TpT Cyber Sale Gift Card Giveaway from Music in the Middle with Mr. D

The TpT Cyber Sale is December 1 and December 2, and I am giving away a $20 gift card on Monday morning December 1!  Use promo code Cyber25 to get 25% off anything in my store on those two days.  My entire store will be 25% off for the entire sale.  

You can use it to purchase anything you wish including the brand new companion product to S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners, the Mastery Belt System as well as other great items by awesome TpT sellers.  Get your wish list ready.

Enter in one or all of the several ways I've included in the giveaway link at the bottom of this email.  One of the ways to enter includes double points which may help you win.  Make sure to try them all!

Check your email on Monday morning!  Someone is going to have a gift card for $20!

Now... Scroll to the bottom of this post, click the link, and enter for your chance to win!

Enter to win with this link-  TpT Cyber Sale $20 gift card

Guest Blogger, Pamela Weaver, on the real impact of using Mastery Belt System with S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners

I've been writing and posting about the Mastery Belt System which is a companion product for my S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners.  Pamela Weaver, from The Choir Room on TpT writes about how she used the Belt System last week.  

Someone is going to win the Mega Bundle of my program, a large bundle of the Mastery Belt System, and my Sub Plan bundle one week from today- Here is how to enter.

On the morning of November 24th, someone is going to win the S-Cubed Sight Singing Program Mega Bundle, the new S-Cubed companion product created by Pamela Weaver, the Mastery Belt System, and two months of my sub plans!   

It’s a big Thanksgiving giveaway! You can enter until 11:59 PM on November 23rd.  

http://inthemiddlewithmrd1.blogspot.com/2025/11/thanksgiving-s-cubed-sight-singing.html?m=1

Pamela mentions below how she uses Sight Reading Factory-  Reminder-  If you use Sight Reading Factory with your students, use promo code "scubed" for a 10% discount.  This past summer, I hosted Don Crafton on a Zoom, and we talked about the latest technology systems on Sight Reading Factory.  It's great stuff.  If you missed it, here is the link-  Here it is.

Here is the blog post from Pamela Weaver-

Motivation, Beads, and Sight-Reading Factory 

One of my favorite parts of the Mastery Belt System, built on the S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners, is the motivation it creates. My students will do anything for their next belt—even when the “belt” is literally just a tiny pony bead. 

And honestly? That motivation is a huge part of why this system works so beautifully across my entire program.

This year I started using Sight-Reading Factory with my intermediate and advanced students as a way to assess the real application of their S-Cubed skills. They don’t need the same content-knowledge checks as my beginners, but I still need to know where their musicianship is landing. With 82 intermediate singers and 47 advanced singers, one-on-one hallway assessments just aren’t possible as often as I’d like.

SRF solves that.

Each student completes two sight-reading assignments a month—and they can do them in less than five minutes.

Yesterday, I told my classes I’d be handing out Orange Beads today. My students know the expectation: if their SRF assignments aren’t done, they don’t get the bead.

Later that night, an eighth grader emailed me to say she had just finished her missing assignment and wanted to make sure her grade was updated in time to earn her belt. This is a student who’s been through S-Cubed and the Mastery Belt System with me before, and now as an eighth grader, she’s applying those skills directly in our repertoire.

But the motivation is still there.

That drive to earn the next bead never goes away.

When a student completes their belt, I hype it up and hand them their bead with full performance energy.  And when they earn all of their beads for the year, they become Masters—one of my students’ favorite end-of-year celebrations.

This small moment—a single email about a missing sight-reading assignment—captures exactly why the Mastery Belt System works.

Pamela Weaver

@the_choirroom

Update on the S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners and the Mastery Belt System Collaboration

I announced earlier this fall that I was collaborating with Pamela Weaver from The Choir Room on TpT on a companion product that she developed for S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners called the Mastery Belt System.  

Pamela purchased S-Cubed years ago, and is a very experienced user of the program.  The Mastery Belt System is her creation that she uses in her classroom to assess the skills from each lesson in S-Cubed.  She's created clear data points that help her learn about how successfully she's taught the skills from S-Cubed and how well the students have learned the skills individually.  Administrators love it, and so do the students.  When they master each skill, they advance to the next belt.  

She wrote this blog post below yesterday about how she used it in her classroom earlier that day.  

