December 17 - 21

Seventh Grade - We are finishing our Jingle and creating our commercials.

Eighth Grade - We are finishing the jazz unit and starting the history of Rock and Roll

Chorus Class - Caroling and Performing our last show of the season.

EIGHTH GRADE RESEARCH PROJECT

Your report: Must be at least 5 paragraphs and must contain –


Biography of Artist (personal details)

History of Artist (musical information)

Influences (Those who influenced the artist and vice versa)

Update (If still living, where is the artist today?)

Any other interesting information about your artist/band

The report MUST be in PARAGRAPH FORM!!!! I do not want bullets or fragments. This MUST be in your own words!!! If you copy and paste from the Internet you will get a zero and be reported for plagiarism.

Back Page –

Artist’s “Greatest Hits” this can be bulleted/list form – this can be a copy/paste from the Internet and does not need to be in paragraph form.

BIBLIOGRAPHY of all Work Cited (at least 2) – all references must be in bibliography for proper credit! www.google.com is not a bibliography – that is a search engine!

DUE Tuesday, December 11

Picture – 10pts

5x5 – 50 pts

Greatest Hits – 10 pts

Bibliography – 20 pts

Presentation – 60 pts

December 3 - 7

Seventh Grade - We will be doing our Found Sound compositions and performances.  We will use a perception chart as we listen to the Unsquare Dance. 

Written Test on the Listening Vocabulary on Thursday!

Friday we will be singing in SAB format!


Eighth Grade - We are learning the 5 chords required for guitar playing in 8th grade.

Written Guitar Test on Thursday! 

We are learning the 12 bar blues scale on Friday.


Chorus Class - Finalizing our stage performance for Baby, It's Cold Outside.  We will be working with the microphones this week.

November 27-30

Seventh Grade - We are playing boom whackers this week.  We are reading music and playing it as a class, each student is assigned to one boom whacker.  Thursday we will be listening to several genre's of music and we will determine what genre we hear.  Friday we start a found sound mini-unit.  Each student must bring a found sound "instrument" to class for Monday the 3rd.

Eighth Grade - We start the GUITAR UNIT!!!  This week we will learn to play the first 4 chords.  We will also have our research project assigned to us.  This will be assigned on Wednesday.  Check back, because I will have the rubric posted on my blog!

Chorus Class - Written speaking parts are due on Wednesday.  Our singing test on Baby is also on Wednesday.  Friday we will fine tune our movements for Baby.

November 13 - 21

Seventh Grade - We are finishing our pentatonic presentations.  We will be trying our hand at a rhythmic listening activity.  Friday November 16th is our written test on the parts of music.  Monday we begin our listening lesson Unit.

Eighth Grade - We are finishing our Banana Boat Song presentations.  We will be assessed on the notes, rests and their values on Friday November 16th.  We will do a musical science experiment as to the effect back ground music has on us.  Tuesday and Wednesday we will listen to a piece of music by Gavin Degraw and discuss how a song's message can be a part of our lives.

Chorus Class - We will be on stage singing and dancing.  Every student will have a piece from the concert assigned to them for writing.  All students must memorize they lyrics to "Baby, It's Cold Outside."

November 5 - 9

Seventh Grade - We are starting the marking period learning the parts of music.  We will be rhythm writing and performing our rhythms.  We will also start the pentatonic scale this week.  Our first written test is scheduled for November 13th. 

Any student who doesn't finish their rhythm writing will have to do that for homework on Monday night.

Eighth Grade - We are working on Calypso music.  We will start by note and rhythm writing.  We will continue with learning a calypso song and writing our own lyrics.  Written test is scheduled for November 13th.

Chorus Class - We will be on stage singing this week.  We have a performance on Thursday morning in the auditorium for Veteran's Day.

October 22 - 30

Seventh Grade - We are finishing our listening unit.  We will be listening to the songs selections chosen by the class members.  We will also be having our sing-off.  Students will sing prepared songs and judges will critique them using their listening skills.

Eighth Grade - Students are finishing their Rock and Roll presentations.  We will also have a mini sing-off to finish out the marking period.

Chorus Class - Students are being assigned a letter writing project.  They must invite someone to the concert.  We will also be working on our Baby, It's Cold Outside number.

