Lots of your students will spend some time in the summer camping.As the weather warms up and you’re thinking about summer, campfire songs make a nice unit. In my view, campfire songs are songs that are familiar, that you may have sung at summer camp, and that are easy for all ages to sing along with. […]
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Outside Music Classes For those of you in the south, you’ve had nice weather for a while now. But up north in Alberta, the last snowfall was May 5th. After a long winter, when nice weather finally arrives everyone wants to be outside – students AND teachers. I really enjoy taking music class outside. Singing […]
Are you doing assessments for your end of the year report cards? One of the areas that I want to assess is how well children perform music in choirs, Orff ensemble, on unpitched instruments, recorder, ukulele or guitar. Assess a Choral Performance When you’re conducting a choir, it’s almost impossible to assess the performance of an […]
Are you doing assessments for your end of the year report cards? One of the areas that I want to assess is how well children perform music in choirs, Orff ensemble, on unpitched instruments, recorder, ukulele or guitar. Types of Voices: Speaking, Singing, Whisper, Shouting, “Thinking” In most music curriculums, children in K-1-2 are expected to be […]
Talent Shows
The Grandview Elementary School talent show was an annual event that had the most amazing array of talent. We had a 12 year old world champion double baton twirler, and a young world class tumbler, who worked with Cirque de Soleil after he graduated. We also had many karate kata performances, dance solos, and […]
Did you know MusicplayOnline has a new Easter Unit AND a new Spring Unit? Related Songs There are lots of Easter and Bunny/Rabbit Songs: Compose a melody for Easter or Spring! There’s a so-mi version, a do-re-mi version and a drm sl or CDE GA version. Easter Egg Hunt Practice […]
Did you know Musicplay Online has resources to teach ukulele? This week on the blog and newsletter, we will share with you what is available online and in our print resources for ukulele. Introduction Video Here is a short introduction to the ukulele. It includes the history, explains the different types and sizes of ukulele, the […]

Find the Easter Basket A fun lesson for the week before Easter, would be to teach your classes, Find the Easter Basket. This has always been a favorite lesson for me to teach before Easter. It’s a great opportunity to review dynamics, including crescendo and decrescendo or diminuendo. Process: if teaching to K, teach the […]
2018-03-09 St Patrick’s Day Lesson Ideas The St. Patrick’s Day Composition, Improvisation Flashcards & Theory Unit is available to download from Teachers Pay Teachers OR use the interactive composition, improvisation, Rhythm Chain and Rhythm erase at www.musicplayonline.com. Musicplayonline has 10+ Irish folk songs and instrumental selections for movement/listening that aren’t included in the TPT version. The […]

Wow! In one week, we’ve celebrated Valentine’s Day, seen the start of the Winter Olympics, and started Lunar New Year celebrations – including Chinese New Year on Feb. 15th! We’ve created an entire Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year celebration at www.musicplayonline.com. If you don’t subscribe to the online site, You can download the […]