Choir
Choir
Welcome! Thank you so much for visiting the Matthey Middle School Choir website!
The information below applies to the 2021-2022 school year.
Email is the best way to reach me:
20350 Red Forest Ln
San Antonio, TX 78264 (210) 882-1601 x1824
Mr. Bach’s philosophy of music education:
To use the medium of music to not only produce good musicians and singers and foster a lifelong love of music in them, but also to use music as a vehicle to produce quality, productive contributing members of society who are immediately identifiable in a positive way as having been in the Matthey Middle School Choir program.
Course Description:
In choir, you will learn how to read music using the Kodaly Solfege System while you prepare songs for a performance at the end of each semester and possible during school for students and faculty/staff. Performances are a required part of this class.
Textbook/Publisher/Cost:
All materials will be provided by the school
Outline of Course:
This school year will consist of building and improving music reading skills. At the end of each nine weeks, you will participate in a performance on which you will receive your exam grade. Attendance at the performance is required. Dates will be announced as well as specifics of the concerts due
Outline of Course:
This school year will consist of building and improving music reading skills. At the end of each nine weeks, you will participate in a performance on which you will receive your exam grade. Attendance at the performance is required. Dates will be announced as well as specifics of the concerts due
Concerts:
1st Nine Weeks: Mini-Concert during the school day (Probably recorded in-class and put on the website)
2nd Nine Weeks: Holiday Concert (Evening performance at Southside High School with parents and families and friends invited, but depending on the COVID situation)
3rd Nine Weeks: Large Group Performance Evaluation (Judged performance for a Score, UIL competition for the advanced choir, in-class for everyone else and put on the website)
4th Nine Weeks: Spring Concert at the high school (Dependent on the COVID situation)
Description of Standards:
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for Middle School Music (I,II, and III) will be taught during this course. It is state law that TEKS are followed in Texas classrooms. Normally, I is 6th grade, II is 7th grade, and III is 8th grade, but sometimes, for various reasons, students in 7th or 8th grade may be in their first year of choir. Please refer to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website for detailed listings of standards.
Middle School (1st year) I
https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=2&ch=117&rl=208
Middle School (2nd Year) II:
Middle School (3rd year) III:
https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=2&ch=117&rl=210
Grading:
All of Mr. Bach’s classes will follow the Southside ISD district grading policy, which is as follows:
90-100 A
80-89 B
70-79 C
60-69 D
59 and below F
Weighted Grading Scale:
Formative (Daily work, Participation, Behavior) 50%
Summative (Quizzes/Tests, etc.) 40%
9 Weeks Assessments/Concerts 10%
There will be a minimum of 2 grades a week per student
Supplies:
You will need the following items every day for this class:
a) folder with pockets
b) pencil
c) blank paper with lines inside the folder. (Provided by the school)
Expectations: Let’s create a positive atmosphere for learning!
All choir classes follow the Southside ISD Student Code of Conduct, which can be found here.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IF31OpL0M7wpf-jeGLwUOmJNqy6h9IzH/view
Daily Procedures and rules for all Choir Classes:
RESPECT EVERYONE
1) You need the following items everyday at your chair: pencil, folder, paper inside the folder.
2) Pick up your music folder everyday before you sit down.
3) When you walk in the door daily, you must immediately put your bookbag against the wall, walk to your assigned seat, and complete your written warm up silently. You are not allowed to talk during this time. The warm up will usually be on the screen in the front of the room.
4) Book bags are not allowed at your seat.
5) Cell Phones and Chromebooks: Unless I’ve specifically asked for you or given permission to you to use an electronic device in class at a specific time, you are not to use it. If you do so, I will take it from you, and it will not be returned until I decide to
return it. Don’t take the risk. Be respectful of the rules regarding the use of electronic devices.
6) Use the bathroom and get water BETWEEN classes only…..not DURING class.
7) Emergencies: If you are ill or have some sort of emergency and need to go to the bathroom during class, please let me know.
8) If you forget your folder, you will receive a 0 for a daily grade.
9) If you are late, bring an official Matthey hall pass signed by the teacher whose class you came from, and it will be excused. If you do not have a hall pass from a teacher or other staff member because you were finishing something for them, the tardy is UNEXCUSED and you will be required to have a tardy slip signed by an administrator before you are allowed in class
11) Please raise your hand before speaking if you have a question or comment. You should NEVER be talking when Mr. Bach is talking.
12) Please do not write on music room property.
13) Keep your hands and feet to yourself.
14) Do not play piano without permission.
15) Spit out gum and candy on your way in the door. It is not allowed in class.
16) Avoid leaning forward or backward in your chair.
17) You may sharpen your pencil before class. If you need to sharpen during class, please ask first.
18) Once you enter my room, you must stay inside my room and begin your warm up. You may not linger in the doorway or in the hall outside my room, and you may not put your books down and then go to the bathroom or walk out of the class.
19) Choir Field Trips (this year dependent on COVID protocols) are a privilege. You begin earning the right to go on those trips today. Remember that you show what kind of student you are every day.
20) Throwing objects is not allowed.
21) When announcements are on, we all listen.
22) Make up work policy.
23) Fire drills.
24) Leaving class- I will give you an appropriate amount of time to pack up and clean up. We will line up at the door in an orderly fashion in seat order and wait for the bell to dismiss us.
25) When going from our class to another part of the building or outside, we will line up in seat order and walk in the hallway in a single file line and quietly so we don’t disturb other classes and so that we show that we take pride in ourselves and in the Matthey Choir program.
Consequences of misbehaviors- Per District Policy:
Conference with student
Notify Parent
Parent Conference
Major write-up for administrators
(Note that some offenses are automatic minor or major write-ups and bypass these steps. Please see the student code of conduct linked to earlier.)
Excellence is not an act, but a habit. Remember that you are telling everyone what you stand for with everything you do and say. People are watching everything you do and say. always ask yourself, “If I were watching myself do or say this, would I have a good opinion of myself?”
Your daily grade is 50% of your total grade.
Here are the FOUR ways to Ensure You Get An “A” Everyday in Choir
1) Bring your pencil, folder and paper daily. Place the date on each warm up. Keep your folder in order by DATE. Random folder checks occur several times each month, and folders are collected for grading at the end of each nine weeks. (20 points daily).
2) Begin your warm up quietly and immediately (30 points daily).
3) Participate to the best of your ability and listen ACTIVELY. (30 points daily).
4) Pick up your singing folder daily as you enter the classroom and take it to your chair (20 points daily.)
Choir Uniform
The Choir uniform for your fall and winter concerts and for the Festival event and any other performances is:
*Black polo-style shirt with short sleeves.
*Black Pants
*Black Shoes
*Black belt if your pants have belt loops
COVID 19 Updates
***While we are approaching better and safer times, I will amend the plans in this syllabus as information evolves, and I will communicate those changes when necessary via email. Please make sure your email is up to date in my database.
***Until further notice, students will sing using a mask per Bexar County Health Department policy.
For all parents and students: Please sign the appropriate Google Form to not only let me know that you have read and understand the syllabus and class rules and procedures, but also to give me some needed contact information for you. Students who do not have both themselves and a parent/guardian signing the Google Form by Friday, August 20, will receive a 0 for class participation every day until the Google Form is filled out and the response recorded.
Google form for STUDENTS:
Google form for PARENTS: