S-Cubed + MusicFirst/SmartMusic = Amazing!

If your school or district already owns MusicFirst or SmartMusic, you definitely want to read ahead!

The technologies are simply amazing!  Automatic and instant feedback for your students.  Individual assessment that saves time in your classroom.  
And if you are an S-Cubed user, or if you want to be, there are some things you'll be excited to learn that are available to you!

You have a class of 60 students.  You hear a child struggling with pitch or rhythm.  Maybe you can't pinpoint exactly what is happening?  You need more information, but time is of the essence as you rehearse.  You don't want to point out the student in front of their peers.  So you give the class an S-Cubed "homework" assignment.  A couple of days later, you take a look in the MusicFirst or SmartMusic folder, and you can take a look at or listen to their work to help you determine what they need from you to help them improve.

When I created the S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners, I wanted to create a fun, effective program in which I included everything teachers and their students would need to teach and to learn to sight sing.  When I learned a bit more about technologies like those used in MusicFirst and SmartMusic, I decided to create one-to-one supplemental exercises for students of S-Cubed.  In other words, for every sight singing example I created for the S-Cubed curriculum in Level ONE, I created a single homework/practice example that was intended to help the students practice what they learned in class that day.   I didn't actually end up using it that way, but that is how I intended to use it.  Instead, I tended to assign the homework/practice examples in batches and give them a few days to complete them.  Then, I would look at/listen to the work as I needed to gather information or check on the skills of various students. 

MusicFirst Users!

MusicFirst has recently changed how S-Cubed is offered through their platform!  Until late in May of 2022, the only way you could access the S-Cubed curriculum through MusicFirst was if you had a "Premium" Subscription.  Well...great news!  That is no longer the case!   Now, you and your students can access EVERYTHING in Level ONE of S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners with no extra cost.  This means that if your school has licenses for MusicFirst, you don't have to purchase Level ONE of S-Cubed because you already have it!  And it means that you won't need to purchase anything related to S-Cubed until you get to Level TWO.  Just do a quick search on the platform.  It's there!  AND...not only do you have Level ONE curriculum of S-Cubed, but you also have access to the supplemental homework/practice examples that I created specifically for teachers who use technologies like MusicFirst and SmartMusic.  So, when you and your students arrive at Lesson 4, and you begin sight singing, you could send your students straight into MusicFirst to find the homework/practice example that correlates to the lesson you did that day and have the students practice the skills on their devices.  You could do that throughout all of Level ONE if you wanted.  Of course, you get to decide exactly how to use the supplemental homework/practice examples in the way that works for your specific teaching situation.

MusicFirst is the ONLY company that offers everything I created for Level ONE of S-Cubed.

SmartMusic Users!

If you have purchased or are planning to purchase S-Cubed Sight Singing Program Level One through TpT or JW Pepper...(and actually, even if you don't own the original S-Cubed Curriculum Power Points!), you and your students can access the supplemental homework/practice examples that I created for S-Cubed.   So, as I wrote above for MusicFirst users...When you and your students arrive at Lesson 4, and you begin sight singing, you could send your students straight into SmartFirst to find the homework/practice example that correlates to the lesson you did that day and have the students practice the skills on their devices.   So, technically, you could assign a practice/homework example for every sight singing example in the curriculum if you wanted to do that.  I tended to assign the in batches every week or two, but it's up to you how you do it.  It's there for you, and it's an awesome assessment tool for you.   

And if you don't own S-Cubed, but your district has SmartMusic licenses, you can still use the homework examples on the SmartMusic platform.  Take advantage of the access!  Go and fish around and play with what is there.  I included a lot of information on the homework examples, and while it is way better to use it in conjunction with the original full curriculum of S-Cubed, since your district owns the SmartMusic licenses, you are allowed to use the homework examples in any way that you like and in the way that works best for your students and your program.

If you have any questions related to MusicFirst or SmartMusic and S-Cubed, contact the companies directly to get the best answers.  And as always, you are welcome to email me directly as well!  

inthemiddlewithmrd@gmail.com.  Simply write "MusicFirst" or "SmartMusic" in the subject line!