Extra Value Added To Packages for 2012
By janice | January 30, 2012
Every day, we have music teachers contact us about how to get hold of more teaching resources for less. At the Fun Music Company, we are very keen to ensure that the more you purchase with each order- the more value you should receive and the more you should save. I’ve just put this article together to let you know about some package offers we have available for 2012 and how you can save on purchasing multiple resources together.
Package Offer For The Music Director
This offer is designed for the music teacher who deals with all the students in a middle – junior high school and needs to teach a range of subjects in their general music lessons. Previously in 2011, this package only included 9 CD Rom’s and included materials for junior high and primary students, but for 2012, we’ve streamlined the materials to suit this middle school to junior high level and have added an extra 4 Cd’s to make it a 13 Cd-ROM plus two e-book package in all.
The resources included in this package are:
4 levels(4 Cd’s) of Printable Music Theory Books which is an entire theory curriculum workbook for any general music theory class.
5 Modules of Printable Music Lesson Plans where each module is a relevant termly topic which will be educational and fun for any general music class.
4 levels of Fun Music Theory Worksheets- Each Cd contains printable sheet after sheet of fun puzzles and games based on music theory concepts. It’s a great way to extend general music theory students.
Two E-books which are called “ Lifesavers for the Music Teacher” and “Fun Choir Warm-Ups” and are jam packed full of teaching ideas and games for the general music teacher.
There is enough content in this package to give any music teacher an entire music theory curriculum for the whole of middle or junior high school level- and the best part is the preparation work is all done! So how much do you think you would save by purchasing the whole package together?. Purchasing these resources individually would cost over $550 so how much saving do you think we could offer by purchasing these resources together? Perhaps $50? $100? $200? $250? Well think again and Click here to find out.
Package Offer for the Classroom Music Teacher
This package offer is designed for the general classroom or music teacher who wants to give general music content about a whole range of different topics over a year (most teachers find that these combined modules last for longer than a year for each class). This package includes a total of 5 CD-Rom’s which are printable and usable with classroom projectors or interactive whiteboards plus one e-book with tonnes of “gem” teaching ideas included. Each topic includes a full set of fact sheets, comprehension worksheets, keynote presentations to use with any projector or interactive whiteboard, fun game worksheets based on the content, lesson ideas for a variety of ages and abilities and links to the best sources on the internet. You can easily print out the sheets you need for your classes or you can make an entire booklet for each student because it is copyright free once you purchase. The topics covered in this package include:
- Printable Music Lesson Plan Cd-Rom: Instruments Of The Orchestra
- Printable Music Lesson Plan Cd-Rom: The Great Composers
- Printable Music Lesson Plan Cd-Rom: History Of Rock and Roll
- Printable Music Lesson Plan Cd-Rom: Jazz and Blues
- Printable Music Lesson Plan Cd-Rom: World Music
- E-book: Lifesavers For the Music Teacher
Click here to find out more on this deal
Package Offer for Private Instrumental Music Teachers
in this package offer, for just $99 the private studio teacher can get all the extra resources they need to help retain students and make it fun without all the preparation that these extra activities usually take after hours. The package includes the following six assets to any studio business:
Printable Music Games- this set of printable games is for young children with a short attention span. it’s perfect for giving a break in playing and revising some theory skills – while having fun. Perfect to use for individual lessons or small group situations.
Printable Music Theory book 1- unlike any other theory book, this theory book can be printed out for as many students as you need. This is a general beginning to music for the older beginner theory for approx 6 years and up and aligns with all the main music examination boards from around the world.
Junior Musicianship System- this is your theory course for your younger beginner. Each worksheet is simple with no words so it works in nicely for teachers to explain it in their own way and there is only one new concept per page so that any musical terminology doesn’t get confusing to young musicians.
Musical terms for the Digital Age- Any studio or instrumental teacher who teaches theory knows how hard it can be to get students to remember their musical terms for exams. These are a group of fun worksheets to help revise these terms.
Ultimate Flashcard Set: This flashcard set has been evolving for over 5 years now- and it’s designed to be relevant for studio teachers in revising theory concepts ready for theory exams. What makes this set of flashcards different to any other is that if a teacher doesn’t find what they need in it, they simply let us know and we’ll add it in provided it will help the wider music teaching community. You can print off as many flashcards as you need – you can print for specific lessons or the whole lot in one hit- the choice is yours!
