It's that magical moment each year when May the Fourth swings by, and music educators in elementary schools turn it into "May the Fourth Be With You" extravaganza! Even though it falls on a Saturday, you can still celebrate it early on Friday or late on Monday. Picture music vibes from John Williams's Star Wars tunes and jazzy beats like "Take Five" by Paul Desmond, courtesy of the Dave Brubeck Quartet. With a galaxy of awesome activities to pick from, I've whipped up a Wakelet featuring these fantastic categories:
Movement (Move-Its) Activities
Parachute and Scarf Activities
Rhythm Play-Alongs
Boomwhacker Play-Alongs
Orff, Ukulele, and Recorder Play-Alongs
Music Creation Activities
Line Rider and Fun Videos
Lesson Resources (Some free and some paid)
5/4 Extra Activities (involving Take Five)!
Tip: Please view the video in your classroom before you use it with your students to make sure it is appropriate for your teaching scenario and your age group.
What is Wakelet?
Wakelet is a flexible platform for curating content, enabling users to effortlessly collect, structure, and distribute digital content from various online sources. Through Wakelet, users can gather articles, videos, images, and social media posts to create visually appealing collections called "Wakes." Whether for personal hobbies, work endeavors, or team collaborations, Wakelet offers an intuitive interface for organizing and showcasing information effectively. Its adaptability and ease of use, plus having YouTube videos play inside the app without ads or comments, make it a valuable asset for educators. The free version allows you to create unlimited Wakelet collections, and share them with whoever you like! Take advantage of all our integrations, and make a start on building your inspiring Wakelet profile.
Highlights from Each Category
Movement (Move-Its) Activities
Move Along with Dr. Strong & Owen - Bright Suns (Oga's Cantina) - One of my favorite move along activities is this one from Missy Strong and her son Owen based on the song Bright Suns by Mus Kat & Nalpak, from the soundtrack to Oga's Cantina at Disney's Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. My students love following their dance moves and adore identifying when the porg moves in and out of the scenes.
Pool Noodle Swords - Imperial March with Tracy King - I love Tracy King's video because it presents a fantastic and imaginative concept of transforming pool noodles into lightsabers for a rhythmic performance of the Imperial March. This activity is ideal for students who are capable of handling it. If your class is not yet prepared for this, you may need to consider another group. Nevertheless, if you have the opportunity to do so, your students will surely enjoy it.
The Mandalorian Move It from Andrea Engler’s YouTube Channel - This video is extraordinary! It was choreographed and edited by Miranda Coghlan and Andrea Engler and stars Methacton General Music Teachers: Mr. Strouse, Arrowhead; Mrs. Perez, Worcester; Ms. Coghlan, Eagleville; and Mrs. Engler, Woodland. Along with The Mandalorian, Mandalore Grogu AKA Baby Yoda, and Coruscant. The recorder quartet is phenomenal and the movements are fantastic. If you need a prop like the one the Mandalorian is holding, you could use a boomwhacker or rhythm stick.
Parachute and Scarf Activities
Star Wars Musical Form + Parachute - One of my student’s favorite parachute activities comes from my good friend, Cherie Herring. She posted this activity over a decade ago and if you search for it on YouTube, you will see many performances from around the country. Try it with your students if you or your PE teacher have a parachute.
The Star Wars Scarf Dance 2 - Another musical activity that is my students’ favorite. I use this with younger and older elementary. With the younger elementary, if they do not know the reference, I explain the character of Darth Vader before we perform the activity. This video is created by the excellent Coach Kevin Tiller, a Physical Education teacher at West Elementary School.
Rhythm Play-Alongs
Star Wars Rhythm Play Along May The Fourth Be With You - This rhythm play-along video comes from my own channel. I created this last year for a workshop on how to use Clipchamp to create play-along videos. I love that Clipchamp has many Star Wars gifs that you can use to include in your videos. My students thoroughly enjoyed this one.
Star Wars Cantina Band Body Percussion by Millson Music - This rhythm play-along is great because it doubles as a body percussion play-along. Therefore, my younger students use this as a body percussion movement play-along and my older students use it as a rhythm play-along where one body percussion in the square equals a quarter note or crotchet and two body percussion in a square equals eighth notes or quavers. Plus, this is one of my favorite songs from the original Star Wars movie.
Rhythm Play-Along Star Wars/Mandalorian Theme by Mr. Henry’s Music World - Mr. Henry’s Music World is a popular YouTube channel among many music educators. He has a variety of wonderful resources, from Four Corners to play-along videos to so much more. In this video, perform quarter notes/rests, eighth and sixteenth notes! Teachers: Grab the $60+ FREE Music Education Resource Bundle: https://www.mrhenrysmusicworld.com/teachers.
Boomwhacker Play-Alongs
Imperial March from Star Wars | Chromatic Boomwhackers! by Swick’s Classroom - Another favorite YouTube channel amongst elementary music educators is Swick’s Classroom. In this video, your students can perform on their boomwhackers while John Williams conducts them and the orchestra. This is a fabulous tie-in to studying the life and music of John Williams!
Imperial March I - Boomwhacker Playalong by Musication - And another favorite YouTube channel for elementary music educators is Musication. This channel has a plethora of fabulous boomwhacker videos. The Imperial March has two versions to use with your elementary students. This version is the easy one.
Orff, Ukulele, and Recorder Play-Alongs
This features play-along videos that show your students how to play the melodies on their xylophones and recorders, or chords on their ukuleles. It also features two videos from my YouTube channel that are descants on the recorder for Star Wars and Imperial March.
Music Creation Activities
Check out some of the songs created with Chrome Music Lab’s Song Maker. Use the melodies and delete the drum track. Share the new link with your students and have them create a new drum track for the melody.
Line Rider and Fun Videos
Check out some fun videos like Line Rider, Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, The Force Awakens Cast, and The Piano Guys Cello Wars. Plus, check out a rhythm play-along to Cello Wars!
Lesson Resources (Some free and some paid)
This column includes free lessons from Katie Argyle of Midnight Music, free and paid lessons from TPT, and more!
5/4 Extra Activities (involving Take Five)!
These feature videos that involve Paul Desmond’s Take Five performed by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Please check out my body percussion video!
Coming Soon!