County Chorus

Congratulations to the following North Schuylkill Treble Maker Chorus Members who made it into County Chorus this year -

(Listed Alphabetically by audition part)

Soprano 1 - Bryel Frasch and Shaylee Miller

Soprano 2 - Annina Manganiello

Alto 1 - Kaitlyn Bechler and Arianna Kessler

Alto 2 - Sarah Barket, Taylor Lindenmuth, and Sarah Stepanchick

Tenor - Zach Chernewski, Anthony Kurdilla III, and Aden Wolfe

Bass - Patrick Gownley


Thank you to everyone who auditioned!  You made me super proud tonight!  I am so proud to be your director!!!  I love you guys!!!!  Thank you for working so hard! 

October 15 - 19

Seventh Grade - The seventh grade students will begin listening to their song selections.  We will use a Venn diagram to compare three songs.  Another day we will compare one of their songs to folk and multicultural music.  We will also begin the class sing off on Wednesday.

Eighth Grade - We are continuing our rock unit.  We are discussing the beach boys, the British Invasion, Punk Bands, Disco, and Woodstock this week.

Chorus Class - We are working on Mistletoe as well as Baby It's Cold Outside during class this week.  Friday we will being an assignment that requires each member of the class to write a letter inviting someone special to see the holiday show.

October 9-12

Seventh Grade - We will be learning about the Freedom Riders and how a song helped to change the face of our country.  We will be studying the song "We Shall Overcome."  We will create our own verse to this song in the latter part of the week.

Eighth Grade - We are staring the rock and roll unit.  As we proceed through history we will have the students do their presentations on their research projects.  That was the last assignment for the marking period.  Their presentation grade will be their final grade.

Chorus Class - Tuesday we will go over Mistletoe Choreography.  Thursday we will have the final singing test for the county chorus audition piece.
***County Chorus Auditions are Tuesday October 16th.***

October 3 - 5

Seventh Grade - We all performed our Jingle this week.  We are choosing our favorite/catchiest jingle in the class.  We are turning our jingle into a commercial on Thursday.  Students will begin to evaluate their own chosen pieces of music.

Eighth Grade - All research projects were due this week.  If they were not turned in on time they are losing 5 points each day they are late.  We are continuing our Jazz unit and talking about jazz artists while we perform our 12 bar blues creations.

Chorus Class - Wednesday October 10 we will have a singing test on Achieved.  We are working on choreography for the chorus as a whole as well as singing our county chorus audition piece.

August 26th

Seventh Grade - Any student who does not complete their jingle in class must complete it for homework.  The finished project must fit in a 25-35 second time frame.  The students were "hired" by me to write a jingle for a 30 second commercial clip.

September 24 - 28

HAPPY FALL!!!!!

Seventh Grade - This week we will be working on learning about jingles.  We will write our own jingle and perform it for our classmates.  We will decide which jingle we like the most (catchy tune maybe?) and we will make our own commercial.  The only home work would be on Wednesday night, if you don't finish your jingle in class.

Eighth Grade - Monday we will be playing our songs of choice on the guitar.  Tuesday we start to learn the 12 bar blues and being our unit on Jazz Artists.

HOMEWORK - WRITTEN TEST ON WEDNESDAY - the parts of the guitar and chords.

   RESEARCH PROJECT - DUE on OCTOBER 1st!!!!

Chorus Class - Monday - you will demonstrate your section for Extraordinary's Choreography. 

  Wednesday - We will work out all of Extraordinary's choreography

  Friday - We will sing the County Chorus Piece.

September 17 - 21

Seventh Grade - This week we are discussing found sounds.  We listened to two found sound ensembles and we will be creating our own found sound pieces on Tuesday and performing them on Wednesday.

HW for MONDAY NIGHT - Bring in a found sound "instrument."
WRITTEN TEST THURSDAY - Listening Vocab.


Eighth Grade - This week we are continuing with the guitar unit.  We will be playing the C,G,G7, and D7 chords while accompanying ourselves.  We will also we starting to work on some jazz pieces and learning about jazz artists.

Chorus Class - We will be deciding on our piece for the holiday show.  We will begin to choreograph Extraordinary.... 
  County Chorus papers are due!!!!

Chorus Class

Chorus Class will have a singing test on Achieved on Friday 9/14

Eighth Grade Research Project

EIGHTH GRADE

You will write and research on the artist/band you chose in class.
You must have 1 picture of your artist /band.
Your report: Must be at least 5 paragraphs and must contain –

Biography of Artist (personal details)

History of Artist (musical information)

Influences (Those who influenced the artist and vice versa)

Update (If still living, where is the artist today?)



