Using OK Go to Teach STEAM

• Kayleigh Parker
• Posted 12/26/22
• 0 comments

OK Go is a band that is well known for their fun and creative music videos. Among their early hits is Here It Goes Again, a music video featuring the group doing a routine on treadmills. The success of their innovative approach led them to create a website called OK GO Sandbox, designed to help teach STEAM with music videos. My students not only enjoy watching their videos but also enjoy doing some of the activities from the website. 

OK GO Sandbox activities can be filtered by songs (All Together Now, Upside Down and Inside Out, The One Moment, This Too Shall Pass, Needing/Getting, and The Writing’s On The Wall), by subjects (Arts, Engineering, Math, Music, Physics, and Science) and by grade level (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12). Each music video activity includes an educator guide, student guide, worksheet, a science journal guide, and a science journal worksheet. Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) relating to the lesson are also included. And of course, you could also connect NCAS Standard #11 (Relate musical ideas and works with varied context to deepen understanding) from the 2014 standards for PreK-8 General Music. 

One of my favorite activities to do from OK GO Sandbox is surrounding sounds from their music video Needing/Getting. I started using the Needing/Getting music video for my third grade unique instrument unit. This video features OK GO using arms affixed to a moving car to strike an obstacle course of sound makers. The OK GO Sandbox website provides ideas for related activities, including a video of the band exploring the sounds of everyday items in a room and making music with them. You could ask your students to identify what items in the room could be used as sound makers. Then in small groups, have them create a song with these objects. 

Another activity from the OK GO Sandbox website that I used with my fourth graders at the end of the year was the simple machine scavenger hunt from the music video This Too Shall Pass. This video features a one-shot video of machines that use wheel and axle, lever, incline plane, pulley, wedge, and screw.

You can start by having your class watch the video, identify the different parts of machines used, and discuss and define chain reaction. Students can then watch how the music video was created, referencing the simple machine scavenger hunt from the OK GO Sandbox website. Don’t forget to pause the videos and ask questions to ensure understanding. Finally, pass out a worksheet that has students providing a timestamp to register the appearance of different items in the video. Students can complete the worksheet activity as a group while replaying the video at their own pace. 

OK GO is a band with unique and engaging videos that can be used to incorporate STEAM in the music classroom. The OK GO Sandbox gives teachers the resources we need to succeed in our students’ learning. Let your students see that music videos can incorporate fun ideas and activities in the music classroom by using OK GO Sandbox.  

Website Resources

Making “This Too Shall Pass” 
https://okgosandbox.org/this-too-shall-pass/making-this-too-shall-pass

National Music Standards (PreK-8 General Music) 
https://nafme.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-Music-Standards-PK-8-Strand.pdf

Next Generation Science Standards 
https://www.nextgenscience.org/

OK GO Sandbox 
https://okgosandbox.org/

Simple Machines Scavenger Hunt Activity
https://okgosandbox.org/this-too-shall-pass/simple-machines-scavenger-hunt  

Surrounding Sounds Activity 
https://okgosandbox.org/needing-getting/surrounding-sounds

Contributor

Kayleigh Parker

Kayleigh Parker graduated with a Bachelor’s in Music with teacher’s licensure (K-12th grade, instrumental concentration) with a minor in community health and a teaching endorsement in health education (9th-12th grade) from Eastern Illinois University in December of 2014. Kayleigh…

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