Create an Enjoyable Experience in

an Elementary Cafeteria
Will music help lessen the noise?
by Kara Collins, Karen Gobble, and Loretta Mabry
 A Day in an
Elementary Cafeteria!
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwlPkZxUa4IiZU1obmJMSXZ6eTg
 Classical
Music Enya
Nature Sounds
 How loud is this?
A normal conversation at 3 feet between two individuals is about 60dB

City traffic inside a car is about 85 dB

A lawnmower is about 107 dB

A loud rock concert is about 120 dB

Level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss is 90-95 dB.

According to OSHA you can be exposed to 90 dB for 8 hours per day.

School #1 Pocahontas Elementary School

School Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

#1-POCES

Baseline Data 84 82 86 81 80

Week 1 85 86 88 85 83
Classical

Week 2 80 85 84 76 82
Enya

Week 3 82 80 82 89 88
Nature Sounds
School #2 Powhatan Elementary School

School Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

#2-POWES

Baseline Data 86 84 85 84 83

Week 1 82 84 86 82 83
Classical

Week 2 83 83 81 85 82
Enya

Week 3 83 85 81 82 85
Nature Sounds
School #3 O.B. Gates Elementary

School #3 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

OB Gates
Elementary

Baseline Data 98 102 97 98 100

Week 1 92 94 93 92 95
Classical

Week 2 90 91 89 87 92
Enya

Week 3 91 94 90 88 90
Nature Sounds
Alternatives
Red, yellow, green cups on the table as a visual
Voice level cards blown up and displayed on the
walls- with explicit instruction on PBIS voice levels
(school-wide)
Lights off
Students on silent lunch for the first ten minutes of
lunch to eat and the remaining time students can
talk quietly with each other at their table.
Movie played during lunch.
Students are given a box filled with paper and
pencils to play games or draw with each other
during lunch...this has been very effective in
reducing the noise levels and increasing positive
interaction between students.
Hand signal, level 0, wait for all students to get silent,
explain expectations again, reinforce level 2
Students bring a book to lunch and read when done
eating (problem is that teachers dont want the book to
get dirty)
Play music a little louder, still did not make enough of an
impact, students were slightly lower level talking, but not
much.
Student feedback (Fifth grade students said that they
talked over the music because it was not music they did
not want to listen to.)
 Pocahontas
Elementary
Pocahontas Elementary cafeteria layout includes:

37 round tables where 8 students sit

2 rectangle tables for overflow

Tables are arranged in 5 rows.

Each teacher has an assigned table for students to sit.

There are two serving lines in the cafeteria.

 Powhatan
Elementary
Powhatan Elementary School cafeteria layout includes:

6 rows of 6 tables each (an individual table seats 8)

Each teacher is assigned a table for his/her class.
There are 2 cafeteria lines that serve students their
food.
 O.B. Gates
Elementary
O. B. Gates Elementary School cafeteria layout
includes: 2 column with 10 rows of rectangular tables
that seat 24 students per table, 1 column with 10 rows
of rectangular tables that seat 12 students per table.
Each grade level has an assigned section, and each
teacher has an assigned table. Classes that have
more than 24 students have overflow students seated
at an adjacent table to their class. There are 2
cafeteria lines that serve all students. One line faces
the entrance to the cafeteria and the other is in a
hallway just outside the cafeteria.
 Research the possibility of noise absorbing material for the
cafeteria walls.
5th grade students are creating a school friendly play list
that will be tried in January when the students return from

Next
the holiday break.
Songs requested must be listed by title and artist.
All songs will be approved by administration.
Rearranging the tables is not an option in any building due
to space and number of students eating.

Steps

Schedules cannot be altered due to the high volume of
students and county restrictions of serving times.
Golden Spork Award/Recognition (5 minutes of extra recess
for the quietest class)
Amp up PBIS incentives (meet with instructional staff that
supervise lunches)