WEEK 7 PLN Games and Trivia for Gen Mus!

Here is a website I found that has some great music activities (quizzes, games, puzzles, mazes, etc) for young general music classes!  These are great for substitute days, or after holiday concerts before starting a new unit!  :) 

Enjoy!

Music Trivia

WEEK 7 PLN MENC Lesson Plans

Hello all!  I don't even know how I came to stumble upon this part of the MENC website, but here it is for you. 

Lesson Plans

...This can be an awesome resource if you're drawing a blank on how to present any topic in a lesson to your students.  You can actually type in key words, or refine your search by adding who it is for, grade level, and what national standards you want your lesson to reflect, then.... BAM!  ...lists of lesson plans!  Sometimes it is nice to have another teacher's imput, even if you just use suggestions!  Hope you find this helpful!

Week 6 PLN Improv

I found two articles on the MENC website about jazz improv and how to help your students succeed at improvisation.  These are based off of comments from teachers who use improv, whether it be singing or playing, and what techniques work for them.  This is very intriguing!  Hope you take something away from this! :)

Part 1
Part 2

Week 6 PLN Excellent Site for Young Learners!

PlayMusic

This website is an excellent site for elementary and early middle school general music students.  This website is full of fun activities.  This is an interactive website that allows students to explore music of different cultures, orchestras, videos and listening activities.  This site also includes a link for students to make their own music. :)

Week 5 PLN Classroom Management Tips

Classroom Management Tips

This is a short list of some classroom management tips.. It is always nice to review them and gain a different perspective.  I don't know if I fully agree with the "I-messages," but it is important for our students to know how we feel to a certain extent.  I think a very important one is to be a prescence in the classroom.  Many teachers that have problems with classroom management is linked to them not having a strong enough prescence in their rooms.

Week 5 PLN Top 10 Ways

Top 10 Ways to Make a Living While Making Music

This is a wonderful list!!  Of course, music teacher should be number 1, but it doesn't go in any specific order!  :)  Music librarian... now there's a job you don't think of every day!

WEEK 5 PLN Budget Cuts Leading to Music Education Crisis

I stumbled across a blog about Pennslyvania public schools going through major budget cuts and of course what is being highly affected by this.... none other than music teachers and departments all across the state..

Pennslyvania

At the end of this article the same man who posted the blog, Tom West, provided a link to another one of his blogs about what to do in this instance and gives tips on ways to help protect your music programs..

Protecting your programs

Week 4 PLN - and all that jazz!

Jazz Appreciation Month

MENC has an article dedicated to race, gender, and Jazz appreciation.  There are links at the bottom of the article for a couple of videos of the Sweethearts of Rhythm which was an all women jazz band in the 30s.

Week 4 PLN- Sing for your Pretzel!

I wish that there was a PretzelMaker around where I live!  On VH1 Save the Music website, the Pretzelmaker business announced another "Sing for your Pretzel" campaign and will give away free pretzels to whomever sings their own song about them!  They also donated $30000 to the VH1 Save the Music Foundation! 

If only..... Sing for your Pretzel

Week 4 PLN -Kevin Spacey and the Arts

A speech recently given by Kevin Spacey in support of the arts.  I wish that more important people would stick up for the arts, and I also wish that our government would listen to everyones' cries.  Instead of taking away funding they should be providing funds for our cause!

Must watch!

Noteflight- A Bicycle Built for Two

A Bicycle Built for Two


I really enjoyed using Noteflight!!!  I liked it even better than MuseScore.  I find it much easier to navigate and the shortcut keys are easier to use!  :)  This is an extremely useful tool for music education because it has many functions.  It could be used for creative composing, and students can share their compostions with one another for comments and constructive criticism.  Also, there could be a group assignment to compose a single piece together.  Not to mention, transposing and arranging for the teacher.  There are many possibilities and I really enjoy this software!