Dec 3-6

Seventh Grade - There will be a mini unit on the Freedom Riders. Students will learn some vocabulary needed for their reading. Students will read a short bio on a freedom rider and share their findings with the class. Students will learn about the song that came out of the movement and write their own lyrics to the song. Eighth Grade - Students will be working on their selected piece of music. They will be performing it on Monday 12/9. Students will also be learning about Jazz Artists. Eighth Grade Research Project is due on 12/9/13 Chorus Class - Students will be writing the speaking parts for the concert and working on their piece for the concert.

November 4-8

Seventh Grade - We are writing our own Pentatonic song. We are practicing it on the bells and will be performing it for our classmates. Written Test on Thursday on the parts of music. Eighth Grade - We are writing rhythms and our own lyrics to the Banana Boat Song. This will be performed. Written Test on Thursday on the notes and values. Chorus Class - we are finishing the choreography of Christmas on Broadway. Solo auditions were held on Tuesday.

CONGRATULATIONS NS TREBLE MAKERS

We had 19 students audition tonight at county chorus!!! ALL 19 MADE IT!!!! Congratulations to Sarah Barket Taylor Lindenmuth Brook Antalosky Arianna Kessler Kaitlyn Bechler Maura Gownley Taylor Lucas Bryel Frasch Shaylee Miller Karla Filiziani Kylee Blozousky Zack Chernewski Liam Wolfe Cullen Dixon Will Halko Kebner Antalosky Patrick Gownley Aden Wolfe James Swartz You made me so proud tonight!

9-27-13

Seventh Grade - We are working on jingles! Every student wrote a jingle in class on Friday. If they did not finish their jingle it is homework over the weekend! Jingles will be presented on Monday. We will choose our favorite jingle and turn it into a commercial! Eighth Grade - We are working on composing our own 12 bar blues piece. Every student has a partner for this project. They will perform thier piece and accompany themselves on the guitar. We are also discussing Jazz musicians. Research projects are due on October 2. Chorus Class - Students should still be working on the county chorus audition piece. All students are starting to choreograph a piece of music for the entire chorus. They were broken into smaller groups and assigned measures to choreograph.

September 16 - 20

Seventh Grade - We are beginning our listening unit. Each student will take notes on different terms used for listening. We will practice our listening skills. We will listen to Spring and evaluate it. We will also being our Found Sound project. Eighth Grade - We are playing Guitar. Currently playing C, G, G7, and D7. We will be adding the em chord. Chorus Class - We are working on the county audition piece.

Welcome Back 2013-2014

Seventh Grade This week we will be learning the parts of music and creating measures in 4/4 time. Wednesday we will be independently creating measures for a class assingment grade - any unfinished work must be completed at home. We will also be learning the Pentatonic Scale. Eighth Grade We had an overview of the styles of music we will be discussing. We will be learning the note values to the sixteenth note and creating rhythms. We will be writting an accompanyment for a calypso piece of music. Chorus Class - We will begin with notes and note values. We will discuss the direction of the music moving on the page. We will start working on the piece for county chorus auditions.

May 6-10

Seventh Grade - All students must submit a song and artist name that is school appropriate in message and words by Tuesday.

We will be discussing Freedom Riders and how they and their music helped to change the face of America.  We will be working with We Shall Overcome, including writing our own verse.

Eighth Grade - We are finishing the 12 bar blues.  We will try our hand at improvisation on Tuesday.  We will begin our Rock and Roll Unit on Wednesday with the birth of rock and roll.  All research projects were due Monday!

Chorus Class - Written speaking parts are due on Monday.

All chorus class members must attend the concert on the 16th.

April 29 - May 3

Seventh Grade - We are composing Jingles.  We will be working on them in class on Tuesday.  If they are not completed in class they will become homework.  We will perform our Jingles on Wednesday.  Thursday and Friday we will turn our favorite Jingle into a commercial with all classmates participating.

Eighth Grade - We will be doing the 12 bar blues.  We will be composing our own 12 bar blues songs.  We will also be discussing some of the jazz greats.

Chorus Class - We will be finalizing the sound for our song in the show.  We will continue to sight read and look at music for next year.

April 22 - 26

Seventh Grade - All Found sound instruments must be in class Monday.  If you forgot you will still get points if you have it on Tuesday.  We will be performing our found sound pieces on Tuesday. 

Written Test on Wednesdays!  You must study your listening skills vocabulary!

We will be listening to the UnSquare Dance this week.  Friday, we will be discussing and listening to many different genre's of music.

Eighth Grade - We are continuing with the guitar.  Monday we will learn the em chord.  Students can find their own song to play in the Key of G.  That is extra credit for Wednesday.  We will begin to practice our individual song after Do Wah Ditty.

All eighth grade students should begin their research projects!

Chorus Class - We will be refining the cups and working on sight singing.  We will sing the parts in our harmonized pieces.

April 15 - 19

Seventh Grade - We will discuss listening to music and begin to develop our listening skills.  On Friday we will begin a found sound unit.  All students must bring in a found sound instrument for Monday, April 22.

Eighth Grade - Monday we will describe pictures while we use the music being played as an influence.  Tuesday we will begin our guitar unit.  Each student will have the opportunity to play the guitars this week.

Chorus Class - There will be a singing and performance test on Thursday.

Tests!

The first written test of the marking period for both 7th and 8th grade general music will be on MONDAY, April 8, 2013.

They were originally scheduled for Friday!

March 26- April 5 Welcome to MP 4

Hello Everyone and Welcome to the final marking period of the 2012-2013 school year!

