QUICK! I need ideas for my Choir Lesson! Restarting Classroom Management in the New Year

The holiday concerts are almost over, and you're about to start a well-earned break, and you likely don't even want to THINK about next semester!

I get it, and so does every teacher who is reading this!

But when you ARE ready, this lesson will be there for you.

For your year-round students, a brand new calendar year offers an opportunity for a fresh start.  This lesson is designed to give you ideas on how to move closer to getting your classroom environment to feel the way you need and want it to feel so that maximum learning can occur.   Think about the procedures and rules that your students didn’t do so well in the first semester, and use the ideas I’ve offered her to help you move closer to your dream classroom atmosphere through better classroom management and relationship building.

What topics are covered and how long will it take?

*You will think about a maximum of five policies, rules or procedures you’d like for your students to do better.  You will use the ideas I’ve presented to move closer and closer to creating the environment you want.

*50-minute lesson to start the conversation.

*8 possible extension activities to reinforce the learning.  This can cause this lesson to last multiple days if you wish to do so.

*10 consequence ideas that you can use when students don’t follow the rules.

*11 ways to positively recognize students who improve

Want a free "QUICK!" lesson to see how they flow?

This free lesson is truly a quick lesson!  It’ll take 15 minutes.  The topic is the Treble Clef

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/QUICK-I-need-ideas-for-my-Choir-Lesson-Topic-The-Treble-Clef-12629948

Do you like the “QUICK” lessons? Take a look at the first bundle of 15 “QUICK” lessons!  

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Quick-I-need-ideas-for-my-Choir-Lesson-15-lessons-BUNDLED-12553814

Here it is in my TpT Store!

Click here!

FREE! QUICK! I need ideas for my Choir Lesson- Topic- The Treble Clef

Do you need to help your beginning students understand the treble clef note names?

Well, this "quick" lesson in the "QUICK! I need ideas for my Choir Lesson!" series is truly quick.  Most of the lessons in the series are filled with tons of ideas, but this one is just a quick FREE one for you in case you are teaching the Treble Clef!

Your students will watch a 6-minute video that has awesome graphics to help increase understanding, and they will answer 5 multiple choice questions either while they are watching the video or after they finish. I've included a Treble Clef information sheet that you can hand them or copy/paste and send it to them digitally to ensure they remember the content!

Here it is in my TpT Store!

Click here!

GIVEAWAY! Of my New Nine Week Musical Unit for Shrek, Matilda and Hairspray and MORE Free items for you in my TpT Store!

The TpT Cyber Sale is happening NOW!  12/2 and 12/3!

For those who know me, you know I love teaching sight singing, but you also know that I love musical theater even more.   When I was in the classroom, the Broadway-themed shows my students and I created and presented each spring were the engines that cranked and built my program.  When we would take a break from preparing for upcoming concerts, we almost always watched some sort of musical.  But, we did way more than just watch it.  We had discussions and did activities that were incredibly deep, fun and informative about subjects like...acceptance, love beyond appearance, belonging, empowerment, encouragement, good vs. evil, history, civil rights, integration, and more.  Those are the themes in the musicals that I cover in this bundle-  Shrek, Matilda, and Hairspray.  

The students could feel the passion I brought to the table about musical theater and the themes around various shows, and they responded to it positively...whether or not they had ever watched a musical theater presentation or movie musical before in their lives!

These lessons are intended to be used in the following ways- 

*Watch the musical (links to how to watch them are in the package you buy so that you don't have to search.). Watching the shows will take about 3-5 class periods if you have them 50 minutes a day depending on the length of the musical.

*Have the students answer the plot questions as they watch or use the plot questions as a quiz after they've watched it.   

*Explore the themes and lessons each musical teaches through one or all of the extension activities I've included to help drive home the important lessons of each of the shows.  

If you did every activity I've included for this unit, you could cover an entire nine weeks of lessons if you see your students 50 minutes a day every day, and the best part is that you'll have fun with your students while teaching very important lessons that will stick with them, and help them to think, grow, bond with their classmates, and want to learn more about the topics!  

All of my lessons follow the S-Cubed philosophy-  3/4 Learning + 1/4 Cup Fun = SUCCESS!

I am giving this unit away to a lucky winner 12/12/2024.  Everyone who takes the time to enter will get an email from me on 12/12 announcing the winner, and telling them how and when to get this unit and probably some of my other most popular units at 50% off, so it is worth it to enter even if you don't win!

Click the link below to enter.  You can enter just one of the ways or you can enter in all of the ways.  And there is one option that you can once a day to increase your chances of winning!  

Oh...wait...I promised more free stuff, so here it is!  It pays to read the whole thing!