The report MUST be in PARAGRAPH FORM!!!! I do not want bullets or fragments. This MUST be in your own words!!! If you copy and paste from the internet you will get a zero and be reported for plagiarism.

Back Page –

Artist’s “Greatest Hits” in quotes

BIBLIOGRAPHY of all Work Cited (at least 2) – all references must be in bibliography for proper credit!

DUE Monday October 1st

Picture – 10pts

5x5 – 50 pts

Greatest Hits – 10 pts

Bibliography – 20 pts

Presentation – 60 pts

Sept. 5 - Eighth Grade

All new lyrics are due for the Banana Boat Song tomorrow!  Please have three verses and refrains set for class on Thursday.

Week 2 - September 4 - 7

Seventh Grade - We will begin to perform our pentatonic creations this week.  There is a WRITTEN TEST ON WEDNESDAY!!!  We will do a rhythmic listening activity on Thursday.  Friday we will begin learning our new vocabulary that will be needed for all of our listening activities.  We will be focusing on listening during the entire course of 7th grade music.

Eighth Grade - We are reviewing for the test on Tuesday.  There is a WRITTEN TEST ON WEDNESDAY!!!!  Following the test we will be working on writing our own lyrics to the banana boat song.  We will be performing the banana boat song with percussion accompaniment starting on Thursday and finishing on Friday.

Chorus Class - We will find our range this week.  We will begin working on the county chorus audition piece.  We will also work on note naming so we can become proficient music readers.

WELCOME BACK 2012-2013

7th Grade General Music -   The first week we will discuss note and rest values as well as a few other key music symbols.  We will be making a chart for class use and to be used as a study guide on the first day!  We will create rhythms and learn our chart.  We will have a QUIZ on FRIDAY!!!!

8th Grade General Music - The first week we start a calypso unit.  We will learn to create Calypso Rhythms and perform them.  We will learn the notes needed to create Calypso rhythms.  We will have a QUIZ on FRIDAY on the notes and perform our Calypso Rhythm.

Chorus Class - We will begin this year by learning to read the notes on the staff and work on self discovery of our own voices.  We want to grow both musically and personally through this course of this year.  We will decide what song we want to perform as a class in the winter concert.

May 21 - 31

Seventh and Eighth Grade- students will be "competing" in a good natured sing off.  We will have rounds and eliminations.  We will also be watching the musical Grease.  We will intersperse the musical with our singing rounds.  All students had the option to be a singer or a judge.  This is a great way for them to work on their listening skills.

Chorus Class - We will continue working on the audition piece for county and district chorus!

May 7 - 11

Seventh Grade - We are discussing Freedom Riders and the song "We Shall Overcome."  We are learning about different freedom riders and what purpose they played historically and how the song "We Shall Overcome," worked as an agent of change.  We will be creating our own verses to this song.

Eighth Grade - We officially started our Rock and Roll Unit.  We are discussing artists and bands.  The students are presenting their projects. 

Chorus Class - We are preparing for our spring production.  We are on stage using the microphones.

CHORUS AND BAND CONCERT on MAY 10th at 7:00 PM in the NSHS auditorium.  Art Show in the Lobby!  Extra Credit for anyone in my music classes that attends the concert.  See me after the show!

May 1 - 4

Seventh Grade - We will be working on our commercial.  Each student wrote a jingle.  We chose our favorite and are creating a commercial.  We will end the week using classroom percussion instruments and we will play rhythms with multicultural and rock pieces.

Eighth Grade - We are discussing Jazz artists. We are also learning and creating our own 12 bar blues piece.  Each student will work with a partner to accompany  themselves while performing the song they wrote.

Eighth Grade Research projects are due on Monday May 7th!

Chorus Class - We will be on stage working with the microphones. 

Eighth Grade -
You will write and research on the artist/band you chose in class.


You must have 1 picture of your artist /band.

Your report: (5x5) Must contain –

Biography of Artist (personal details)

History of Artist (musical information)

Influences (Those who influenced the artist and vice versa)

Update (If still living, where is the artist today?)

The report MUST be in PARAGRAPH FORM!!!! I do not want bullets or fragments. This MUST be in your own words!!! If you copy and paste from the Internet you will get a zero and be reported for plagiarism.

Back Page –

Artist’s “Greatest Hits” in quotes

BIBLIOGRAPHY of all Work Cited (at least 2) – all references must be in bibliography for proper credit!

