Musical+Chairs

by Stephanie PowellMusical Chairs What is it? A lot of period recordings exist as well as songs about historical periods and recordings of songs from periods. The students will play musical chairs while listening to the songs from the time period they are studying. How to play? 1. Place a number of chairs in circle with their backs to each other. The number should be one less than the number of people playing in the game. 2. Ask the players to stand in a circle around the chairs before the music begins. Once the music starts, they should move in a line around the chairs. 3. Stop the music. All players must try to take the seat closest to them. The player left without a chair is eliminated and one chair is removed from the circle after the remaining players stand up. 4. Play the music and stop it in the same manner, eliminating one player and one chair at a time. 5. You can then challenge the winner by asking them to repeat a verse in the song or identify any information about the music played during the game. http://www.ehow.com/how_2044549_play-musical-chairs.html Strengths: • Can get the students out of their seats and moving around • Learn about something that might not be in the book • Detract from focused instruction • Add detail to the topics being studied • Give the students a break • Students can feel like they are in that time period by hearing their music • Physical activity Limitations: • The teacher needs to go over the rules in great depth • Students could get hurt • Students could fight over a chair • Does not show really much knowledge of the time period • Some students can be much more competitive than others