We will be giving away the Mega Bundle of S-Cubed, one of the large bundles of the Mastery Belt System and my Sub Bundle on November 24.  Here are the details on how to enter- 

On the morning of November 24th, someone is going to win the S-Cubed Sight Singing Program Mega Bundle, the new S-Cubed companion product created by Pamela Weaver, the Mastery Belt System, and two months of my sub plans!   

It’s a big Thanksgiving giveaway! You can enter until 11:59 PM on November 23rd.  

http://inthemiddlewithmrd1.blogspot.com/2025/11/thanksgiving-s-cubed-sight-singing.html?m=1

----

Pamela's post-

 

Orange Belt Assessments: Real-World Impact in a Big Choir Room

I’m in the middle of wrapping up the Orange Belt with my beginners—almost 100 sixth graders split into two huge classes of about 50 each. 

A lot of people assume it’s impossible to keep track of every student in a class that size… and honestly, they’re not wrong. You do have to stay on top of your stuff! One thing that’s been a total lifesaver for me, especially in these beginning stages, is the Mastery Belt Assessments I built.

For example, we just finished the Orange Belt Final Test. A major focus of this belt is note-name identification. Students complete two assignments, several written warm-ups, and a final exam—all designed to check that skill. There’s also basic vocabulary like bar line, measure, staff, time signature, and accent.

Once the tests were done, I sat down and reviewed every score. I use that data not only to see who’s struggling, but also to gauge my own teaching. For instance, this time around, I realized I didn’t do as strong a job teaching rhythm rules—I had to rush that section—so many students missed those questions. That tells me it’s something I need to revisit.

For students who didn’t pass, I dug deeper to identify which skills they were missing. If it was vocabulary, I can review that quickly with the whole class (because chances are, others need that refresher too). If it’s note naming, that’s more foundational—so I plan to pull those students for small-group support and focused practice.

These assessments aren’t just about grades or data points. Yes, they give me evidence to share with administrators, counselors, and parents—and they help me speak clearly at IEP or conference meetings about where a student is growing or struggling. But more importantly, they ensure that every single student gets the chance to succeed. 

Now that I’ve reviewed all the data, I’ve identified about six or seven students in each class who need extra help, plus exactly which skills they’re missing. I’ve even written a quick review sheet for my TA to use over the next two days so those students can get targeted support as we keep moving forward in the curriculum.

At the end of the day that’s what The Mastery Belt System is about—structure, equity, and success for every learner. 

— Pamela 

"One Life, One Chance"

How did you change the world today?

QUICK! I need ideas for my Choir Lesson! Topic- Concert Planning Checklist

We all know the importance of proper planning.

It's really important to the success of our students when we are preparing for concerts.

Concerts are a "thing".  Concerts are "moments" for our students, and it is our job to make the moment memorable for all of the right reasons instead of the wrong reasons!

A lot of the things that can go wrong can be avoided with good planning.

This "QUICK!" series lesson is aimed at the teacher-  The choir teacher, the orchestra teacher and/or the band teacher.

It is designed to get your brain expecting and anticipating all of the parts of the concert planning process from picking and ordering music to the dress rehearsal.  

In this lesson, you are advised to create various templates that you can use long term for all of your concerts to make things easier for you and for your students.

All of my "QUICK!" series lessons are designed to. help you get ideas and to think about things differently than you might have without my "QUICK!" lesson.

Please leave a review!  Teachers count on them, and I do too!

We must set the up for success.

Here is the lesson on TpT!

Thanksgiving S-Cubed Sight Singing Program Giveaway- Enter here on my blog through 11/23/25

Please follow my TpT Store, and if you've purchased a product, leave a review!  

It's Thanksgiving season, and I am thankful for every teacher who has used, is using or wants to use S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners, so I am giving it away to one lucky winner on the morning on November 24, 2025-  the Monday before Thanksgiving.  This is a $379 value, and you get the entire program for life.

You enter at the bottom of this blog post.  More info on that later...

I've kept a running log on my blog of many of the reviews, testimonials, and emails here on my blog since I began sharing the program in 2013.  My work has been reviewed over 900 times on TpT since I began sharing my work.  One of my newer lessons from my "QUICK!" series on Developing Tone and Overtones just got this review earlier this week.  I've screenshot it for you here- 

It is because of teachers who took a chance on my work early on my journey that people have heard of my program, and I am grateful.  They post on social media about it and talk about it in meetings and at present about it at conferences all over the country.  No company helped me make this happen.  Teachers did.  

