Hallway bulletin boards don’t have to be a scramble each month. With a little advance planning, they can become a year-long showcase of student learning that reflects what actually happens in the music room.

This post shares a month-by-month outline of hallway bulletin board ideas designed specifically for elementary music. Each idea centers on real student work—compositions, reflections, photos, and creative responses—making it easier to document learning, celebrate progress, and rotate displays throughout the year without starting from scratch.

(If you’re looking for the rationale behind these ideas, including what counts as student work and how to include objectives and rubrics, start with my post on creating meaningful music bulletin boards with simple student work.)

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How to Create Meaningful Music Bulletin Boards with Simple Student Work

Hallway bulletin boards can be especially challenging for music teachers. So much of what we do in class is active and sound-based — singing, playing, moving, and creating — that it’s not always obvious how to turn that learning into student work you can display. I, for one, hated to take time to get out pencils and paper!

But with a few intentional choices, elementary music bulletin boards can become meaningful snapshots of learning, helping hallway bulletin boards show what students are really doing in music class.

(If you’re thinking more about instructional displays inside the room, I shared ideas for that in a previous post on making classroom walls work for you. This post focuses specifically on hallway boards.)

Why Student Work Belongs on Music Hallway Bulletin Boards

When students see their work displayed in the hallway, it sends a powerful message: what we do in music matters. It builds pride and ownership, while also quietly advocating for your program.

Parents, administrators, and other students may never sit in on a lesson, but they do walk past your hallway board. A display that features real student work helps them see that music learning is creative, intentional, and standards-based.

In practice, this might look like a rhythm composition display mounted on leaves or flowers, surrounded by photos of students creating. Or a concert reflection board with short student quotes paired with rehearsal pictures. Even a “Caught Making Music” photo collage counts as student work when it documents the learning process.

What Counts as Student Work in the Music Classroom

One of the biggest hurdles with hallway displays is defining student work in a subject where learning happens in sound.

Student work can include:

• Rhythm or melody compositions
• Short written reflections or sentence starters
• Drawings connected to music stories
• Group-created work
• Photos of students singing, playing instruments, moving, or composing

If students made musical decisions, engaged in the process, or reflected on their learning, it counts!

What to Include on a Meaningful Music Bulletin Board

When planning hallway boards, think documentation, not decoration. A strong music bulletin board often includes a mix of:

• Student work (compositions, reflections, drawings, group pieces)
• Photos of students making music
• A clear lesson objective
• Music standard(s)
• A short rubric or success criteria
• Student voice (quotes or reflection prompts)

You don’t need all of these every time. Even three or four elements can turn a hallway board into a clear snapshot of learning.

Sample Rhythm Composition Bulletin Board (Objective, Standard, and Rubric)

Including an objective, standard, and rubric doesn’t have to be complicated. A single half-sheet posted beside the display is enough.

Objective
Students will create and notate a 4-beat rhythm pattern using quarter notes and paired eighth notes.

Standard
MU:Cr1.1.2a – Generate musical ideas within a given structure.

Simple Rubric

4 – Exceeds: Accurate rhythm, clear notation, neat presentation

3 – Meets: Accurate rhythm with minor notation errors

2 – Developing: Some note value errors

1 – Beginning: Incomplete or unclear rhythm

This small addition does a lot of heavy lifting — it shows what students learned, how their work was assessed, and how creative projects align with standards.  

One important note: I never display student work in the hallway with grades written on it. I use the rubric to guide assessment and then choose examples that meet the criteria, but the papers themselves stay ungraded. Ungraded hallway displays promote a growth mindset by emphasizing progress and learning over performance labels.

Music Bulletin Board Ideas That Show Real Learning

Some hallway-friendly ideas that work especially well in music include:

• Rhythm composition galleries (leaves, flowers, shells, notes)
• “Caught Making Music” photo boards
• Concert or field trip reflection displays
• Music story connections (like sound stories or children's literature)
• “Behind the Music” boards that highlight one focus skill

Each one helps answer the hallway question: What do students actually do in music class?

