Tag: middle school general music
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Unique Projects to Encourage Critical Thinking in the Music Classroom
The Oxford dictionary defines “critical thinking” as “the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment.” Fostering the ability to think critically is necessary in all subject areas because it gives students the tools to make good decisions in and out of the classroom. A person’s decision making skills impacts…
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Holly jolly MUSIC EDUCATION activities for Christmas and MORE!
I’ll say it before you do – not every music teacher can teach Christmas activities in the music classroom. In districts like mine, our students celebrate an assortment of winter holidays and so I like to keep my December activities centered around “winter” and not specifically Christmas. HOWEVER, many of my friends teach in private…
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Practical ideas to encourage a school-wide musical culture.
A great music class is powerful. A school-wide musical culture is life-changing. Here are some ideas for music teachers attempting to create a strong music culture in your school! 1. Have students sing at the beginning every school event. By having students sing a little bit at the beginning of every big event (assemblies, celebrations,…
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Music Education Activities To Celebrate The Magic of Winter!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Music teachers get ready. Your music students are going to be in the winter holiday ZONE soon – and you need activities to keep them ENGAGED and learning! Check out these ESSENTIAL music education activities to invigorate your music room through Christmas, snow days, New Years, Valentine’s…
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Music Education Resources that you can Download for FREE!!!
Nothing in life is free…EXCEPT for these AWESOME music education resources! Check them out today!!!! 1. This is the PERFECT ACTIVITY for the first day of school or first day of a cycle! Looking for a way to get to know your students on day one? Check out this awesome activity, “My Musical Identity!” Your…
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Powerful music history lessons that will provoke curiosity.
Music history can be dry. Rote memorization of the big names and important pieces can be downright painful, especially for younger students who have not yet had their interest for music history piqued. Here are some cool ways to inspire your music students to WANT to learn about music history. 1. Start with more RECENT…
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Insider Tips to Make Your School Concert the Talk of the Town.
It’s that time of year again. Time to PLAN FOR THE CONCERT!!! Whether you teach chorus, band, or general music, there are some tips that any music teacher can follow to ensure success! Here are some tips for planning MEMORABLE school concerts that students, parents, and administrators will love! 1. Choose Concert Rep CAREFULLY When…
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Did you know that misbehavior can inspire SPECTACULAR music lessons?
Hear me out…. some of my BEST music lessons have come from watching student “misbehavior,” and this is my plea for YOU to consider letting student misbehavior inspire your lesson ideas. First, a story about hula-hoops: As a new teacher with a donated set of hula hoops, my original lesson idea was to scatter the…
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Innovative Songwriting Strategies to Enrich your Music Class
“Just start songwriting!” said the music teacher to a class full of scared, confused, and overwhelmed middle schoolers. Big surprise – it did NOT work. Teaching songwriting is COMPLICATED. The possibilities are ENDLESS and students often don’t even know where to begin. To curb this challenge, music teachers need to scaffold their songwriting lessons so…
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POWERFUL Social-Emotional Learning Activities for the Music Classroom
Students today are facing challenges that we teachers can’t fully imagine. They are growing up in a post-pandemic, social-media saturated, rapidly changing world. Now more than EVER, we need to give these children skills to cope with these new and evolving obstacles. Here are some ways to incorporate social-emotional lessons into music class. Project Idea…