DUE Monday May 7th

Picture – 10pts

5x5 – 50 pts

Greatest Hits – 10 pts

Bibliography – 20 pts

Presentation – 60 pts

Week of April 23 - 27

Seventh Grade - Test Monday 4/23 on listening to music vocabulary.  We are performing our found sound pieces today and tomorrow.  We will be singing a piece in three part harmony on Tuesday.  Wednesday the students will be introduced to Jingles.  Each student will be creating their own jingle in class.  These will be performed.  We will decide as a class which Jingle we like best and turn it into a commercial.

Eighth Grade - Test Monday 4/23 on the parts of the guitar.  Each student will be picking a piece of music using the chords we learned this marking period.  The students will be practicing their piece.  They will play their piece while the class sings along.  Each student will be choosing their artist for the research project. 

Chorus Class - There is a singing test on Tuesday - they must sing "Don't Rain on my Parade" using the correct lyrics.  We will be onstage practicing with the microphones.

April 16 - 20

Seventh Grade - We will finish playing our boomwacker piece Monday. We will move right onto a found sound mini lesson. We will discuss what they are and where to find them. We will finish the found sound lesson with a performance by each group on Friday.
H.W. on Tuesday Night - Bring a found sound "instrument" to class on Wednesday.
Written test - Monday 4/23 on the Listening Vocabulary.


Eighth Grade - We are working on our Guitar Unit. They will learn two more chords over the course of this week. They will miss one class due to PSSA testing. Otherwise, it is all guitar work.
Written test - Monday 4/23 on the parts of the guitar and the fingering for the first 4 chords learned.

Chorus Class - We will be on stage singing this week. We will be working on our sound as well as our look for our featured number.

April 2 - 13 Marking Period Days 8-12

7th Grade - Students must submit a song and artist of their choice by Wednesday 4/4. They must check the lyrics and make sure they are school appropriate in both language and message.
We are beginning our listening unit. We will do a listening activity on Monday and Wednesday. We will learn new vocabulary words on Tuesday. After Easter Break we will be reading music and playing it using boom whackers.

8th Grade - We are finishing our calypso unit. We will begin our guitar unit after Easter Break. We will learn the parts of the guitar and the first two chords.

Chorus Class -Concert posters are due by Tuesday 4/3. We will work together to write an invitational letter to all NS faculty. We will go onstage and work on our feature song.

March 26 - 30

Seventh Grade - We are composing a song using the pentatonic scale. We will be performing our song. The first written test is on the parts of music. It will be on Friday!

Eighth Grade - We are creating calypso rhythms. We will be learning the Banana Boat Song and composing our own accompaniment. We will be having a written test on the notes and rhythms on Friday.

March 19 - 23

Seventh Grade - We are finishing up the marking period with our sing off. We will also have some duet singing too. We start a new marking period on Thursday. Marking period 4 students will begin the last quarter with a review and notes on the parts of music.

Eighth Grade - We are finishing the marking period off with our sing off. We will also have duet singing. The last marking period begins on Thursday. We will start the quarter off with a discussion of the styles of music.

Chorus - We will start to work on our song on stage. We will discuss the girl's sing off song and some possible choreography.

February 27 - March 2

Seventh Grade - We will be working with the song "We Shall Overcome." We will be discussing the Freedom Riders and how this song helped to make history. We will be creating our own verse that stays within the theme of this song.

Eighth Grade - We started our Unit on Rock and Roll. Students will be presenting their research papers as we go from the start of rock to modern day.

Chorus Class - We are working writing letters for our concert. We are also working on the vocals for our class song.

February 21 - 24

Seventh Grade - This Week we are recording our Jingle and doing a self evaluation. We will begin our listening projects using the student chosen songs. We will be comparing songs using a Venn Diagram.

Eighth Grade - We are discussing several different Jazz Artists. We are also discussing improv. with instruments and vocals.

***EIGHTH GRADE RESEARCH PROJECTS ARE DUE ON THURSDAY 2/23/12***

Chorus Class - We will continue working on the vocals for our selection and our choreography.

8th Grade Artist Research Project

You will write and research on the artist/band you chose in class.

You must have 1 picture of your artist /band.

Your report: (5x5) Must contain –
Biography of Artist (personal details)
History of Artist (musical information)
Influences (Those who influenced the artist and vice versa)
Update (If still living, where is the artist today?)