(If you’re looking for inspiration across the entire school year, I’ve also put together a full post with year-long music bulletin board ideas made with student work, organized month by month.)

How to Keep Music Hallway Bulletin Boards Manageable

Hallway boards shouldn’t steal your planning time.

A few tips that help:

• Reuse the same background and swap out student work
• Rotate displays by unit, not by month
• Feature different grade levels throughout the year, so every class gets a turn in the spotlight
• Use group work when possible

Remember: photos count as student work!

Thoughtfully rotating grade levels and displays turns your hallway board into an ongoing story of growth, creativity, and progress.

Let the Music Be Seen

Music learning is often invisible — unless we help others see it. Hallway bulletin boards give us a simple way to advocate for our programs, celebrate students, and document learning without saying a word.

When student work, photos, objectives, and rubrics live together on the wall, your board becomes more than decoration. It becomes evidence.



If you’re looking for an easy place to start, my Falling Rhythms (fall leaves) and Blooming Rhythms (flower theme) rhythm composition sets are designed with hallway displays in mind — with assessment and standards already built in, so you can spend less time at the bulletin board and more time making music.

 

Musically yours,

  

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We’ve all been there. You’re in the middle of a rehearsal, working through a tricky section of a new piece, and you see the glazed-over eyes. Students start fidgeting, attention drifts, and the energy in the room plummets.

What if the solution wasn’t to push harder but to move more?

Research in music education—including the work of Dr. Edwin Gordon—reminds us that students learn about keeping the beat in time by first keeping the beat across space. In other words, movement is not just a fun activity—it’s the foundation for musical understanding.

In this post, we’ll explore five purposeful movement strategies you can use to help students internalize rhythm, pitch, and lyrics while keeping rehearsals engaging.

1. Beat Movements: The Foundation of Rhythm

Before students can play or sing in time, they need to feel the beat. Start with:

• Patting laps to the beat
• Bounce heels to the beat, keeping toes on the ground.
• Stepping in place while counting
• Tapping shoulders or knees in time

These simple movements ground students in the pulse of the music. You can use them while sight-reading, or as a quick reset when attention starts to wander. These same-side movements build a solid foundation for feeling steady beat. 

Clapping comes next—it adds crossing the midline, a higher-level bilateral coordination skill that deepens rhythmic understanding.

2. Nonlocomotor Movements: Moving Without Traveling

Nonlocomotor movements keep students rooted while still engaging their bodies in learning. Try:

• Swaying side to side with the music
• Stretching arms upward or outward on sustained notes
• Body percussion like tapping elbows, snapping, or clapping softly
• Move with Continuous Flow, pretend you are a tree blowing gently in the wind or a surfer riding the waves

Because they don’t require navigating the room, nonlocomotor activities are great for tight rehearsal spaces or quick practice during transitions.

3. Locomotor Movements: Traveling to the Beat

Locomotor movements allow students to connect the music to space. Examples include:

• Walking around the room in time with the beat
• Skipping or galloping during upbeat sections
• Marching with dynamic accents on strong beats

This not only reinforces tempo but also adds kinesthetic memory to learning—a huge help when memorizing repertoire for performances.

4. Hand Motions to Reflect Lyrics

Physical storytelling helps students connect emotionally and cognitively with the music. For songs with lyrics:

• Create gestures for key words
• Use sign language for certain phrases
• Have students invent their own movements for verses

This technique strengthens lyric recall and helps shy singers participate with more confidence.

5. Pitch Level Movements: Follow the Melody’s Shape

Students often struggle with pitch accuracy when it’s taught only through sound. Adding movement makes the melodic contour visible:

• Trace the pitch line in the air with your hand
• Use both hands to show harmony parts
• Layer in facial expressions to match dynamics

This is especially effective with beginners or when introducing a new piece.

Bonus: Continuous Flowing Movement – The Hidden Building Block

One of the most overlooked movement types in music class is continuous flowing movement—smooth, uninterrupted motion that prepares students for beat-keeping skills. Edwin Gordon reminds us that rhythm isn’t born in clock-like ticking—it’s born in movement. We learn time by moving first in space, then letting that flow become the beat we feel.

