John Williams’ music just lends itself to music activities for elementary students. Every elementary music teacher seems to have at least one go to activity centered around one of John Williams’ songs. He just has so much great, iconic music out there.
Are you still looking for your go to John Williams music lesson? I’ve got a whole bundle of John Williams listening maps, lesson plans and listening and movement activities set and ready to go for you.
Click here to view the John Williams Composer Bundle.
Learn about composer John Williams
It’s always good to take little time to learn about the composer of a piece if we are going to be focusing on it. Here are some of the different activities I have used to teach students about John Williams.
Divide and Share activity
This is an activity that I love because it shakes up the dynamic of the lesson. Instead of me standing up at the front and telling students facts about John Williams, they teach themselves! I call it the Resident Expert Activity.
Students are split into groups of 5. In that group, they number off 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Then, they split of to different corners of the room (all the ones to one folder, all the twos to another, etc). They learn a fact about John Williams and then join back with their original group and share what they have learned.
Usually I end with a culminating activity like using what they learned to complete a fill-in-the-blank worksheet about John Williams or do a quick quiz game show and see if they can answer the trivia.
Flipbook
This flipbook is a fun activity too. If you would like your students to have a tangible artifact of the things they have learned about John Williams, this is perfect. It even has a page for them to reflect on the lesson.
Word search
Want something fun and simple (maybe for sub plans or filler at the end of a lesson)? Try a word search! It highlights some of the important terms that were discussed in the lesson, but in a fun and low key way.
John Williams music listening activities for elementary students
Want your students to focus on specific things while listening to the music? These activities will help guide student listening and are also great prep for building up to a movement activity.
John Williams listening maps
Listening maps are a great way to give students their first introduction to a piece. Listening maps can highlight some of the main elements of a piece, such as instrument timbres, form and dynamics.
John Williams music listening glyph
Listening glyphs take things a little further. Students must listen for certain musical elements and decide what they hear. Then, they color a picture based on what they heard in a piece. It’s like if a worksheet got turned into a coloring book.
Listen for musical elements
You can also have students listen for specific elements – timbre, dynamics, tempo, etc and make note of their observations. I have my students write their thoughts on a whiteboard and I usually tell them the form of the piece and that helps us to organize our listening by sections.
I try to not have students focus on too many elements at once. You could even play a song more than once if you feel your students need the structure. First time, listen for instruments. Second time, listen for dynamics, etc.
At the end, I have them share with their group, and then we share out with the class. Sometimes we will take it a step further to ask what mood was the piece and how did the composer use musical elements to create that mood.
Music and Movement Activities for Elementary Students
Now we come to everyone’s favorite part for elementary music lessons. The movement activities! I encourage you to do some of the listening activities first. They will help build your students’ ears and make them familiar with the form so they are more prepared for the movement activity when it comes along.
Jurassic Park Ball Music Activity
I think the Theme from Jurassic Park may be one of my favorite pieces by John Williams. I created a simple ball routine that can be done with the main theme. Students LOVE anything that involves tossing balls in the air.
Harry Potter Music Parachute Activity
Hedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter has a unique magical feel that really encompasses the magic and mystery that is the Harry Potter world. *chef’s kiss*
I have created a parachute activity to go along with this song. Here is a summary.
Beginning: hide under parachute then get out.
Theme repeats: swish the parachute side to side
Shortened theme: stand. Lift parachute up/down.
2nd theme: tip toe in a circle (repeats – tip toe more)
Harpsichord takes up 2nd theme: send the “wave” around
Violins take up 2nd theme: do run throughs (sending 1-2 kids running underneath to the other side)
2nd theme again: back to tip toe in a circle
3rd theme: switch the parachute side to side
2nd theme: tip toe in a circle
(repeat both again)
Interlude: shake the parachute
1st theme returns: lift parachute up and down
Coda: lift parachute up/down. Then sit and toss the parachute in the air on the last note!
Superman parachute music activity
Superman! The opening notes sound and I feel like I AM a superhero. Here is another parachute activity for you, set to this SUPER fun theme, no pun intended.
Intro: seated w/ hands behind back (12). superman pose w/ hands (4). grab parachute (12). shake (16). stand up (4). stand and wait (12).
A: up (4). down (4). up (4). down (4). hands L (4). hands R (4). center (8).
B: circle R (32). circle L (24)
C: in (4). shake 3 times. out (4). flare (4). in (4). shake 3 times. out (4). hold (4).
*flare = arms go up quickly one first beat, then float down
**slight variations to part C each time (hold before section starts, shortened melody last time.
D: circle R (40). circle L (32). face center and hold (8).
coda: sit (8). release chute and stand (8). strike superman pose and hold (12). fly around room. freeze on last note.
Form: intro A A B B interlude C D A C C coda
For more detailed instructions on each movement activity AND visuals, check out my John Williams Bundle. It contains lots of John Williams resources including PowerPoint visuals for each movement activity that you can display for your class.
John Williams Rhythm play alongs
Rhythm play alongs are so fun! Student love to jam out with their favorite tunes, whether it is body percussion or bucket drumming!
How to make a rhythm play along
Making a rhythm play along is easy! Simply determine the form of the song. Then create some simple rhythms to go with each section of the song’s form. You can even feature new rhythms you are working on, such as rests, half notes or sixteenth notes.
Don’t go too crazy! You still want to be able to hear the song. Simple is better (in my opinion).
Rhythm play alongs I have used with music by John Williams:
I have created rhythm play alongs for:
- Cantina Band from Star Wars
- Superman
- Star Wars Main Theme
Here is an example of a rhythm activity written to the Cantina Band music from Star Wars.
John Williams Music Lesson Plans for Elementary Students
John Williams Lesson Bundle
Want all these activities and more? Don’t have time to put it all together yourself? Check out my John Williams Lesson Bundle for everything you need for a rockin’ John Williams unit.
This product contains the following resources on John Williams:
- Star Wars Main Theme Listening Map & Worksheets
- Jurassic Park Theme Listening Map & Worksheets
- Superman Theme Listening Map & Worksheets
- Hedwig’s Theme Listening Map & Worksheets
- Cantina Band Listening Map & Worksheets
- Movie Music by John Williams Listening and Movement Activities
- John Williams Biography Worksheets and Activities
- John Williams Unit Lesson Plans
Free John Williams Lesson Plans
Want to create your own resources? Do you just need some lesson ideas to get you started? You can download this FREE John Williams lesson plan sequence and create your own visuals and resources.
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