way through the school year and you didn't have a chance to collect things for memory packets, that's okay! Plan your first event with the things you *can* do.
I schedule Senior Sunset on a Friday 2-3 weeks before graduation. If possible, host in the same location as Senior Sunrise. The time on the invite is based on whatever I find on google - I always search "sunset time May 12 Erie, Colorado" or something similar to get my info.
The week before, I pass out physical invites - scroll style! I want to stress again how much I talk this up. If a kid comes to class early - "are you coming Friday?!" Pass them in the hallway - "are you excited for Senior Sunset?!" See them in the office - "I'm so excited to see you Friday night! Are your friends coming too? I don't have their RSVP yet!"... You get the picture! I also over communicate that they can still come even if they didn't attend Senior Sunrise! Collect the RSVP's so you can plan! Here's what the invites look like:
Here's the materials you need:
Prior to that day, I prepare memory packets for each senior. Here's where you may think I'm crazy. I save *everything* from a students time in my choir program. Yes you heard me correctly. The final they never came to pick up? Goes in the memory packet. A concert makeup review they left in my room? Into the packet. Their audition score cards from All State Choir that they bombed? Into the packet. Lettering applications? You guessed it... into the packet. Does this take extra effort from you? Yes. Is it worth it? ABSOLUTELY. Even in this digital era, I do one assignment that is on real paper without fail - the concert review. It asks questions like "what was your favorite song from the concert and why?" and "what was your favorite non-musical memory from this concert?" They turn these in, and they go into the packets. It's so fun for them to see all the music they loved and read through the memories when they see it again! I have a giant file folder where I just keep things organized by choir and last name. At the beginning of each year I update based on my rosters. If a kid drops choir, I have a folder for that too. I can't tell you how many times a kid comes back as a senior and I'm so glad I saved the stuff from their freshman year! At one point my choir program reached 220 students. It's possible to do this with a large program!
Then comes the letter collecting.
I collect letters from all the underclassmen. Sometimes I find a sneaky way to get the seniors to leave the room and I announce verbally to the underclassmen what the tradition is. Sometimes that's not possible and I send an email like this:
Then, I reach out to parents.
SO - the memory packet is a combination of "stuff" from their time in choir, letters from underclassmen, letters from family, AND their personal letter that they wrote at Senior Sunrise. It's incredibly special.
If you need help assembling the packets (it can be daunting if you have a ton of stuff), reach out to alumni or parents to help you. In my case, they have always been more than willing! Now to the actual event! I set up candles/lanterns along the path leading to the gazebo where we meet. I set out all the packets (I use manila envelopes with their name on the front). Once they start to arrive, I have them grab their packet and find a comfy spot to sit and look out across the lake towards the mountains. I tell them to put their phones away. I tell them not to open it yet. I encourage them to reflect on their year and I play music until everyone arrives.
From there, I have them face me, and I say something like this:
Welcome choir seniors! Think all the way back to August... the excitement you had surrounding a school year of unknowns, the sunrise we shared together right here... then think through the year - Fall, Winter, Spring, the ups, the downs, the senioritis.... and now reflect on where you are here now, a few weeks from graduation, about to go into the world!
From there I tell them what's in their packet - all the things I have saved since their freshman year, the notes, the letters. Just wait until you see the look on their faces when you share this! I tell them the packet is a reflection of their time in the choir program; they may have a smaller packet if they joined late or never turned anything in, and it may be huge if they participated in every ounce of the program that they could. But big or small, they have all had a positive impact on our choir program and are leaving a legacy behind.
I tell them to go spread out in the grass and to take the time to read through their packet. I tell them not to look at their phone. I tell them if they finish before I call them back, to sit and soak in the sunset. You may want to offer kleenex, tears usually flow. When I call them back, I share my advice for them as they go out into the world. I started by sharing twelve dreams for the class of 2012, then thirteen for 2013, but at this point it's a little crazy and I just stick with thirteen dreams. You can create your own, but here are mine - I take time to personalize and elaborate on each one.
Then it's time for the final activity. (I promise the actual Senior Sunset doesn't take as long as it's taking to read this post!)
