Diction is so important for our choir singers, and if you need diction to be taught while you are absent for a day, these lessons are for you...and the good news is that you can do them with your students when you are in class with them too using this plan! It expands to as many as three days if you'd like it to do so through "enhancement" ideas that I've included to make it fun and to drive home the learning! From tall mouths to voiced/unvoiced consonants, this 1-3 day lesson plan covers a lot. What do you get? *A 9-page google slide presentation with slides explaining exactly ho ..read more

So many of you use my program, S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners, and I need your help getting the word out about this giveaway.  Please forward this to a choral colleague or post it on social media!  The only reason that people know about my program is because of teachers...just like you...and I am forever grateful!   I remember this time of year when I was in the classroom as quite stressful.  The students (and I) had spring fever, but there was a spring show lying ahead...and standardized testing in the middle of the final preparation weeks.   ..read more

I was in 5th grade. My sister, who was 6 years older than I was came home from school one day, and she said to me, "You're auditioning tomorrow for Amahl and the Night Visitors.  Mrs. Pierce says we need a boy to play Amahl.  Come in here for a quick voice lesson."   She was bossy. But I worshipped at her altar, and I said, OK. Even though I hadn't sung very much at all at that point.  ...And certainly not a lead role in a high school production.   I went in the next day to audition.   I was so nervous.   Ms. Pierce handled me with ..read more

In Lesson 6 of S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners, we introduce one of the most important skill sets in the entire program, and it is critical to teach it well the very first day. Not doing so can result in timid "CHAOS" sessions all year. If you are new to the program or if you've struggled with teaching "CHAOS" to your students, this product is for you. In this product, you will get a link to the video of me teaching "CHAOS" to my beginners. Your students will watch the video and then you will give them the 10-question quiz to make sure they've got it! Then, the next day, you will r ..read more

My students loved Hamilton the Musical from the moment it came out on Broadway in 2015. When that happens, I always work to take the energy and excitement and turn it into learning, and in my case since I was in the chorus classroom, passionate singing, and in the case of Hamilton the Musical, rapping that comes from the heart and is performed with conviction. Hamilton the Musical is a valuable tool for teaching about and discussing American history, and it is appropriate for upper middle school and high school students to see.  Students who are in chorus class will take it to the n ..read more

My students loved Hamilton the Musical from the moment it landed. When that happens, I listen. Students who don't sing can learn from Hamilton.  Students who do sing in chorus will take it to the next level.   I think it is part of the reason Lin Manuel Mirando created the show Hamilton. His parents came here from Puerto Rico.   He was born in 1980 in NYC.   He has an understanding of America and all of the opportunity that comes from the realness of what America really is and always was supposed to be all about.   Most of us who've lived her ..read more

I just finished conducting the Colorado Middle Allstate Choir.   I studied and prepared really hard for it because I chose music I'd never conducted before. I blogged about it here. I decided to create a one-day lesson that you can use for you and your students or you can use it for a substitute (music or non-music).  Click here to see it in my TpT store. It has links to the performances I studied as I prepared.   I included questions for the students to answer with you in discussion or in writing with a substitute. The total listening time is about 25 minut ..read more

They say the growth happens outside of our comfort zone. And I was WAY outside my comfort zone. In February of 2023, I presented some sessions at the annual Colorado Music Educator's Convention.   At the end of one of my sessions, two energetic teachers came up to me and asked if I would be interested in conducting their 2024 Middle School Allstate Choir.   What an honor!  So, I immediately said yes.   This would be my third Allstate Chorus conducting experience of my post-retirement career, and I have loved every single one.   I am so gratefu ..read more

I just read an article in the Choral Journal written by Marshaun R. Hyman about the manner in which various states weigh sight singing scores at Allstate Auditions.   The premise~ why are many states weighing the sight singing component of Allstate auditions so heavily?   In most states, they learn the music with tracks.    I’m simplifying.     You can read it here…. https://choralnet.org/archives/780507 In my view, annual choral assessments and adjudications are where sight singing should be evaluated.   Allstate chorus is not the place…especially i ..read more

I am a Sound of Music nerd.   I've watched it hundreds of times.   I went to Austria and did the Sound of Music bus tour in Salzburg and stayed in one of the filming locations near where the children fell into the lake wearing curtains as play clothes. I taught about the Sound of Music for 30 years as part of my curriculum in middle school and tied into real world history, and it led to many awesome conversations and lots of learning about both music and history. So, I created a unit to share with you and your students, and it is offered in my store on Teachers Pay ..read more