Additional Resources

1. Piano Music: Mrs. Fernandez gave us a packet of music intended for a keyboard unit. The packet includes pieces like Sonatina by Clementi, Minuet by Bach, Georgia On My Mind by Hoagie Carmichael, Secrets by One Republic, Hava Nagila the melody to Piano Man by Billy Joel, and the Theme to Surprise Symphony by Haydn to name a few. The packet offers a wide variety of pieces for students who are beginners, intermediate, and advanced players. This music could be used as repertoire in a keyboard/piano unit or even included in a unit on musical genre and style. The students would be reading notation and learning how that relates to playing the piano. A criticism of this resource could be that perhaps some of the students would not recognize any of this piano music and would then feel isolated. However, as I teacher, I would allow each student to bring a piece in that they would want to share so all of the students feel like the music that they listen to is validated. Another disadvantage to a keyboard unit is that there may not be enough keyboards for everyone to play and class becomes very individualized. 2. Choral Music: Mrs. Fernandez gave us copies of the choral music she used in choir. Some of the pieces include Wayfaring Stranger, by Rollo Dilworth, Viva la Vida recorded by Coldplay, Pink Panther by Henry Mancini, and Turn the World Around by Harry Belafonte and Robert Freedom. While this is primarily a middle school choral resource, some of the popular pieces could be used in a general music class, especially Coldplays Viva la Viva. Mrs. Fernandez arranged an accompaniment for Orff instruments for Viva la Viva and any of the music could be rearranged by the teacher or students in a composition unit to fit the needs and wants of the class. I also think it is important to incorporate singing and how to properly sing in general music class because some students may never have or take the opportunity to be in choir. These pieces are very appropriate range-wise for middle school voices and provide a decent challenge in terms of note-reading and reading rhythms. I also think based on my observations that these pieces are relatable and can be very exciting to perform for middle school students. 3. http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/music/songs/: This website offers a wide variety of lesson plans, worksheets, teaching tools and tips for middle school music educators. I would use this website if I were looking for lesson plan ideas. This website seems to cover many possible topics in general music and is organized well. My only concern would be obtaining the resources for some of the lessons on this website if the student or I didnt already have it like garage band or something. However, Im sure something could be worked out with planning and preparation. 4. http://www.menc.org/: This website offers resources like articles or music for band, orchestra, general music, and choir. It is clearly organized and unifies national standards for music education curriculum. The website also promotes

educational conferences and workshops for further study of music education. I would use this website to read about current issues in music education, new ideas in music education, access resources and music for music classes and ensembles, and lastly, keep up to date on potential learning opportunities at a conference or event. 5. Teaching Kids to Sing Kenneth H. Phillips: This book offers strategies on how to teach vocal technique, choral warm-ups, and a choir rehearsal. I think that teaching student how to sing, especially students with changing voices whether they are in choir or general music, could be very difficult. With this book, I could get ideas on how to approach teaching singing. I did not agree with every suggestion from the book, especially some of the resonance and dynamics exercises in the warm-up section, but on the whole, it was useful. 6. Teaching Musical Literacy Kyle J. Weary: This article discusses an effective way to teach music literacy to children. It debates over how important music literacy is and what point constitutes wasting time. This article is a reminder for me to always consider the students wants and goals, and that while music literacy is important it is not the be all, end all of making music. 0p 7. www.edmodo.com/: This online forum is a safe space for students to discuss music and what they are learning in the music classroom. I think it is important for students to have a space where they can talk without the teacher feeding them thoughts. Oftentimes, students learn better form one another. 8. www.music-map.com: This website is used see how artists are classified (by genere) and what other artists they musically relate to. This would allow students to see how the artists they are listening to connect with other composers and performers that they may not even know. This website could be used to promote music listening and could be involved in a listening unit lesson or a unit of genre and style. 9. http://kodaly.hnu.edu/: The American Folk Song Collection: This is an online archive of folk songs that can be used in the classroom. These songs can be used in learning solfege, intervals, and in a lesson about folk songs/heritage. It offers a large selection of folk songs and with so many options; the students will most likely like some that I would pick for a lesson. 10. Audacity, http://audacity.sourceforge.net/: This program can be used in place of garage band because it is good for PCs and Macs. It is free and can be used to record live audio, cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together. This could be used in a composition unit and really allow the students to be creative.