When I came to my current school, there were few traditions in place.  The main request from my principal was the desire to have a Holiday Sing-Along on the day before our December break.  So how do you organize an entire school to come together as a community to sing after a day of parties, pajamas, and movies?  I’m sharing my secrets to organizing a successful Holiday Sing-Along below!

It Starts With a Plan

With anything you want to do well, you need to start with a plan.  Here are some questions that will help you decide how to structure your sing-along.

• Where is the sing-along going to be held?  Is the space large enough to host the entire school?  Or do you need to split it into a K-2/3-5 event?
• What is the makeup of your school?  Will the sing-along highlight Christmas only or celebrate a wide array of holidays?
• Will grade levels or groups perform individual songs, or will it be a true sing-along with everyone singing the entire time?
• Will you expect students to memorize the songs, have booklets, or sing from a slideshow?  Do you have the tech or resources to support the choice you make?
• Will you accompany the sing-along or have accompaniment tracks for each song?  Do you have someone to operate the sound system?
• If your sing-along is on the last day of school, how will it affect holiday party schedules?  I’ve hosted my sing-alongs both the first hour of the day and the last hour of the day.  (Psss…earlier is better!)  Make sure to communicate your schedule to avoid conflicts with room parties and celebrations!
• Will this be a student-event only or will parents be invited to attend as well?  Will you have enough space/seating for parents if they attend?

Once you’ve thought through these questions, you’re ready to start the preparation phase!

Preparing for the Sing-Along

Now it’s time to start preparing your students for the sing-along!  Wait – what were MY answers to the questions?  Well, I’ve done it a variety of ways.  We used to host it as the final event of the day and my friends, the students struggled to keep it together.  We moved it to the first thing in the morning on the day before break and it was a game changer.  Many teachers said it helped to frame the day in a positive way for their students.

My choir plays “host” to the school for the sing-along.  They perform 3-4 songs during the sing-along (one as students enter and one as students exit).  Each grade level has one special song they sing for the rest of the school, and in between each grade level song is a song the entire school sings together.  My school is on the smaller side (460-480 students), so we have one event for the entire school.  Parents are always welcome and it is often standing room only.

My choir sits/stands on risers in front of the stage with a screen behind them where we project the lyrics for the school to sing.  Because my choir is sitting in front of the screen, they are the only ones with lyrics in their hands.

So, now you understand the importance of thinking through those questions to help guide you to prepare for your sing-along!  Choose the songs you want to teach and know which are for a grade level or for the entire school.  I begin teaching the songs in music class after Thanksgiving.  It’s a sing-along – not a performance – so don’t worry about it being perfect!  The focus for my K-1 students is to ensure they know how to correctly sing the chorus of each song.  The older students will sing & carry them on the verses of the rest of the songs.

Sing-Along Time

It’s the day of the sing-along!  Are you ready?  Can you believe I have a before school choir rehearsal the day of our sing-along?  (Because I’m crazy!) . Honestly, I do, but mostly because it’s our only opportunity to practice singing on the risers!  It also gives us an opportunity to practice sitting down on the risers and standing back up!

Often times, parents bring their children to school then come claim their seat in the gym for the sing-along.  I’ve started having my 5th grade ukulele students or students who take private piano lessons perform as parents gather in the gym.  It’s a great to highlight all of the ways my students express their musicianship!

Our principal makes an announcement 5 minutes before the sing-along for classes to come to the gym for the assembly.  As students come in, our choir performs.  It’s a great way to transition students into the gym quietly.  I have a student or teacher handle the slide show as I play the piano and direct the choir.  Very few words are spoken as we sing through the songs.  From start to finish, our sing-along is about 45-50 minutes.  At the end, the choir performs again as students go back to their classroom.

Does the idea of sing-along still feel overwhelming?  Let me help!  You can purchase a pre-made, editable Holiday slide show in my TeachersPayTeachers sore!  For songs with no copyright restrictions, lyrics are typed in full.  For songs protected by copyright, blank pages with connected clip art are included.  Also included in the resource are a variety of blank pages so you can customize the sing-along with your favorite songs not included (e.g. Music K8 songs). 

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