Loo Loo: An Elementary Music Teacher’s Best Friend!

Meet Loo Loo, my indispensable sidekick. I literally can’t imagine teaching without this little friend! I introduce him—or her—at the first class, and the children are instantly enthralled. Loo Loo has tons of uses: –For echo singing. –To help the children find their head voices and upper register. Try having Loo Loo do some sirens for them to echo. –To engage the kids right from the start of class. If the kids come to your room for music, try meeting them at the door and have Loo Loo do a “Loo Loo test” by singing a song from the previous week. Then, have the kids walk in singing the song. This way, they are instantly involved in the music class. –To help with transitions. Pick Loo Loo up and have him/her engage with the activity in some way. For example, as shown in the video, Loo Loo can take the last turn of a game or play an instrument with the mallet in his mouth. You can also simply ask everyone to sing the song you’re currently singing “Loo Loo style.” Then have Loo Loo introduce the next activity. –To practice solfege. Have loo loo sing intervals you have been working on, like “so-mi-di” or “so-so-la-so-mi.” and have the children sing back the melody with the solfege syllables. –For classroom management. Tell the children that whenever they hear Loo Loo sing, they need to stop what they’re doing and echo back whatever Loo Loo has just sung. Also, if the kids begin talking and you’re having trouble reigning them in, just pick up loo loo and begin to chat with him in a normal tone of voice: “I know, Loo Loo, it’s crazy! I’ve been trying to get the class’s attention but they are so chatty today! Maybe you can help me get their attention. Can you do some loo-loos?” Chances are, the children will be paying attention by this time. A few more tips: –To make Loo Loo, use a very sharp knife and cut into the ball with the center of the knife, as if cutting an apple in half—using the tip of the knife is much harder. –The children will want to make their own, so make sure you tell them at the first class to never, ever, try to cut the mouth by themselves. You can explain that the manufacturers of tennis balls never thought that a music teacher would take a knife to them, and they are very hard to cut! Tell the children to always have a grown-up cut the mouth. If Loo Loo really catches on, you may even want to send a note home to parents explaining Loo Loo. I’ve had kids bring in a tennis ball with a hole cut for the mouth because the child wasn’t able to explain how it was done. If that happens, you can use the ball as an “Always Singing Loo Loo” and have the Loo Loo hold one note until you cover its mouth. –Loo Loo truly appeals to all ages. When students are new to me, I introduce Loo Loo to grades PreK-4. I’ve had 4th graders become so obsessed with Loo Loo that they have organized Loo Loo weddings, officiated by Loo Loo rabbis and priests. I am not making this up! I have photo evidence. In any case, with new 5th and 6th graders, I’ll just leave Loo Loo sitting around the classroom until someone asks about it. Often, they’ve heard about Loo Loo from younger brothers and sisters. I’ll say, “oh, this is Loo Loo! I use this with the younger kids. Look, here’s what I do.” Then, demonstrate. The kids usually love Loo Loo, and since I let them discover it on their own, I can use it occasionally and they don’t feel it’s beneath them. –Loo Loo is great for holiday celebrations. For example, make Loo Loo a Halloween costume! If you have no time, just drape a tissue over him and he’s a ghost. On birthdays, Loo Loo can come to you with a birthday candle (unlit!) in his mouth. On Christmas, he can be draped in tinsel. There’s simply no end to the ways Loo Loo can get involved!