Danse Macabre: Shadow Puppet Show

This project-based unit for 3rd – 5th graders is based on the classic 1867 version of the piece, Danse Macbre. This is the perfect spooky, but not too scary, lesson for your students during Halloween. The unit culminates in a shadow puppet performance, but along the way students are actively listening to music for instruments…

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The Music Box: A Project Based Learning Activity

A great introductory project that is based on student interests. Can be modified easily to work in any subject, and incorporates numeracy, budgeting, and other math skills. This open-ended idea has students creating monthly “loot crates” based around a central theme (music in this case) and then they have to create a budget figuring out…

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The Sign of the Beaver: A Game-based Learning Project

After leading a small Lit Circle with some 3rd & 4th graders we took our text, The Sign of the Beaver, and turned it into a board game. A fun and effective activity that utilized both project-based and game-based learning. Literacy instruction isn’t typically within my wheelhouse but I was really proud of the work…

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Podcasting: Content & Themes

As part of middle school electives I am currently running a course on podcasting. Beyond the technical proficiency required, the most important part of podcasting would be content. Generating topic, ideas, and themes is essential. We spent the last few periods running through the gamut of brainstorming activities to think of what is important to not just the audience, but…

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21st Century Music – Guest Speaker

Grammy Nominated Producer, Bryan Wilson, took some time out of his busy schedule to speak to my class of eager 7th & 8th graders. He talked about what it means to be a producer, all the hats he has to wear, and how important communication and collaboration are to his job every day.

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