Lessons to Celebrate Singing

For Music In Our Schools Month (MIOSM®), I thought I would share some of my favorite lessons for celebrating different forms of musicking. These are the lessons where we just bask in the joy of music-making- what's better than that? And (because I can never help myself) there are always musical skills and concepts students get more practice with...

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MIOSM® Bracket Song Lists

I love doing a March Madness- style bracket of songs each March for Music In Our Schools Month! It's a lot of fun, but the hardest part is coming up with a list of songs that are all school-appropriate for even the youngest students (I have students as young as preschool participating) while still being cool enough for the older ones (my oldest are...

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Setting Up Your MIOSM® Song Bracket in Google Slides®

I recently shared my plans for my 2023 Song Bracket for Music In Our Schools Month (MIOSM®). This has become one of my favorite school traditions and I can't wait to get started again in March! The last few years I have set up the audio files and voting process in Google Slides®, which has really improved the process for everyone, and today I'm sharing...

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3 Ways to Teach Orchestral Instrument Families

One of the topics most of us teach in elementary general music that can easily become dry and boring to teach (and to learn) is the instruments of the orchestra. But it doesn't have to be! Today I'm sharing my 3 favorite ways to teach lower elementary students the 4 families of instruments in the orchestra.1. Classical PiecesI'm sure this is an obvious...

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