Dr. Gordon’s sequence is powerful:

• Continuous flow (moving smoothly through space)
• Flow with pulse (gentle movements with an underlying beat)
• Beat keeping with both hands moving together (e.g., patting laps together)
• Clapping (more precise, isolated beat-keeping)

By moving through this sequence, you help students internalize beat long before you ever say, “Find the tempo.”

Bringing It All Together in Rehearsal

Purposeful movement doesn’t have to be a separate “fun” activity—it can be woven directly into your warm-ups, sectional rehearsals, and even concert prep.

In my eBook, Program Preparation: Strategies to Avoid Rehearsal Boredom, the first section is an idea bank of nine rehearsal strategies and focus areas designed to keep students active, creative, and excited about the process.

Here’s a sneak peek at three of them:

• The Bubble Game (Framework Strategy) – A versatile movement game where students walk during music and freeze when it stops. Add rhythm patterns during freezes for bonus skill-building.
• Melodic Focus – Help students “see” a melody by tracing its shape in the air with hand motions, using songs like What a Goodly Thing or Carolina, Carolina.
• Movement Focus – Layer in purposeful movement like ASL, lyric-based gestures, or dance steps for songs such as Grand Old Flag to connect music, meaning, and motion.

These are just three of the nine strategies inside the eBook—many of which pair perfectly with the purposeful movement ideas in this post to keep students learning their music while staying engaged from the first measure to the final bow.

If you want even more rehearsal-refreshing ideas, you can also check out my related post: Program Preparation: Teaching Strategies to Avoid Rehearsal Boredom

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Which of these movement strategies have you tried in your music room? Which one are you most excited to try next? Share your thoughts in the comments—I’d love to hear how you bring purposeful movement into your teaching!

🎁 Free Download for Music Teachers!

Ready to try these purposeful movement ideas in your own rehearsal? I’ve put together a Movement in Music Rehearsal – Quick Start Guide just for you! Inside, you’ll get a snapshot of why movement is so powerful for learning, plus three “try tomorrow” activities (including the Bubble Game) that you can plug right into your next class.

This free guide is the perfect way to boost engagement and build musical skills—without adding more prep to your plate. Grab your copy below and keep your students moving, learning, and loving rehearsal!


👉 Click here to get your free guide

🎵 Want more details?

📘 Grab the full eBook here and transform your rehearsal routine today!

Keep your students engaged, active, and excited about making music—one purposeful movement at a time! 💃🎵

Musically yours,

 

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The start of the school year brings a special kind of chaos: new supplies, new faces, and lots of bulletin board paper.

But let me ask you this: How much of what you hang on your walls actually helps you teach?

If you’ve ever printed, laminated, and posted something just to realize... you never actually use it—this post is for you.

Here’s how to choose decor that does more—helping you reinforce routines, build independence, and save your teacher voice all year long.

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The first week of music class is a wild ride. New faces, new routines, and let’s be honest—maybe a few “accidental” drum solos before you’ve even said hello. 🎶 If you’re looking for a way to bring structure, creativity, and collaboration to those first few classes, I’ve got a rhythm-packed idea that checks all the boxes: whole group rhythm reading that leads to small group student compositions.  

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How storytelling and music can strike the right chord together in your classroom.

If you’re thinking about adding harmonica to your elementary music curriculum, don’t overlook one of your best teaching tools: picture books.

When I started using harmonicas in my classroom, it wasn’t long before I realized something: all that breathing—blow, draw, repeat—can leave students a little winded, especially in the early lessons. I needed natural stopping points to rest, refocus, and still keep the musical momentum going. That’s when I started pulling out books.

Not just any books, though. I looked for stories that connected to our harmonica journey—books with characters who played the harmonica, found their voice through music, or had something valuable to say about sound and culture. It turned out that these stories did more than just fill a break—they added depth, connection, and a whole lot of meaning.

(This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. I only recommend products that I love!) 