There are two prizes in addition to the Mega Bundle.  The brand new Mastery Belt System.  Pamela Weaver, from The Choir Room on TpT, created this reward/assessment system, and we both offer it in our stores.  We are rolling it out slowly.  Click here to see one of the bundles that includes lessons 1-18.  Read the product description.  If you use S-Cubed already, this could enhance and energize your experience.  It's a $30.50 value.

And who can't use two months of sub plans?  Click here to see!  $59 value.

So, this giveaway is huge because I am thankful.

Someone will win and will be notified the morning of 11/24/25.  All who enter and leave their email addresses will be notified via email that morning with a special one day offer to buy these products at a huge discount for one day (11/24/25).  

You can enter multiple ways.  Do as many as you like.  Note the point value for the various entries.  If you do all of the entries, you get huge point bonuses.  The winner is randomly chosen.  If you post on social media, tag me please!   Comment on posts!  

Help more people learn about these products.  We've worked hard on them!

Thank you!  And Good luck! S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners Thanksgiving Giveaway

Creating and Developing Overtones with your Choir- And also- Have you ever had a singer who can't match pitch? A new "QUICK!" series lesson for you!

"This is an excellent resource for all choirs at every level."

That is what Kendra N. wrote today in a review on TpT on my "QUICK!" series lesson focused on producing overtones.  Click here to see it!

  My affordable series "QUICK!  I need ideas from my Choir Lesson!" is filled with tons of ideas designed to help choir teachers of all levels with various things we face and need help with on a daily basis in our choral classrooms.

The review Kendra N. (139 reviews!   Amazing!) left for me here captures exactly what I hoped would happen with this series of lessons.  Reviews are so important on TpT, and I am grateful for every single one!

Because people know my work through S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners which is primarily aimed at Grades 4-10, I wanted to create something that ALL choir teachers can use.  Whether you teach Church choir, High School Choir, Elementary Choir, or Middle School Choir, this series is for you.

I cover a range of topics from Teaching Concert Etiquette, Achieving Blend and Balance, Developing Part Independence and much more, and you can purchase and use the lessons on a whim for a very low price.  The volume of ideas in each lesson is immense, so you will get a lot for what you pay.

I recently posted this video on Instagram, and it exploded.  The topic was "Have you ever had a singer who can't match pitch?  Here is a hack for you!"  

I've created a new lesson in the "QUICK!" series that specifically includes the above video along with numerous other approaches to help you help your students match pitch better and to learn self-assessment and self-correction as they progress.  From interactive partner games designed to be played with someone who has a similar voice range (soprano and soprano, for example) to activities that leverage visual, aural, and kinesthetic ways to address pitch-matching so we have a better chance of getting all of our students to match pitch.  

At the end of the lesson, you'll get several "app" recommendations that the students will love using to continue to help them improve their ability to match pitch and to self-address and self-correct more quickly over time.  

Here is the lesson on TpT!

S-Cubed- Mastery Belt System- White Belt and more to come!

I am excited to announce this collaboration with a fellow TpT Music Teacher who has used S-Cubed for many years. Pamela Weaver, from The Choir Room has created a "belt" system to use with S-Cubed that is a great motivator for the students!   She's already uploaded all the belts and bundles to her store, and I have just started uploading them to mine. I'll be rolling out the remaining products and bundles over the coming days and weeks. Here is the product description of the White Belt, which is $5 in my TpT Store.

S-Cubed: Mastery Belt System – White Belt (Lessons 1–3)

A companion to Dale Duncan’s S-Cubed Sight-Singing Program for Beginners

What is this?  The S-Cubed: Mastery Belt System is a Karate Belt–style achievement program that works alongside S-Cubed to make student progress visible, measurable, and motivating. Each color level matches a small group of S-Cubed lessons, giving students clear milestones to reach and celebrate—without changing the way you already teach.

