One of the very first lessons I teach each year has to do with voice levels. This classroom management piece is so crucial to the entire year. I am one of those teachers who prefers a quieter room. I just can’t handle 30 voices going at once. I know it’s distracting for many children too. If you think you can relate, keep reading. I hope I can help!
Teaching voice levels really takes 15 minutes – which is why it’s so amazing it works all year! There are many different poster sets out there you can use for reference during this lesson. I’ve created three: chalkboard, tropical watercolor and brights themed. The posters make a great year-long visual.
I place all posters from 0-4 on my whiteboard in order from lowest to highest ahead of time. I’ve also got a summary piece with all the levels on one page. The levels that I use are:
0 – Silent
1 – Whisper
2 – Partner
3 – Groups
4 – Presentation
I go over each card one by one. The first card is the easiest for kids to understand, 0 – silent. No sound. Things get a little bit louder from there: whisper, partners, groups. When you get to 4, it’s a bit trickier. One voice is nice and loud (the loudest in fact) but all the rest are silent and listening.
Once I’ve talked about each, we practice. I start at 0, everyone is quiet. Then I move to 1, and the room is filled with whispers. We work our way up and then back down to 0. I like to them randomize the numbers. The kids find it fun and it shows me they really understand each level.
Even as soon as the very next day, I was able to say “I would like a volume level 1 for this activity” and my class was able to get off to work with a whisper voice!
Do you use voice levels in your room?
How do you manage volume?
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