I know you have concerts coming-  Free Concert Reflection Sheet

Free "QUICK!" lesson on how to decode the choral octavo.

Free Sample of 5 plot questions from some of the musical units I've created!

Remember to check your inbox on 12/12!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

FREE Sample of Plot Questions from my Musical Bundles in my TpT Store!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you are lucky enough to read this post before Thanksgiving day at midnight, enter the giveaway of my new 15-lesson bundle "QUICK! I need ideas for my Choir Lesson!" I will announce the winner on Black Friday and some super deals on my most popular bundles and my newest lessons! Just click the link at the top left of this pager! ^^^^

Here is a video of me talking about this!

*In this free offering from Mr. D, you will get a partial sample of plot questions that you will find in this musical bundles and individual musical offerings that you can use if you, your music or non-music substitute can use to verify the students are watching and understanding the plot of the various shows.  (Annie, Newsies, The Sound of Music, Hairspray, Shrek, Matilda).  

These questions are taken right out of his individual offerings on these shows and the musical bundles of these shows.

• Thinking about buying the full units of each show or perhaps a bundle?-  If so, you will extend the plans for 9 weeks per show because there are so many activities included.  If you purchase the individual lessons or the bundles, you will employ usage of the creative and fun extension activities that are included.  There are numerous interactive project suggestions and guidelines involving acting, writing, evaluating songs, thematic collages, character diaries, theme based skits, interviews, interactive posters, theme-based discussions, history lessons and so much more that can stretch out many of the lessons in fun ways and increase understanding of the characters and the time period in which the musicals are set.  These lessons are a great value, and once purchased, you have it for life.

• Here is a link to it in my TpT Store!

Musical Bundle #2- Hairspray/Shrek/Matilda

For these lessons, you, your music sub, or your non-music sub will do the following-

*You will watch the movie musical (Hairspray, Shrek, Matilda).

*Students will answer plot questions as they watch or immediately upon finishing (your choice).

*Then, the fun starts! I've included more than 25 creative extension activities in this bundle to increase engagement and understanding of the plot, the characters, and the time-period during which each musical is set. The activities involve art, history, music, theater, and interviewing, and it will lead to interesting discussions that will help your students connect to themselves and you as you help them learn about the world through musical theater. Thematic collages, character diaries, theme-based skits, song analysis, theme-based essays, interactive posters, creative writing, theme-based discussions, multi-media presentations, and role-playing interviews are just some of the ways you'll enhance their learning while having a great time!

This is a massive unit with tons of ideas and information.

Please email me if you have questions or issues of suggestions for how I can make this better for you and most importantly for your students! inthemiddlewithmrd@gmail.com

Here it is in my TpT Store!

If you know a chorus teacher who hasn't heard of S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners, send them a link! Link to Mega Bundle of S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners!

Subscribe to my email list- Send me an email at inthemiddlewithmrd@gmail.com and write the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.  

• Follow my blog where I share lots of teaching ideas and random thoughts about my teaching experience in the middle school choral classroom! My blog!
• Follow me on Twitter!
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• Follow my TpT store!
• Click here to subscribe to my YouTube Channel!  You’ll find lots of sight singing teaching tips as well as  teaching examples of all sorts about various subjects related to teaching in the middle school choral classroom!
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One of my QUICK! lessons is FREE! And, you still have time to enter my first "QUICK! I need ideas for my Choir Lessons!" Giveaway!

First!  You have until Thanksgiving day 2024 to enter to win my first "QUICK!" bundle of 15 lessons!  I'll announce the winner on Friday morning along with some great deals for Black Friday and Saturday!

Enter here!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And I just made one of my "QUICK!" lessons, "Decoding the Choral Octavo/Score", FREE in my TpT store, so that you can get an ideas of how much information you get with each lesson in the "QUICK!" series!  And this lesson is only 7 pages long.  Most of the "QUICK!" lessons have up to 20 pages or more of ideas.  Go download it for free!  Here it is!  

I got this email tonight.  He said he was struggling with implementing S-Cubed. 

-----

Thanks for reaching out.

Use this.

https://inthemiddlewithmrd1.blogspot.com/2024/10/full-lesson-by-lesson-product.html

Take it one lesson at a time.  Prepare weekly using the document above and by studying the lessons a bit to know what is coming.

Do not look ahead.

Trust the process.

Once you do it once...week by week...not skipping doing S-Cubed unless it is concert week, you will see the results and feel the momentum.

It's like weight loss...if it were easy, everyone would be thin...but the rewards of doing it pay off.  The difference is that when you lose weight the weight can come back.  