Why Teachers Love It:

✅ Breaks the S-Cubed program into small, skill-focused levels

✅ Includes built-in formative checks and a final assessment for every belt

✅ Makes growth visible to students, parents, and administrators

✅ Flexible, editable, and easy to integrate into any teaching style

✅ Supports advocacy by providing concrete evidence of learning

What’s Included (White Belt – Lessons 1–3):

• Student-Friendly Study Guide
• Requirements Checklist
• Formative Assessments
• Final Exam via Google Form (editable)
• Implementation Tips & Teacher Guide
• Print-ready Celebration Tracker with reward ideas
• Assessment links document
• Teacher perspective

Overview: Lessons 1–3 lay the groundwork for everything to come. Students are introduced to foundational concepts like half steps and whole steps, pitch accuracy, Kodály hand signs, and the “Follow the Hand” technique—all without yet reading music. Through fun, repeatable activities like Forbidden Pattern, they begin training their ears while developing strong posture, physical engagement, and vocal awareness. This belt builds comfort with the process, confidence in the classroom structure, and a supportive environment where every student can succeed from day one.

How to Use It: Teach S-Cubed as usual—this program simply adds structure, checkpoints, and celebrations as students earn each new belt.

Follow Our Stores:

• Pamela Weaver – The Choir Room
• Dale Duncan – Music in the Middle with Mr. D

Please leave reviews for this and all of our products. It helps teachers to hear from you about it, it helps us make my products better for you, and it helps you because you get TpT credits towards future products!

Sight Reading Factory's New Auto Assessment Feature 2025

If you purchase anything from Sight Reading Factory, use the promo code "scubed", and you'll get a 10% discount on student and teacher subscriptions!

Earlier this summer, I held a Zoom session with Don Crafton, the creator of Sight Reading Factory, to talk about the newest, incredibly affordable features on the SRF platform.

The one I am super stoked about for music teachers is the auto-assessment feature.  If you get student subscriptions, you'll be able to use the platform the way I used to use Music Prodigy with my students before that company was no longer an option for teachers.

With this feature, students will get immediate feedback on their work after they sing or play into the microphone.  

You pick the difficulty level.  You will decide how hard you want the example to be graded.

It's grading with a "heart".

It's the best of all worlds.

Don Crafton has added so many other features since I left the classroom in 2022 that you may also find useful.  We covered many of those features in the Zoom session.

If I were still in the classroom, I would definitely use the student subscriptions to gain access to this tool for my students who finished Levels 1 and 2 of the S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners.  It'll keep their sight singing skills strong...way stronger than mine were when I was in college...and it's one of the most affordable and useful technology-forward products on the market.

Whether you use S-Cubed, your own system of teaching the subject, or something else, EVERY music teacher, from band, to orchestra to chorus, can utilize the tools on Sight Reading Factory.

Here is a link to the training video,

https://youtu.be/eTjnNXt8cwY?si=WxiScG-gha8tBEmi

I hope it helps.  

I am giving away over $130 of my newest Bundles! Happy Back to School Sale on TpT!

The TpT back to school sale is August 5th and 6th with 25% off my entire store, so I thought it was a good time for a big giveaway of my newest lessons.  Please leave reviews for all of my products.  It helps teachers to hear from you about it, it helps me make my products better for you, and it helps you because you get TpT credits towards future products!

Over the last year, I have created three new bundles with tons of lessons, that I want to share this week with one lucky winner.  The winner will be announced on Friday morning, August 8th.  Everyone will be notified via email early that morning.  All of my lessons follow the philosophy of the S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners-

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

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

Who doesn't need Sub Plans that a non-music teacher can use to keep the learning moving forward in your choral music classroom when you are out?  This Sub Bundle includes lessons that can last up to two months if you have your sub do the extension lessons, and is priced at $59 in my TpT Store.  All of these lessons are available individually in my TpT store, and just so you can see the layout of one of the lessons, here is a free one.

For those of you who have followed my work for a while, you know I am obsessed with Broadway musicals, so I created a line of lessons on six different Broadway musicals (with more to come) that includes tons of ideas to help you dig deep into the themes of the shows with discussions, games, singing activities and more.  Here is a free one in my TpT Store on the musical "Hairspray" to help you see the layout.  The bundle I am giving away includes units on three musicals- The Sound of Music, Newsies and Annie is priced at $49.

My new "QUICK! I need ideas for my Choir Lesson!" includes 16 of the lessons in the series with more to come.  This line of lessons is intended to give you tons of ideas for a very low price.  Most of the lessons are $2-4 each. 

This bundle is priced at $25.  Here it is in my TpT Store, and Here is a free one in my store with the topic of "Concert Etiquette" so you can see the layout.  In the bundle, we cover topics like 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.