Ultimate Practice System- Any studio teacher knows the need for student practice and incentive charts. This resource is jam packed full of ideas for practice- it will show you how to get students to practice and you can choose from a range of incentive charts, matching stickers and loads of ideas to keep your students inspired.
Here’s what teachers have been saying about these resources and packages :
” I am overwhelmed by the information contained in these kits. I’ve just written a grade seven semester unit plan, from the printable World Music kit. It is so easy to use and to adapt to my own classroom, and ALL the resources are there! This has made my planning so simple and easy! THANK YOU!!”- Carla McGlynn
“I have two very young students (1 6 years old and 1 just turned 7) and have found the Junior Musicianship System invaluable. They love the Note Drawing Sheets – and of course the Games are a real hit with them. I am also using the Note Drawing sheets for older beginners too – they are a great resource for helping them to remember.” – Margaret Bennett-Hall
” Recently I ordered your advanced theory worksheets because one of my students is in a jazz band. I knew jazz students needed to understand modes and I spent several months looking for the best way to explain modes.
I joined several jazz lesson sites and communicated with the teachers, hoping to get a better understanding of them. Instead, I seemed to get more confused!
After looking at your worksheets, it became very obvious how to create each scale in any key and the formula for the modes in that key.
I was also amazed at how easy they actually are and wondered why so many teachers are making it much harder to comprehend than it really is.
Thank you for your great worksheets.” – Cheryl W
” I recently purchased the History of Rock and Roll curriculum and I am extremely impressed. The lessons are well organized and offer many activities and recordings that can be modified for middle to high school – I am currently using this curriculum with 12th grade! Having all the research done, well organized, and already in powerpoint has afforded me the opportunity to spend my time in more creative aspects of planning! ” – adau
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Topics: Fun Music Company Announcements, music lesson promotion, music teacher resources
Five Ways to Keep Your Class Totally Engaged in Music
By janice | January 24, 2012
What was your first experience of music? Was it dancing in the kitchen? Listening to a parent sing along to the radio? Or perhaps, pounding the piano keys with your sister or brother?
As educators, we aspire to re-create the experience that made us want to learn more about music. At their most fundamental level, we want our classes to be havens for self-expression, where students feel safe to explore and learn. Here are five simple strategies to help you keep that spark of learning in your classes, with an eye toward children’s developmental levels, the intrinsic need for play, and maintaining control of the class.
1. Maintain Eye Contact
Whenever possible, stay at the students’ level. Young children are bound to get distracted, for example, if you need to walk across the room to sit behind the piano. This is why the guitar works so well when teaching music to children. Its portability and positioning is ideal for instruction within the intimacy of a circle. Sit down with students to set the tone that music is something to be shared.
2. Modeling
Sometimes nothing is more powerful for spreading the music bug than to watch the depths of human expression come alive in a performance. Sharing one’s passion about something can be contagious. You may try spontaneously playing something you’ve been working on or inviting a guest to the class, such as a peer from the high school or a parent who makes his or her living in music. Save time for questions and answers, and make note of what intrigues your students.
3. Allow for Movement
According to the Orff approach, children learn best when teachers create an atmosphere that is similar to a child’s world of play. An Orff-inspired classroom is based on “things children like to do: sing, chant rhymes, clap, dance, and keep a beat on anything near at hand.”(1) Use echo clapping to call the class to attention or teach rhythms, and march together to the beat of a drum. Make instruments available to children that they can easily play, such as xylophones, tamborines, and maracas, in order to access their natural curiosity.
4. Use Collaborative Classroom Methods
When students’ interests and choices are incorporated into the lessons, they will inevitably be more invested in the class. What do your students know? What real-world examples can they bring to the forum and how can you capitalize on this? For example, older students may be asked to share some of their favorite pop songs. Play them in class and analyze different elements of the piece (instrumentation, rhythm, beat, notation). For a lesson on composers, ask collectively, then write student-generated questions on the board: What do we know (about Mozart)? What do we want to know? And after the lesson, What have we learned?
