New Room! (Preview)

I have a new classroom!

It doesn't have a desk... or a whiteboard... or any storage for instruments... but I have a new classroom!

Luckily, we recruit in the fall, so it's not a HUGE deal that it's not done yet.  I am confident praying it will be done by the time we start in a few weeks.

Anyway, I'm still pretty excited.  I made these posters to hang on the otherwise-boring walls outside the room.  It brightens up the space, and I have to say I'm pretty proud of the music-advocacy statement they make.  Plus, it's one small thing I feel like I have a little control over :)

Please excuse the crooked/blurry pictures.  I almost got trampled by the 2nd graders on their way out to recess!

I made one for band too.  Don't want them to feel left out!

Stay tuned for pictures of the inside!  Right now it's not ready for company yet...

What's in your Sub Tub?

The general music teachers in my district have Sub Tubs.  How brilliant is that?

It's basically a box of emergency sub plans in case you get a non-orchestra sub.  And the likelihood of that happening is pretty high. My principals allow me to cancel class if I can't find an orchestra sub (if they're not going to be learning orchestra AND they're missing whatever they're pulled out from, is it a good use of time?), but I thought it was time to make a Sub Tub just in case.

These ideas came from all over the place.  Some of them are from our method book.  (I'm telling you, Orchestra Expressions is the best method book ever--they even include sub plans!)  Others came from Pinterest (LOVE Pinterest!), the School Orchestra and String Teachers Facebook page (LOVE this group!), and my colleagues (LOVE my colleagues!)  

In the Sub Tub, I included a "Menu" so the sub can do activities they feel comfortable with.  Sneakily, the menu items are listed in the order I prefer they be done :)

Even if the sub feels comfortable having them play, I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT have them tune.  Unless they're a string player, I feel like it's just going to mean lots of broken strings.

Requests-My kids love to play requests.  Sometimes we do this if we have a few extra minutes at the end of a lesson (this rarely happens.)

Solo for a Sticker-Students take turns playing a solo for the class and earn a sticker to put on their folder.  Audience members are expected to show good concert etiquette.

D and A String Notes Koosh Game-One of my colleagues made this game and it is GREAT!  The kids get to take turns  throwing a Koosh ball at the SmartBoard.  The spot they hit takes them to a note to name.  Then back to the first slide and repeat!

Note Reading/Rhythm Practice on Chromebooks-Our district is 1:1 with Google Chromebooks.  It's awesome.  I have a bunch of links for note reading and rhythm games at my website.

Instrument Biography-This idea came from Tricia Laux.  It is a writing activity.  The kids can either write it by hand the "old fashioned" way or share it with me on Google Drive.  In it, they tell me the (fictional) story of their instrument.

• Full Name of Instrument, Birth Date
• Where was it “born?” Who made it?
• Details on travels, experiences
• Who has played it, injuries
• Any other details

Youtube-I made a Youtube favorites list of pre-viewed, orchestra-appropriate videos and shared the password on the sub menu.  As always, I'd be careful to show students' suggestions (and they will have many) unless it's a video you've already seen and know it's appropriate.  Please learn from my mistake: When I was student teaching, I showed the Pachelbel Rant to some 8th grade students.  (Worth a watch if you're a string person and haven't seen it)  It has a mild curse word at the end and I felt HORRIBLE.  I'm sure it was nothing they hadn't heard before, but I was still really embarrassed and hope it never happens again.

Rhythm War-Like the card game War, but with notes.  See the original post here.

Orchestra Bingo-Stolen from the same brilliant colleague as the Koosh game, this Bingo set has a "word bank" or terms and symbols and kids fill out their own cards.  I'll probably throw a bag of Frooties in the tub for prizes.

Note Naming Dice-I saw these dice online but can't find the link anymore!  Should have saved it when I saw it.  Anyway, they are 8-sided dice with the D and A string notes on them.  The kids roll them, then name the note (or finger).  If I ever find them, I'm going to color-code them to make sure the kids are reading the right notes for their instrument. (Also, if you know where I saw it, PLEASE post a comment!!)

Orchestra Expressions Sub Plans-I am wild about our method book, Orchestra Expressions (and the publisher is NOT paying me to say that!), and they included a couple of sub/supplemental plans.  One is a composition activity and the other is listening.

I'd gladly post some of the files for the activities listed here, but it doesn't look like Blogger supports that.  If you'd like anything, send me a message and I'd be happy to e-mail you.

What do you put in your sub tub?  I know there are other great ideas out there!  I love to steal ideas, so if you have anything, please post it in the comments!

Orchestra is AWESOME!

What a busy summer!  I taught a bunch of private lessons, started my Master's degree, and my husband and I took a trip to Europe.  It's almost slower now that we're back to school!

The beginning of the year is kind of a big deal for us in our district.  We do fall recruiting, so now is the time to get kids excited about (and signed up for) orchestra.  I'm really thankful to have good numbers in all my schools and also really thankful that I went from having 4 schools last year to 3 this year.  Everything seems a lot less crazy!

Recruiting 4th graders (beginners in my district) is one of my favorite things.  I love to play the instruments for them and see their excitement when they get to play the instruments themselves for the first time.  This year, my theme is movie music.  I've actually used it for a couple of years now and it seems to work well.  Here's what I'm playing on each instrument:

Violin-theme from Star Wars
Viola-Let it Go from Frozen
Cello-Everything is Awesome from the Lego Movie (Keep reading for more on Everything is Awesome!)
Bass-Theme from Jaws (naturally)

I'll admit that I try to stack the deck a little bit so I don't end up with a violin-only orchestra.  Picking popular tunes to play on the viola and cello seems to get kids a little more excited about playing those instruments.  For some reason, I never have a shortage of bass players. (Until they get to 5th grade, at least... if you have the secret for keeping bass players, please share!)

After they hear the demonstration, the kids get to play the instruments!  I know some people get worried about letting the kids play without proper form, but there is nothing in the world like getting to hold and play an instrument.  These kids get so excited to saw away and I love to see their enthusiasm.

Now back to "Everything is Awesome."  I never saw the Lego Movie, but one of my colleagues is really fired up about the song.  I Youtubed it yesterday and it is such a catch tune!  It's been stuck in my head for a day and a half!  In case you haven't seen it, here's the clip.  Watch at your own risk!

This particular colleague used the tune in her recruiting, changing the words to "Orchestra is Awesome," and I really liked that.  Maybe that can be our theme for the year!

 A Lego orchestra!  How awesome is that!?

How do you recruit?  What could I try to make my recruiting even better?  And, most importantly, what do I do to keep my bass players between 4th and 5th grade?

And if you're a public school strings teacher, (or I guess anybody, for that matter) have a great year!