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Test 4 Mrs. Miracle's Music Room

February 19, 2015

From body percussion to instruments

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This past month, as my fifth graders were learning tim-ka, or dotted eighth/sixteenth, I started going through my resources to see how I might best practice this rhythm with them. It's been many years since I've taught this concept--as I've not had students long enough to get to the rhythm--so I was excited to see what I could find in my resources! I found this resource which I admit I've heard great things about but just haven't used very much! Click on the picture to see the book at West Music. If you are an Orff-trained teacher, you likely have a well-worn version on your…

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February 14, 2015

Five Favorite Pins of February

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Hi everyone! Today I'm finally resuming my five favorite pins linky party! Sorry I've skipped a month...life got crazy busy! #1: Music makes me _________ bulletin board What a great way to celebrate music! Take a picture of students holding up a word about how music makes them feel and then post! #2: 19 Free iPad apps for Musical Creativity This is a wonderful list of very creative apps!  #3: How to remove vocals from a song I will definitely be looking at this tutorial next time I have a program and have to create an accompaniment track for students. #4: Solfege and Taylor Swift? Why not? Th…

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February 07, 2015

Musical Activities for Black History Month

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Since we are nearing the end of the first week of February, I thought I'd blog about some of my favorite musical activities for Black History Month. Most of these activities could be used any time during the year--and in any classroom--but I know, for me, Black History Month is a great reminder to make sure I delve deeper into cultural and social contexts by reading, singing, and having thoughtful discussions with students! Picture Books One of my favorite ways to celebrate Black History Month is by reading children's literature about famous African-Americans, and teaching them about mu…

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February 01, 2015

Valentine's Day Activities for the Music Room

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Today is February 1...and so begins thecountdown to Valentine's Day! My husband and I are still trying to figure out plans for going out for dinner (just the two of us) but I've also begun plans for what my students will do to celebrate Valentine's Day. Here are some of my favorite activities to do with students the week before and the week of Valentine's Day: 1, 2, 3: A song for Valentine's Day A couple years ago, I wrote about this song, which is based off the melody to "Bow Wow Wow." Click here to see the blog post with song notation and dance instructions! Popsic…

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January 26, 2015

Parent communication for the music room

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As music educators, we often teach hundreds of students, so parent communication can be time-consuming. I've listed some ideas which should save you time while giving parents a peek inside your room. Communicating about your program: Several years ago, I was hired as the music teacher of a brand new building (which is my current building.) I wanted a way to communicate to all these new parents and families who I was, as well as give them an overview of the music program at my school. I wrote this blog post all about that brochure--which I handed out at open house. It includes a link to a f…

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January 18, 2015

Worksheets in the music room

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When I first began teaching, I used worksheets quite often to assess student understanding. As I've gotten older and more experienced, I have realized that there are so many other ways to assess! However, there are times when I believe worksheets are really the best way to assess. In this post, I'll write about all the ways I love to use worksheets in the music room. To trace Sometimes, after teaching a melodic or rhythmic concept, we want to jump right away to dictation. But students are not always ready for that step...they first need the chance to simply copy a rhythm or note onto th…

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January 10, 2015

Tips for Teaching Kindergarten Music

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Ah, Kindergarten music class...it is at times so joyful and fun and at other times a bit daunting. I remember Kindergarteners being my favorite grade level while student teaching, and then I had my first year of teaching. I saw one class twice...in the same day...for forty minutes. I'm not kidding. Pair that with not having the best classroom discipline at that point and having a behaviorally challenging class, and it was an adventure! Things have gotten MUCH smoother since then, so I thought I'd share my tips for Kindergarten music lessons. Think about attention span I was once told in…

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January 06, 2015

Five Strategies to Incorporate Music Listening Lessons

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In today's music classroom, we are expected to do so much: have students match pitch, teach students rhythmic and melodic concepts, encourage artistry and expression, teach students how to read music on the treble clef staff, explain how to identify instrument families, show them how to play instruments, and among many, many more skills, expose students to great music and teach them about great composers. This is not an easy task. In this blog post, I'm detailing five strategies for incorporating listening lessons into your music class. Keep in mind that while some of these ideas are fo…

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