Once you understand the S-Cubed process, you can't stop understanding it.  It gets easier and easier.  

FREE! Concert Reflection Worksheet for Choir, Band and Orchestra in my TpT Store

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*If you are lucky enough to read this post before Thanksgiving Day, you should enter this giveaway of my new "QUICK! I need ideas for my Choir Lesson" series bundle!   Scroll down to the Rafflecopter!  Winner announced Black Friday along with some great Black Friday deals that only the people who enter will hear about!  Enter above on the Rafflecopter!  ^^^

The "post-concert" period is really critical for our young musicians.  It is important for us to help our students process the event and learn from the things that went well and the things that didn't go as well.  It is important to create an open discussion so we all learn, including the teacher.  Maybe we forgot to "dot an I" in the preparation information and that resulted in students wearing the wrong outfit or showing up later than they should.  Maybe you had an incredible, unforgettable musical moment that made the room get quiet.  Whatever it is, positive, negative or in between, we need to create an environment with our students in which we all learn and grow and acknowledge the positives and not-so-positives together, so we just get better and better!

Here it is for you! FREE in my TpT Store!

QUICK! I need ideas for my Choir Lesson- Topic- Post Concert Project Ideas

What do we do after the concert in addition to watching a video of it or listening to a recording? How can we take the valuable learning that comes from singing a "live" performance to the next level?

A project!

In this lesson, you will find-

*A 15-page document.  

What do we do after the concert other than watch a video of it or listen to the audio recording and fill out a reflection paper of some sort?

How can we take the post-concert learning period that is so critical for our middle school choirs to the next level so the learning that comes from a performance sticks?

A project! This reflection period can last up to one week because we did deeper!

*It starts with a 50-minute lesson focused on concert reflection.

***It is best if you have a video of your performance to watch.  If not, you should have an audio recording.

*First you will watch the concert and then discuss.

*To dig deeper,  increase the reflection period, and drive home further various components of a good concert, you will allow present one, some, or all of the ten project ideas I include in this lesson, and you will guide them through the project process focused on concert reflection.

*You’ll give your students an appropriate amount of time (2-3 fifty-minute class periods) to complete the project.

*You will have the students present their projects (1-2 fifty-minute class periods for 25-30 students).

• This lesson should take 4-5 fifty-minute class periods to complete including public presentation of the project.
• A rubric for each project idea is included.
• With ten project ideas included, you should have enough options to meet your student's needs.  I also encourage you to allow them to come up with their own project ideas.  We want them to be excited about the project, not burdened, and we want them to learn more about what constitutes a good concert from how the chorus sounds to what happens between songs to lining up and filing on and off.  We want them to reflect on all aspects of a concert.

Here it is in my TpT Store!

My First set of "QUICK" lessons is now BUNDLED! 15 lessons with hundreds of ideas for you Choir Lesson! A Thanksgiving Giveaway!

I've been releasing new "QUICK" lessons since late July 2024, and teachers have been snapping them up.  My aim has been to release affordable lessons that bring great value to you and your students.  I wanted to create something that you could come back to for years whenever you needed some new approaches to a particular topic that we face in our chorus classrooms.  And I wanted these lessons to follow the S-Cubed Sight Singing Program Philosophy.  

3/4 Learning + 1/4 Fun = Success!

So, all of the lessons incorporate a gamification approach that you can use in order to drive home what you want your students to learn.  

*We cover the following topics- Vocal Warm Ups, Dynamics, Vocal Health, Breathing for Singing, Developing Vocal Tone, Decoding the Choral Octavo, Developing Part Independence, The Changing Male Voice, Creating a Positive Culture, Stage Presence, Concert Etiquette, Preparing Students to Perform Live, Navigating Various Repeat Signs, Balance and Blend, and Rhythm and Articulation.

*You will use this lesson for many years because so many topics are presented and each topic includes so many approaches.

*Purchase separately, if you purchase all of the lessons, you'll spend $75! Purchasing this bundle will save you $$$, and you'll have years of ideas on a variety of topics.

Here it is in my TpT Store!

To celebrate this new release, I am giving it away to a lucky winner!  You can enter here below on the rafflecopter between now and Thanksgiving day.  I will notify the winner the day after Thanksgiving.  All who enter will also be notified about a special way for you to get this bundle AND some of my other most popular bundles and new products at 50% off on Black Friday and Saturday (November 29th and 30th!)

Click the link below to enter.   There are four ways to enter, and you are welcome to do them all in order to increase your chances of winning.  Make sure your email address is listed correctly so we can notify you if you win and notify you about how to get the Bundle (and other Bundles) on Black Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway .