Tag Archives: middle school

New Product: Bowing Bingo!

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Lady Fair

In an attempt to make some extra money, I have been designing lesson plans, worksheets, and activities to upload to the TeachersPayTeachers website. TpT is a great website with resources designed by teachers for teachers. You can be sure … Continue reading →

Posted in orchestra, Teaching Orchestra, Uncategorized | Tagged activity, bass, bingo, bow, cello, col legno, exam, fun, game, lesson, middle school, music, orchestra, puzzle, review, spiccato, staccato, strings, substitute, terms, tremolo, viola, violin, worksheet | Leave a comment

My Next Adventure: Lessons and Housewifery

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Lady Fair

Well, I did it. I quit. I was teaching middle school, and most of the time it was a reasonably good experience. Except when it wasn’t. This past year I taught two classes each of chorus and orchestra (what I … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching Private Lessons | Tagged difficult, lessons, middle school, music, quit, student, teacher, teaching, why | Leave a comment

Learn Zillion Lesson Plans

Posted on September 5, 2015 by Lady Fair

Buenas noches! Some of you know that I teach middle school chorus, orchestra, and now guitar…what you probably don’t know is that I was supposed to co-teach Musical Theatre with the drama teacher, but he moved on and got a … Continue reading →

Posted in Links, Middle School Lessons - non-ensemble | Tagged appreciation, art, character, development, free, lesson, literature, middle school, music, technology, theatre, video | Leave a comment

Resource: Improv Encyclopedia

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Lady Fair

This year I will be teaching a class of musical theatre. I can do musical, and I can do a bit of theatre, but teaching this to kids is another thing entirely. One of my friends recommended this online Improv … Continue reading →

Posted in Games | Tagged breaker, drama, games, ice, middle school, music, musical, teach, theater, theatre, warm-up | Leave a comment

Music Curriculum Standards and Pacing Guide

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Lady Fair

Hi all! I’m currently sitting in a chorus/band summer training institute for teachers and we are discussing music standards, and how to work with them. Some useful websites for planning lessons and exploring standards are: 1. http://www.CPALMS.org, the site for … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching Band, Teaching Chorus, Teaching Elementary, Teaching Guitar, Teaching Orchestra | Tagged arts, band, choir, chorus, cpalms, elementary, essential learnings, fine arts, guide, high school, incomplete curriculum, marzano, middle school, music, orchestra, pacing, perform, Race to the top, standards, strings, sunshine state, vocal, voice, winds | Leave a comment

Don’t Do That! (Try This Instead!)

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Lady Fair

By Dr. Matthew McCutcheon This is a list of common pitfalls that many school ensemble directors unknowingly fall into. While directed more toward wind ensembles, these can be applied just as easily to chorus or strings. The basic concepts are … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching Band, Teaching Chorus, Teaching Orchestra, Tips and Tricks | Tagged bad habits, band, chorus, conduct, direct, directions, do, don't, ensemble, habits, help, high school, how-to, listen, mccutcheon, middle school, music, orchestra, pitfalls, practice, school, teach, tips | Leave a comment

Orchestral Bowings

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Lady Fair

Hello all! Long time no write! I have finally landed a position in a school this year, teaching two classes of chorus and one class of orchestra. It has been fun but also very challenging at times. My orchestra class … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching Orchestra | Tagged bass, book, bow, bowing, cello, col legno, direct, elements, essential, help, hooked, how-to, marking, martele, middle school, orchestra, school, show, slide, slur, spiccato, strings, teach, teacher, term, terminology, tremolo, video, viola, violin | Leave a comment

Discover Music Poster Set

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Lady Fair

The Discover Music Poster Set is by far one of the best classroom poster sets I have ever seen. I believe my middle school band director used them, and I have known other teachers to use them as well. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching Chorus, Teaching Elementary, Teaching Orchestra, Teaching Other Music Classes | Tagged alphabet, articulation, board, bright, bulletin, cheap, class, classroom, colorful, discover, dynamic, easy, hang, middle school, motion, move, movement, music, musical, poster, rhythm, set, simple, symbol, tempo, time signature, toucan, tucan, wall | Leave a comment

Orchestral Strings Tips or “Bag of Tricks”

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Lady Fair

Some brief tips that I have learned in teaching orchestral strings classes. This is not a comprehensive list by any means, but it is a start. Please add your own comments and I will add them to the list. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Practice Techniques, Teaching Orchestra, Tips and Tricks | Tagged bass, beginning, bow, cello, class, double, ed, education, elementary, French, German, hair, help, hold, ideas, middle school, music, orchestra, posture, room, Russian, shadow, string, strings, suggestions, teach, tip, tips, upright, viola, violin, wrist | Leave a comment

Pop Music as defined by a middle school student.

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Lady Fair

“Pop Music” refers to a particular style while popular music is a genre that applies to music that was popular at any given point in time, generally distributed for the masses.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged appreciation, chorus, education, funny, humor, middle school, music, pop music | Leave a comment