Why pair books with your harmonica unit?

• They provide breathing breaks with purpose. Students need time to reset. A compelling story gives them rest and re-engagement.
• They create cultural and emotional connections. Books like The Music in Derrick’s Heart and The Harmonica bring context and heart to the instrument.
• They open the door for cross-curricular learning. You’re not just teaching music—you’re linking to literacy, culture, and history.

My go-to harmonica-themed books

Stories about playing harmonica

📖 The Music in Derrick’s Heart by Gwendolyn Battle-Lavert
A moving story of a young boy who longs to play music like his uncle. This one connects powerfully with students who may be seeing themselves in the classroom narrative for the first time.  The Music in Derrick’s Heart by Gwendolyn Battle-Lavert, pub. Holiday House, 2000. ISBN: 0-8234-1353-5.

📖 The Old Cotton Blues by Linda England
A humorous take on blues music and storytelling. Great for a lighthearted moment that still centers the harmonica.  The Old Cotton Blues by Linda England, pub. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1998. ISBN: 0-689-81074-1.

📖 The Harmonica by Tony Johnston
This haunting and beautiful picture book tells the story of a boy in a Nazi prison camp who finds hope through music. It’s a powerful way to show students how music can provide comfort in hard times. The Harmonica by Tony Johnston, pub. Charlesbridge, 2004. ISBN: 1-57091-547-4.

📖 Whale Brother by Barbara Steiner
Set in an Alaskan Inuit community, this lesser-known title adds cultural diversity to your unit.  Whale Brother by Barbara Steiner, pub. Walker and Co., 1988. ISBN: 0-8027-7460-1.

📖 Lentil by Robert McCloskey
A classroom classic! Kids love the story of Lentil and how his harmonica saves the day. A great early read to hook your students.  Lentil by Robert McCloskey, pub. Puffin Books, 1940. ISBN: 0-14-050287-4.

📖 Apt. 3 by Ezra Jack Keats, 

Sam finds the source of the music in his apartment building...and a new friend! Apt. 3 by Ezra Jack Keats, pub. Aladdin Paperbacks, 1971. ISBN: 0-689-71059-3

Sing-along Song Lyrics Books

Some books become even more fun when paired with harmonica sounds or mini play-alongs:

Fiddle-I-Fee Refrain: “fiddle-i-fee” (5-5-4-4/blow-blow-draw-blow) Cat Goes Fiddle-I-Fee by Paul Galdone, pub. Clarion Books, 1985. ISBN: 0-89919-705-1

He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands Refrain: (6-6-5-6-6-5-4-4/blow-blow-blow-blow-blow-draw-draw-blow) He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands by Kadir Nelson, pub. Dial Books, 2005. ISBN: 0-8037-2850-6

Hokey Pokey Refrain: “That’s what it’s all about” (4-4-4-4-5-5, blow, blow, blow, draw, blow, draw) Croaky Pokey by Ethan Long, pub. Holiday House, 2019. ISBN 0-82344150-4

Old MacDonald Refrain: “e-i-e-i-o” (5-5-4-4-3/blow, blow, draw, draw, blow) Old MacDonald Had a Farm illus. By Jane Cabrera, pub. Holiday House, 2020. ISBN 0-82344478-3. Old MacDonald in the City by Suzanne Williams, illus.-Thor Wickstrom, pub. Golden Books, 2002. ISBN 0-307-10685-3. Old MacDonald Had a Truck by Steven Goetz, illus. Eda Kaban, pub. Chronicle Books, 2016. ISBN 9-78145213260-0

Ten in the Bed Refrain: “roll over, roll over” (6-5-4-6-5-4/blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, blow) Ten in the Bed by Penny Dale, pub. Discovery toys, 1988. ISBN 0-939979-10-1 Ten Monsters in a Bed by Rozanne Lanczak Williams, illus. Kathleen Dunne, pub. Creative Teaching Press,1995. ISBN 0-916119-90-4

