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

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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.  

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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!

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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

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*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.

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QUICK! I need ideas for my Choir Lesson! Topic- Rhythm and Articulation

Helping your students clean up rhythm helps to pull the sound into better focus. In this lesson, I share tons of ideas on how to bring awareness about articulation, and I give you techniques to help them sing with more precision and syllabic inflection.

In this lesson, you will get-

*You will find a link to a 16-page set of ideas for this product.

*We start with a 50-minute lesson to introduce what articulation and precise rhythm is.  We listen to a choir that has clean articulation.   You’ll rehearse a familiar round or section of a song using varied techniques that I suggest to clean up the rhythms.  You’ll look inside one of your pieces of music and follow instructions I give to raise awareness of articulation.

*You get vocal exercises aimed at improving rhythm and articulation

*You get tongue twisters

*You get tips for how to incorporate focus on articulation and syllabic inflection into your lessons as well as mistakes to avoid.

*You get a list of songs that have great rhythm and articulation.

Questions that are answered-

*What is articulation?

*What is staccato?  What is legato?

*What are some techniques to use to achieve better articulation?

*List of tongue twisters

*How can I improve syllabic inflection?

Here it is in my TpT Store!

Improvisation! Great Fun and Awesome Team Building!

Many middle school music and drama students love doing improvisation work, and it is really good for team building! So, whether you are in the chorus, band, orchestra or drama classroom, this lesson will be super fun for you and your students!

What do you get?

1). A 50-minute introduction lesson

2). 10 improv games with detailed descriptions that you can use throughout the school year!

3). There are some links included to help you as you get started on your improv journey!

Here it is in my TpT Store!