Riley students play confident learning chords in small groups

February 9, 2026

Riley Elementary School students are expanding their musical knowledge at a fast tempo this year thanks to an empowering learning strategy.
 
Scores of Rams are relying on small-group centers as a way to increase their awareness of notes, rhythms and chords. Riley teacher Sarah Elker has implemented a series of center-based activities into her curriculum to spur curiosity and confidence in her students. The independent lessons, which range from reading music-themed books to creating treble clef shapes with playdough, are helping students process and retain valuable information.
 
Fourth grader Phaelynn said the music stations have helped her learn to play several instruments. She picked up mallets for the first time earlier this semester and used them to play the xylophone in class. She can now recognize and create a series of notes with her friends.
 
“I didn’t really know how to do it, but now that I’ve been practicing, now I know how to do it,” Phaelynn said.
 
Reiko said he has also enjoyed his experiences with the small-group centers. He joined classmates Iris and Alisson one afternoon for a rotation of seven stations. They performed a song with their recorders, made musical notations with markers and linked together puzzle pieces containing rhythmic signs.
 
“My favorite thing about class is that we get to learn all of the different music, and we get to play instruments,” Reiko said.

 
Elker began incorporating center-based activities into her lesson plans ten years ago. Students showed keen interest in the opportunity to work in groups of two or three and she began weaving the activities into classes for every elementary grade level. All Riley students spend at least one class period per month learning in small groups.
 
“Keeping music class fun is so important,” Elker said. “I try really hard to go the extra mile and make class a very engaging and special place to be. I want to instill a love of learning into all the students.”
 
Elker said giving the Rams the ability to pick their own musical adventures is a key part of the academic experience. Fourth graders in one class could select from more than a dozen books to read during a station. The elementary-level paperbacks included “The Story of Country,” “The Story of Pop” and mini-biographies on famous musicians like Beyonce and Dolly Parton.
 
“This is so good for their brains because there’s student choice involved,” Elker said. “They’re choosing their stories. They’re choosing what songs they want to play. They’re writing the music that they want to hear, and that is so much fun.”

 
Elker’s strategy caught the attention of Nebraska Music Education Association (NMEA) leaders earlier this school year. They invited her to share her experiences at the NMEA’s annual statewide conference in downtown Lincoln. Her presentation – “Big Learning with Small-Group Centers: Using Centers in the K-5 Music Classroom” – attracted approximately 100 people who were interested in learning more about the concept.
 
Students and researchers at the State University of New York at Cortland and Concordia University St. Paul have also published recent papers about the benefits of small-group instruction in elementary settings. Their findings suggested that the approach promotes social and emotional learning for elementary students. It also gives children the ability to work at their own pace and instills both confidence and independence.
 
“I feel that giving them chances to work in small groups makes them happier,” Elker said. “It makes them push their own brain limits, versus me just telling them what to learn and what to know.”
 
Phaelynn said her time at Riley has made her more enthusiastic about music. She has learned to count in 6/8 rhythm, discovered how different scales sound and kept track of harmonies and melodies during songs.
 
“I like it a lot more now than I did before,” Phaelynn said.
 
Elker said she has been able to adapt the teaching idea to a wide variety of age groups. Center-based lessons for kindergarteners and fifth graders have the same basic structure, but she can add more advanced material as students become older.
 
“We’re constantly incorporating recently-learned skills,” Elker said. “They’ve done this style more times than they can count, but they’ve never done it with the rhythms that we’re working on today, so that’s a new element.”

 
Elker said the limitless variety of musical terms, sounds and styles makes it a fun subject to teach. She felt her small-group approach would help the Rams pursue musical interests well after they leave Riley’s hallways.
 
“I hope this empowers students to learn more about the music they like, and that it allows them a chance to become a lifelong learner in music,” Elker said.
 
The Lincoln Public Schools Music Department aims to provide all students with learning opportunities through the experiences of creating, performing and responding to music. Discover more about our music curriculum.
 
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