They write letters to the next graduating class (current juniors) for them to read at their Senior Sunrise. I tell them to reflect on their year and write anything that would be helpful for those kids to read in that moment. I tell them to write the legacy they want to leave behind. I have them share advice, words of encouragement, and what they love about their class. I tell them I won't read them, so they should be honest and include what they think they need to hear so long as it's kind. When that's over, they drop them in the box for next year, and I say: And so, the sun has set on your senior year.
We take our group picture and they head off into the sunset! Do you have any special traditions with your senior class? I'd love to hear about them - comment below!
Want ideas to decorate for YOUR senior sunset? Check out my picks below!
If you haven't already guessed, I'm a sucker for traditions. There's a reason why I have an entire category dedicated to them in my blog :)
So here's the first I want to share with you - Senior Sunrise. I schedule this on a Friday within the first 2-3 weeks of school. It might be worth noting I used to do this on a Saturday so I could go home and go back to sleep, but I had WAY more students show up when I did it on a school day, so I kept it that way even though it was exhausting! I tell my seniors to save the date the first day of school, tell their parents about it so they can wake them up if they sleep through their alarm, and talk it up all the time so the kids know it's worth it. If possible, choose a place other than school that's a great background for sunrise/sunset. I choose a park with a lake about 8 minutes from school.
The week before, I pass out physical invites. I print them out, roll them up like a scroll, tie with burlap string, and write their name on it. I avoid passing these out in choir (to me there's something special about receiving such a scroll in another class), so I give these to the office aides and they pass out sometime during the school day.
Here's what the invites look like:
Note: it's not hard to make it look like this visually - just pick two different fonts and alternate!
I want to stress again how much I talk this up. If I only sent out invites and one email, I would have three seniors show up - believe me I've learned from experience! If a kid comes to class early - "are you coming Friday?!" Pass them in the hallway - "are you excited for Senior Sunrise?!" See them in the office - "I'm so excited to see you Friday morning! Are your friends coming too? I don't have their RSVP yet!"... You get the picture! I have them turn their invites in on my desk so I know who to plan for. I bug the kids who haven't turned in their RSVP (A. they need to learn how to RSVP - important life skill! B. I want them there) - and that's the bulk of the preparation! Here's the materials you need:
The time on the invite is based on whatever I find on google - I always search "sunrise time August 23 Erie, Colorado" or something similar to get my info! I start set up while it's still dark and set out candles/lanterns along the path leading to the benches where we meet. Once they start to arrive, I have them grab their breakfast and find a comfy spot to sit and look out across the lake towards the mountains. I tell them to put their phones away. I encourage them to connect and eat their donuts and I play music until everyone arrives. From there, I have them circle up, and I say something like this. Welcome Class of 2020! Each class has a commonality. Yours is that you know who you are and what you want. You have passion and spunk, and from day one you have followed your heart. I can't wait to see where it guides you this year! Senior year is the best and the worst. The easiest and the hardest. The slowest and the fastest. Here's my advice...
And from there I give advice fitting for that class. Here are some suggestions:
After I share my advice, I bust out letters from last year's senior class to them (if you haven't read the Senior Sunset post - do so here) and give each kid one or two to start. They pass them around the circle until they all make their way around.
We finish with one last activity - personal letters. I give them a piece of paper and have them write a letter to themselves. I tell them I know they have probably done this a thousand times (at least for ours I know they do!) but this one should be different. I want them to list their hopes and dreams for August-May. I want them to list their goals, things they want to try, people they want to apologize to, gratitude, and anything they want to be reminded of come graduation when they read it. I promise them I won't read it and it's private. Then they fold it up, and drop it in our Senior Box. When everyone is done, I say: And so the sun has risen on your senior year.
We take a photo, and they drive off and go to school! I have no doubt this tradition positively impacts the work-ethic and commitment of each senior class. It's a great reminder that they are the leaders of the choir department no matter which choir they are in, and that I expect them to leave a legacy.
Want ideas to decorate for YOUR senior sunrise? Check out my picks below!
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