Today is Monday Refrain: “Wish the same to you” (5-5-4-4-3/ blow, blow, draw, draw, blow) Today is Monday by Eric Carle, pub. Philomel Books, 1993. ISBN 0-399-21966-8 

There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly Refrain: "Perhaps She’ll Die" (6-6-7-7/blow, draw, draw, blow) There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly by Lucille Colandro, pub. Cartwheel Books, 2014.  ISBN ‎ 0-5457866605

The Animal Boogie Refrain: "What's that creature shaking here and there" (6-6-6-5-5-4-4/blow, draw, blow, draw, blow, draw, blow) This song is NOT written in the key of C, so you would not be able to play along wth the included recording with a C harmonica,. The entire song only uses do-re-me-fa-so-la, however, so you could transpose down to the key of C and sing without the accompaniment.   The Animal Boogie by Debbie Harter, pub. Barefoot Books, 2000. ISBN: 1-902283-67-3.
 

Harmonica Sound Effects with Storybooks

Adding harmonica sound effects to picture books is a fun way to deepen listening skills and bring stories to life. Try using glissandos or pitch slides for books with up/down action, or create rhythmic background “chugga-chuggas” and train whistles for transportation tales. These little touches help students connect sound with story in creative, engaging ways.

Harmonica Sound Effects

Use glissando effects on the harmonica (slide L–R while blowing) to match words like up, down, or unexpected events in the story.

Mortimer by Robert Munsch, pub. Annick Press, 1983. ISBN: 1-55037-038-1
Up, Up, Down by Robert Munsch, pub. Annick Press, 2001. ISBN: 1-55037-778-5
Up, Down, and Around by Katherine Ayres, illus. by Nadine Bernard Westcott, pub. Candlewick Press, 2007. ISBN: 0-7636-2041-8
Fortunately by Remy Charlip, pub. Aladdin Paperbacks, 1964. ISBN: 0-689-71788-0

Train Sound Effects & Rhythms

Teach harmonica “chugga-chugga” background rhythms (try holes 1-2-3) or high/low train whistle sounds (try holes 6–7–8) to match train-themed stories.

Shortcut by Donald Crews, pub. Greenwillow Books, 1992. ISBN: 0-688-09642-6
Freight Train by Donald Crews, pub. Greenwillow Books, 1978. ISBN: 0-688-06537-6
The Little Engine That Could: 90th Anniversary Edition by Watty Piper, illus. Dan Santat (Illustrator), Dolly Parton (Introduction) pub. Grosset & Dunlap, 1954. ISBN: 0-59309439-5
Down by the Station by Jennifer Riggs Vetter, illus. Frank Remkiewicz, pub. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006. ISBN: 0-15-205619-3
The Train Rolls On by Jodi Adams, illus. Christina Wald, pub. Jodi Adams, 2020. ISBN: 978-1-7347305-0-0

Want to see how it all fits together?

I share these strategies (and more) in my session, “Hooked on Harmonicas: Easy Wins for Student Motivation.”

👉 Click here to watch the video and download the free handout.

 
I’m also putting together a full resource with harmonica tab charts for 10 familiar classroom songs—perfect for teachers who want a jumpstart on using this tiny but powerful instrument. Join my list using the form at the bottom of this page to be the first to know when it launches!

New to harmonica in the classroom?

If you’re wondering why and how this little instrument fits into elementary music, start here with this post on the basics, benefits, and tips for getting started—even if you’ve never played before.

Final thought: Harmonicas and books may seem like an odd couple at first—but in the music room, they work together beautifully. One gives kids a voice, the other tells them a story.

I would love to hear your experience with teaching harmonica in your elementary music classroom!

Musically yours,

  

  

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Looking for a fresh way to boost engagement, confidence, and musical skills in your classroom? Try a tiny tool with big impact—the harmonica.

I first introduced harmonicas to a group of high-energy fourth grade boys who needed something different to capture their attention. It worked. They were hooked, and honestly—so was I.

Harmonicas have now become one of my favorite tools for helping students connect with music on a deeper level. Here’s why they work—and how to get started.

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. I only recommend products that I know and love. 

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