The “One Minute Club” – An Update

A few months ago I wrote a post about the One Minute Club, and have been meaning to write a sequel to it ever since.  Well, here it is, and it can be summed up in the statement:  “The One Minute Club is a fantastic idea!!”

A teacher told me about the idea in January – she had read about it in a book by Jane Bastien, and has been practising it herself with her pupils. 

The One Minute Club

So I converted the back of my Wilbecks Magnetic Stave into a One Minute Club, painting gold, silver and bronze sections on it, with Velcro dots for sticking on pupil’s names.  Every couple of weeks I time my pupils on the 18 note flashcards they learn in Easy Notes Level 1.  If they can name them in 30 seconds or less, I put their name in the Gold section, 45 seconds or less gets them in Silver, and 60 seconds or less, Bronze.

Well, it has been a HUGE success, very popular among all of my pupils!   It’s incredibly motivating – sometimes I can’t believe how much they are into it and how much it matters to them! 

I’m using it with about 20 of my pupils.  It’s been interesting to watch the gradual shift of the name tags from Bronze at the beginning of the year, over to Silver, and now Gold is filling up!  And boy, they all want to get into Gold!  The fastest time I’ve had so far has been 21 seconds, by an 8-year old boy.

Now some want me to time them on all 31 flashcards – I had a girl the other day name them all in 42 seconds.  Another variation I want to do is to time them playing the notes.

So, I recommend this idea to teachers with beginner pupils.  It’s very motivating, and the kids love it.  Thanks for the idea, Jody!