General Music - Middle School
Since this is a three year rotating class, we cover many topics. Topics vary from music and copyright, evaluating music, music of politics, music and our health, and more! We use various tools including Photo Story 3, Noteflight, Powerpoint, EDUGlogster, Wordle, and many more. Below is the information that I have shared at conferences relating to hands-on projects for the middle school general music classroom.
Christmas Carol –
- Photo Story 3 - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=11132
- Sites for research
- Students researched the composer(s), when it was written and other historical information, any significant event since it was written, and the lyrics.
- Sites with royalty free music
Music in Media
- Movie Maker - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/movie-maker-get-started
- This is a unit study on the effect music has on the media we watch
- Purpose of the project is for the students to choose appropriate music for their commercial
- Students are divided into groups of 3-4
- They are then given an actual commercial and 3 different pieces of music
- A new commercial will be scripted by the group for the product in the original commercial
- The need to listen to the three pieces of music and decide which one is most appropriate for their commercial
- Planning is made as to the videotaping of the commercial
- It is then edited with audio added in Movie Maker
Opera
- Powerpoint or Google Presentation
- Also completed with National Anthem
Noteflight
- www.noteflight.com
- Use lesson plans available
Glogster for Education – Virtual/Online Posters
- edu.glogster.com - Make sure to go to the edu site - the general glogster site has some objectionable material.
Wordle
- www.wordle.net
- Can also be done with www.abcya.com - fifth grade - word clouds
- I have done Wordle with the National Anthem, Christmas carols, and many more. Just use your imagination.
BrainPop
- www.brainpop.com -
- There are videos on many subjects. Some of the music videos are free, but some require a subscription. This site also includes quizzes that correlate with the videos, activities, games, etc.
Animusic
- www.animusic.com
- Use lesson plans at www.animusic.com/education
Teaching Music Through Composition by Barbara Freedman
- I just started using this book in 2014, but it has been fantastic for my class. I intend to work all the way through the book. It keeps the students engaged and they love listening to their classmates compositions.
- I use Soundation4Education by MusicFirst to complete the lessons.
If you have any questions about these projects, feel free to contact me at cedwards@ecstoledo.org.
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