I hope these lessons are helping you in your classroom.  Enter below the photo on the rafflecopter-  There are five ways to enter to increase your chances. Two of them are mandatory. One of the mandatory entries is to comment on a Facebook post with ideas about future topics sub plans you'd like to see, Broadway musicals you'd like me to cover and any ideas you have for new "QUICK!" series lessons. Copy and paste those answers and comment on this blog post.

Enter by clicking this link-  

                                                             Mr. D is hosting a Rafflecopter giveaway!

My Line of Choir Sub Plans works with Non-Music Subs --- and one of them is FREE!

When I was in the classroom, I hated to be absent.

I could never find a sub that could teach choir, so it felt like I was giving work just to fill the time, and they didn't learn much of anything useful to progress as a choir.

So, I decided to create a line of sub plans for choir teachers, and I came up with things I think will definitely help the choir grow and move forward so that there is real learning about choir even though they aren't singing.

One of the sub plans is free in my TpT store.  

It's called Listen to Great Choirs.  Click that link to download it.  

Description-

*Downloadable and editable google slide presentation with clickable links to YouTube videos of performances and a Google Doc link for students that is easily copied and pasted by you to be edited as you wish.

*Any music/non-music sub can use it or you can use it as a one day 45-50 minute lesson.

*You can easily edit

*Sub Plans

Students will listen to 6 choir performances, and they will write briefly about them if a sub is in charge or they can discuss them live with you if you are present for the lesson.

I included information about the Seven Criteria for a Great Choir-

Tone, Pitch, Rhythm, Ensemble, Interpretation, Diction, Other Factors so they can review and think about those things as they evaluate. All seven are briefly explained in the document.

You or the sub will simply click the links, and then give them time to write/type/discuss their answers. They can turn them into the sub or submit to a digital platform...whatever works best for you.

Here is a link to another one-day lesson plan for subs (or for you)!

This article captures the realness of my journey with S-Cubed

I created S-Cubed while living in Atlanta even though so much of the work to create the program happened before I came here.  

I am so grateful to have this article from people who saw the work and recognized it.

Voyage Atlanta

Give it a read.

They helped me tell my story.

Oh the things we can teach through Musical Theater and Broadway Shows-The Sound of Music and my FREE Hairspray Unit!

If you follow my work, you know that I am obsessed with Broadway musicals.  When I was in the classroom, I used musical theater to talk about and teach things to the students about social issues and history all while learning about music.  I loved it, and they could tell I loved it, so they loved it too.

It all started with "The Sound of Music".  I remember showing it to my 6th graders during my first year teaching.  They loved it until it got to the part where the Von Trapp family was trying to escape.  They would tune out, and I would be dealing with restless children who didn't understand the historical context.  They didn't understand the covert conversations the Captain and Maria were having.  They didn't understand why Uncle Max and the Captain were at odds.

But, boy...when I realized that and then started teaching about World War II and the holocaust before I started showing the movie...with just a brief 30 minute introduction...it all shifted.  They started the movie watching for possible covert Nazi's (Ralph, 17 going on 18 is the first they see).  Then, they start to understand how the holocaust could happen...People just ignoring what is going on around them because they thought it didn't affect them.  

I've visited Sachsenhausen.  It was one of the first prototypes of what ultimately became Auschwitz and some of the other camps.

I took the walk from the train through the town to the concentration camp just like the people who were taken there involuntarily.

I heard the stories about how, at first, they just shot people one at a time, and to speed up the killing they started gassing them en masse.  I heard the stories about how they would do experiments, removing parts of people's brains in order to see how it would impact them.  The stories are plenty, and they are horrific.

Teaching this to the students before, during and after they watch this profound important work of art called "The Sound of Music" helps them to understand the fear they see in the movie but are unable to grasp without context.

This activity is more than just putting on a movie musical.  

We are teaching incredibly important things through the movie.

It is for that reason, that I began creating a line of products based on the teaching I did through musical theater and Broadway shows.   Each lesson is filled with tons of activities to expand the learning and understanding, all while studying music.  These are great for general music teachers, choral teachers, and social studies teachers.  

Try out a free version of the unit I created around the musical "Hairspray".  Here is a link to the free version!   Here is the link to "The Sound of Music" unit mentioned above!

Please leave reviews for this product.  It helps teachers to hear from you about it, it helps me make my products better for you, and it helps you because you get TpT credits towards future products!

http://bit.ly/44M8z80