5. Keep Instructions Concise
Try using singing or sound cues to signal various routines in class, such as a chime to tell students when to quiet down for meeting time. Have students choose from a variety of songs in various music styles to use for a cleanup song (one class I taught chose Dave Brubeck’s “Take 5” as a cleanup song). To help students internalize routines and understand desired outcomes, keep verbal instructions to a minimum and instead, model or show students what you want them to do.
i American Orff-Schulwerk Association. “What is Orff Schulwerk?” Copyright 2011
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iBook 2: How Does this Affect The Music Teacher?
By janice | January 23, 2012
“There is no reason today to assume that our kids have to use the same tools they did back in 1950 – Infact to do so is to prepare them for a world that has already past”
This was a quote taken from some of the marketing video streamed last week, in Apple’s latest presentation in a bid to help teachers face the challenges of education today. In the launch Apple’s senior VP of marketing Phil Schiller talked about how they can help in the area of student engagement in the classroom and he ran a short video stating some of the challenges that teachers face in the classroom. Here are some of the teacher quotes from the video shown:
“ Education is in the Dark Ages- No fundamental changes have occurred in 150 years”
“ It’s very difficult to be a teacher and to be a student when resources are not available; when class sizes are 40+ and buildings are in disrepair”
“ Students have difficulty with reading writing and arithmetic at the high school level”
“ There have been studies of classroom walk -through throughout the country and (generally) there are very low levels of student engagement and kids are just bored!”
“You can’t expect them to go from a world at home where they’ve got a laptop or a smartphone in their pocket, or a computer on their desk and come into school and have all that disappear”
“Unfortunately not all classrooms have all the technology or even textbooks they need to succeed”
“Teachers get very discouraged when their students don’t succeed and graduate knowing that their teachers have failed them or the system has failed them”
“The ability to engage a student is the key to being a good teacher”
“Using outdated materials such as textbooks make the job (of teaching) much more difficult”
“Textbooks are usually very expensive- they’re usually $50-$100 each, so they’re adopted for 4-5 years and then you’re usually stuck with them”
“Textbooks are usually heavy and if you have three or four of them in a backpack, they’re a lot of weight- so some students will quit bringing them to school”
Apple’s answer to the challenge of promoting more student engagement in the classroom is a new iPad application called iBooks 2 . I’ve put this short guide together to explain it in a “nutshell” and to look at some thoughts about it’s use – especially in the music classroom.
What is iBook 2?
As Apple’s senior VP of marketing Phil Schiller explained in Thursday’s launch, textbooks are outdated – They are often old, dogeared, expensive to buy, students don’t feel they can highlight them, they are heavy and these days the information inside often dates before the book has been released from the publishing house. Since The iPad has fast become every teenager’s number one wish list item, using an iPad to encourage reading text books in the classroom is the future of learning.
All any iPad user needs to do is download iBook 2, which is a free application to their iPad. This application enables any user to browse though textbooks of different categories and add them to their bookshelf. In the classroom, a teacher would suggest a textbook for each student to use and each student would download the book for a cost of around $15, which is a very competitive price compared to any traditional text book publisher.
Thursday’s onstage presentation of iBooks 2 outlined some exciting features which included:
- An opening page movie- to get the reader excited and motivated for their learning ahead
- Interactive Images- you can easily enlarge the images shown in the book and you can even interact with the images, by writing labels, playing simple games and categorising them in the right order
- Unlike traditional textbooks there is no crease in the centre- so this makes for an easier read
- Each student can easily highlight relevant notes in the textbook and write a comment about the notes- then this information is displayed together on a separate page for easy study later on
- Relevant notes can be automatically made into learning flashcards
- Navigating new unknown words is easy- simple press the word in question and you’ll go to the glossary section at the end of the book.
- The textbook can incorporate an end of chapter revision quiz- where students are actively revising the content of the book as they progress through it
Take a look at this short YouTube Video put out by Apple which brilliantly outlines it’s use and need:
How Could it Be Used in the Music Classroom?
This seems like a great new system to encourage learning and technology with junior – upper high school students. What do you think? What would you be looking for in a Music textbook for this age group? Would your students afford an iPad each to use? Could you imagine using an interactive textbook with your classes? Let us know what you’re thinking on this “hot’ topic as any new advancements in technology are always great reasons to network with the wider teaching community.
Other Helpful Articles:
Live Streaming of the Apple Announcement
iBooks 2: A Guide to The Free Textbook App
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