Darla Hanley's Music Room

Creative Teaching for Students of Today (& Tomorrow) PK-8

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Today’s Teaching Strategy: Plate-Party Fun

(Plate-Party Game)

Elementary (2-3)

© 2025 Darla S. Hanley

This teaching strategy is all about creating rhythmic patterns with paper plates! It goes with the iconic “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang because of its driving duple meter foundation and festive (party) message.

This track is available on multiple streaming audio platforms. (Like many of my teaching strategies, you should feel free to find other audio tracks to anchor the learning experience using music that works in your setting or new tracks to simply “mix it up.”)

Pedagogical Foundations

What is it about the word party (lol)? We hear it and suddenly it’s the place everyone wants to be… Parties are gatherings of friends, something fun, and always SO social. You know, birthday parties, wedding parties, anniversary parties, weekend parties—planned or a surprise—these things are celebrations and shared experiences. All I can say is if you’re hosting a party: Invite ME (lol)!

In music education we use play-party or street games to inspire students to perform rhythmic patterns and chants while engaging (most typically) in pairs. These play-party games have been performed by children in the classroom, on the playground, and in the backyard forever. They often include rhymes or repeated words that correspond to a particular movement (i.e., the word repeats and its corresponding movement is performed each time it is spoken). The patterns of movements and sounds guide students to experience artistic form but also to anticipate what’s next.

So what “parties” other than play-party games could we have in music class? Try these 4:

1. Listening Party: Select multiple recordings of songs students know and ask them to describe the interpretations—and share their preference(s).

2. Dance Party: Teach a line dance, choreography, or set of movements to arrange and perform… and then talk about what makes them danceable. (Note: This is not a fast/slow conversation lol.)

3. PlayING Party: Create a party invitation and setting for students to come to music to play instruments the whole time! Play songs chosen by the students AND give them space to explore and experiment with several instruments.

4. Plate-Party: Yes! I’m using this phrase to refer to adding paper-plates to a play-party game. Teach a routine like the one in today’s teaching strategy AND give students the opportunity to create their own plate-party games!

Today’s teaching strategy “Plate-Party Fun” includes a movement routine with paper plates that reinforces beat awareness and includes space for students to be creative. I hope you give it a try! But first, let me remind you who I am:

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Hi! I’m Darla, an experienced PK-12 music educator, college professor, and former Berklee College of Music Dean looking to connect with teachers, parents/caregivers, and others seeking to advance creative music making for today’s students—and their teachers. In Darla Hanley’s Music Room you will find teaching strategies, advice and teaching tips, playlists, and more.

• Today we are going to perform a Plate-Party Game with a song called “Celebration”.

  • What is a celebration? (A special time where we honor someone or something with a party, gifts, or activities)

• The game requires us to use 2 paper plates each—where we will perform a movement and plate sequence. Let’s do it!

• Distribute the paper plates and teach the “Plate-Party Fun” Game. Video provided to make it easy!

• Play the recording and invite students to perform the game with the track.

• Invite students to form partners. Now we will perform the plate-party game facing a partner. Watch your partner closely! You should feel like you are looking into a mirror seeing the movements you perform with your partner happening the same way—at the same time.

• For Grade 3: Now we will make a change to the pattern. We will perform it at its original tempo and then speed it up—make it faster! Watch me to know what to do.

  • ProTIP: Demonstrate the original (slow) and new (fast) versions for the students.

  • ProTIP: Lead students to perform the original version/tempo 4x in a row and then perform the double-time version 4x in a row to reinforce these changes and give students the opportunity to perform and anticipate the 2 tempos.

Materials/Set Up

Paper Plates (2 per student)

🎵 Kool and the Gang "Celebration” Link to Track on Spotify

Video

Plate-Party Fun Game

© 2025 Darla S. Hanley

2 Plates Tap Outer Thigh

2 Plates Clap

2 Plates Out to the Sides

2 Plates Clap

Twice as fast

• Tap, Clap, Out, Clap

• Tap Clap, Out, Clap

EXTEND the Learning:

• Invite students to explore new ways to use their plates to create an original plate-party game.

Learning Targets

• Movement

Learning Outcomes

1. Respond to show beat awareness

2. Create original plate-party movements*

3. Perform individually and with a partner

Assessment

• Informal Observation/Formative Assessment

*This only happens within the EXTEND the Learning part of this teaching strategy.

Thanks for checking this out. If you use this teaching strategy, be sure to leave a comment to let me know how it resonates with your students!