The report MUST be in PARAGRAPH FORM!!!! I do not want bullets or fragments. This MUST be in your own words!!! If you copy and paste from the internet you will get a zero and be reported for plagiarism.
Back Page –
Artist’s “Greatest Hits” in quotes
BIBLIOGRAPHY of all Work Cited (at least 2) – all references must be in bibliography for proper credit!
DUE Thursday February, 23rd
Picture – 10pts
5x5 – 50 pts
Greatest Hits – 10 pts
Bibliography – 20 pts
Presentation – 60 pts

Feb. 13 - 16

Seventh Grade - We are finishing and performing our jingles this week. We will pick our favorite jingle and create our own commercial.

Eighth Grade - We finished performing the guitar song of our choice. We are writing a 12 bar blues piece of music. We will begin discussing Jazz musicians.

Eighth Grade Research Project is Due on 2/23/12

February 6-10

Seventh Grade - Monday we will write our 5x5 for the marking period. Tuesday we will discuss genre's of music. Wednesday we will start a mini unit on Found Sound. We will listen to two found sound pieces of music and watch a clip of the music. We will compare the two pieces. After finding our groups we will start to create our own found sound arrangement.

THURSDAY - STUDENTS MUST HAVE THEIR FOUND SOUND INSTRUMENT IN CLASS.

We will perform our found sound pieces on Friday.

Eighth Grade - Monday we will write our 5x5. Tuesday we will learn the D7 chord on the guitar. Wednesday we will play Rock around the Clock on the guitar. We will also decide on our individual research projects. We will continue working on our guitar pieces and playing the first 4 chords we learned.

WRITTEN GUITAR TEST ON MONDAY 2/13

Chorus Class - We are working on our feature piece. We will continue singing it and brain storming ideas for choreography.

After School Chorus - Fundraisers are Due on THURSDAY!!!! Friday Rehearsal is for Girls only!

January 30 - February 3

Seventh Grade - We had our first written test on Monday. Tuesday we discussed vocab that we will be using for the remainder for the marking period as we work on listening assignments. We will analyze the piece "Spring" using a perception chart. We will begin to play a song together using boom whackers. Friday we will do a listening experiment on the different genre's of music.

Eighth Grade - We had our first written test on Monday. Tuesday we will do an experiment on the music we hear, we will determine if it effects the way we write. We will begin our guitar unit on Wednesday while we also finish the calypso playing unit.

Chorus Class - We will have a written quiz Wednesday on labeling music. We will also be sight singing the solfa syllables for a grade.

Jan. 23-27

Seventh Grade - We are composing and performing our first song. We learned how to read and write rhythms, add the pentatonic scale, and then perform on the bell set.

There will be a written test next MONDAY - please use the study guide to review.

Eighth Grade - We are learning to perform calypso rhythms. We are singing the banana boat song, writing our own lyrics and performing it as an ensemble.

All unfinished lyrics for the banana boat song as assigned in class on Wednesday are homework.

There will be a written test next MONDAY - please use the study guide to review.

Chorus Class - We are continuing the sight singing lessons. Focusing on Mi, Fa, Sol.

January 9-17

Seventh Grade - We will be finishing the marking period with a sing off. Students opt to be a singer or a judge as we go through rounds of eliminations! Judges have specific criteria to use as they judge the singers. We are also finishing the listening unit on the student chosen pieces.

Eighth Grade - We are finishing our reports on Rock and Roll artists. Presentations will finish up early in the week. If time permits, we will also have a mini sing off.

Chorus Class - We are working on range and sight singing this week!

January 3-6

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I hope everyone enjoyed their break and are ready to come back to school refreshed and ready to work!

Seventh Grade - We will be listening to their music choices and evaluating them using the terms we already learned in music class. We will be critically evaluating the music that the students are listening to as part of their personal time. The goal is to have a better understanding of music, even popular music from today.

They will also be exposed to a mini lesson on musical theater. They will not have any homework this week. Although, there are a few people with outstanding assignments, particularly their 5x5's that were written pre-break. They must be turned in this week to get any credit!

Eighth Grade - We are continuing our rock and roll unit. Students will be presenting their research papers on their assigned days. This week we are specifically doing Soul Music, Surf Music, Woodstock, and Punk Music.

If you want any credit for your research assignment, you must turn it in this week. You will lose points for it being late, but at least you will have it turned in. Check e-schoolbook to see if you need to turn in any late assignments!