Starting a Recorder Club: Top Recorder Consort Resources for Music Teachers
Starting a recorder club is a fantastic way to give upper elementary and middle school students a fresh, hands-on ensemble experience. A recorder ensemble helps students build independence on their parts, develop blending and balancing skills, and explore harmony in a...
Bringing Recorder Consorts to Life in Upper Elementary and Middle School
When we picture recorders in the music classroom, most of us imagine students playing in unison on soprano recorder. But the moment you introduce alto, tenor, or bass recorders, the entire room shifts—students sit up, gasp, and whisper a collective “WOW!” This is...
Creating Eerie Classroom Soundscapes
This season is the perfect time to explore soundscapes with your students! Soundscapes are musical environments that capture a mood, setting, or atmosphere. They’re not about structured rhythm or melody; instead, they use layered sounds to create an almost cinematic...
11 Bulletin Board Ideas for the Elementary Music Room
How I Started with Music Bulletin Board Ideas When I started at my new school, I walked into a building mid-renovation—not a single music bulletin board was up. I was also adjusting to life in a new country, learning unfamiliar systems, routines, and expectations, all...
Soundscapes
My concert is this week! The theme is “Landscapes.” We’ve taken a creative approach, shaping the music to reflect the ideas and sounds of different landscapes, making our performance into a bit of an immersive musical journey. Our process started with a simple...
Meaningful Movement: A Music Teacher’s Guide to Dalcroze Eurhythmics
Meaningful Movement: A Music Teacher’s Guide to Dalcroze Eurhythmics by Marla Butke and David Frego is a practical and easy-to-use resource for music educators who want to integrate Dalcroze-inspired movement into their teaching. With a clear structure and engaging...
Rhythm Systems for the Elementary Music Room
In my classroom, I drew and cut out two objects that looked like toolboxes. One is called the rhythm toolbox, and the other is the melody toolbox. I often tell students that they have two toolboxes at their sides, one for rhythm and the other for melody, to help...
Music In Our Schools Month!
To music teachers, March means one thing…. It’s Music In Our Schools Month! The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) proudly created and celebrates this month the 40th annual Music In Our Schools Month. This year’s theme, “United Through Music,”...
Seesaw: Activities for the Music Romm
Being relatively new to my school, I’m still adjusting to a schedule where I see students only once a week—a major shift after 21 years of seeing them twice a week. This change has required me to recalibrate my expectations, activities, and overall approach. In the...
Learning Stations In The Music Room
For a long time, I watched my colleagues, who were homeroom teachers, regularly implement learning centers in their classrooms. I loved what I saw: students demonstrating independence, experiencing different opportunities for socialization, and receiving one-on-one...