Welcome!

This blog has been created so others can follow my adventures of returning to a music classroom! I spent my first year out of college as a Middle School Band Director, then as the Music Associate at my church for five years. During that time I decided to make a change and began pursuing my Master's in Library Science. I spent five years as the Media Specialist at a primary school and deeply desired to return to my true calling. I've been given that chance in two elementary schools and I am really excited!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

African - American History Month

This month I have been focusing a little on jazz and the African-American musicians that made this style of music so popular.  I found several great resources on http://discoveryeducation.com and http://www.brainpop.com to assist with this venture.  We have been doing lots of active listening and the students have to complete a "Musical Jumping Jacks" form as they listen.

One of my favorite jazz musicians is Dizzy Gillespie because we share the same hometown.  Best laugh of the week - a student, "So, you went to school with him?  That's cool!!"  Ummmm...can we tell who wasn't listening!?!  But, it did provide a moment to go back and re-teach about time periods in history.

One last thing I wanted to mention about the sites listed above - they require a paid subscription and I highly recommend both if your school/district doesn't already subscribe.  I so couldn't teach without either!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

February Freebie

Over the next 2 weeks, my 1st and 2nd graders will be learning the song This Candy Has Words from Music K-8 magazine Vol. 22, No. 3.  At one of my schools there has been a big focus on character education, especially kindness and compassion.  The students will be creating "candy hearts" to share with their classmates.  We are taking part in Rachel's Challenge and the students have been creating chain links of kindness which has been going well, but some of the students have lost a little interest in it.  So, I thought this would be a great way to re-energize their interest in the Challenge.

I've created this worksheet for students to write kind words to some of their classmates.  ENJOY!