Seventh Grade - We will begin the marking period with notes on the parts of music.  We will also be learning how to assemble rhythms in 4/4 time.  We will discover the pentatonic scale and create our own song. 
Our first written quiz/test will be on Friday April, 5.  There will not be homework the first 6 days unless class work is not completed.  This will be case by case, but there is ample time in class to complete assignments.

Eighth Grade - We will be discussing notes and their values.  We will be creating complex rhythms.  We will learn a piece of calypso music and create our own lyrics and accomp. on percussion instruments.  We will be having a written test on Friday, April, 5 on the notes and their values.

Chorus Class - We will be putting all aspects of our spring song together.  There will be a test on this Thursday, April 4th.  We will also be discussing choreography of the girl/guy feature songs.

March 18 - 26

Eighth Grade - We are finish our Rock and Roll Presentations through the course of this marking period.  If we have a day or two left at the end of the marking period, we will do some karaoke singing.

Seventh Grade - We are doing the sing off and using our critical listening skills.  We are also evaluating our song selections.

Chorus Class - We are working on the song for the spring concert as well as continuing to hone our sight singing skills.

March 11 - 15

Seventh Grade - We will be listening to the songs chosen by the classmates.  We will use a Venn Diagram to compare different artists.  We will also do a few critical song evaluations.  We will do a few lessons using Multicultural Music.

Eighth Grade - We are continuing our Rock and Roll unit.  We are discussing disco era and several solo artists this week.  We will be PSSA testing on Tues. and Wednesday.

Chorus Class - We are working on the vocals for our song as well as choreography for other song selections.  We are continuing to work on our sight singing.

March 4-8

Seventh Grade - Monday we are finishing our commercial.  We will begin a mini unit on the Freedom Riders that will last the remainder of the week.  We will be delving into the song We Shall Overcome, and we will discover how one song helped to change the face of our country.

Eighth Grade - We begin our Rock and Roll unit on Monday with Bill Haley, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard.  Tuesday will be our last guitar day as we discuss Elvis and then play one of his songs.  We also discuss Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, The Beatles, and Aretha this week.

Chorus Class - We will be doing choreography, sight singing, and Solo Auditions.

Feb. 25 - March 1

Seventh Grade - We will be starting a Jingle Unit.  We will be discussing Jingles on Monday.  All students will write a jingle during class on Tuesday.  If they do not finish their jingle in class they will have it for homework.  Wednesday - we will perform our jingles.  Thursday and Friday we will choose our favorite jingle and create our own commercial.

Eighth Grade - RESEARCH PROJECTS are due on TUESDAY FEB. 26th.  We are learning about different jazz artists while we create our own 12 bar blues piece.  We will also discover the challenges and fun in improvisation!

Chorus Class - We will be learning the vocals to our spring piece as well as discussing choreography for the senior high selection.

February 19-22

Seventh Grade - We are working on our found sound projects.  All students will be using their found sound instrument with their group.  They will be writing a piece of music collectively that they will be able to perform.  Friday we will be reading and singing three part harmony using a piece of choral music.

Eighth Grade - We are continuing with our guitar unit.  Each student was introduced to 5 chords.  They will be playing their chords to a song they chose to play.  As they play their selection the class will sing along.  We will also be starting our 12 bar blues/jazz discussion.

Research projects are due on February 26th.  The rubric is posted on the blog!

Chorus Class - We are continuing to sing county chorus music.  We are also sight singing.

**All NS county Chorus participants are asked to donate a case of water!

Feb. 14

Seventh - All students must bring a FOUND SOUND INSTRUMENT to school on Tuesday, Feb. 19th.  It is a homework grade, but we will be using them in class as well.

Eighth Grade - Students are to continue with their research projects - Due Feb. 26. 

Eighth Grade 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: 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, February, 26, 2013

Picture – 10pts

5x5 – 50 pts

Greatest Hits – 10 pts

Bibliography – 20 pts

Presentation – 60 pts

February 4 - 8

Seventh Grade - All seventh grade students must submit a song title and artist for a future listening activity.  These are due on Tuesday 2/5.  The songs must be free of foul language and have a school appropriate message.

We received notes today on music listening terms.   We will be using them for the remainder of the marking period.  There will be a test on Monday 2/11 on the terms.

We will be playing boomwackers this week - reading music.

Eighth Grade - We are starting the week with a listening/writing activity.  We will begin our guitar unit on Tuesday.  We will be playing the guitars starting on Wednesday. 

Chorus Class - We will be working on improving our sight singing skills as well as work on our county chorus music.

January 29 - Feb. 1

Seventh Grade - We will be practicing our pentatonic creations and performing them for our classmates.  They will do a rhythmic activity on Wednesday and they will begin to perform their pentatonic creations.  The students will have a WRITTEN TEST on Thursday 1/31

Eighth Grade - Students will be working on their reggae pieces this week.  They will write and perform them with their classmates.  There will be a WRITTEN TEST on Thursday 1/31

Chorus Class - Students will work on their piece of music for the spring show as well as work on sight singing.

January 21 - 25

Seventh Grade - We are creating rhythms using all of the notes and rests between and whole note and eighth notes.  We will be learning the pentatonic scale this week too. We will be combining our rhythms and the pentatonic scale to create a song.  We will have a written test on the notes and rests and their values on Tuesday Jan. 29th. 

We are writing rhythms on Tuesday in class, if they do not complete the assignment, it becomes homework.


Eighth Grade - We are preparing to write and finally play rhythms that we create using whole notes to sixteenth notes.  We will be using the rhythms to accompany ourselves when we write our calypso pieces.  We will be writing rhythms on Wednesday - if they are not completed in class they will be homework.  There will be a written test on Tuesday, Jan. 29th.

Chorus Class - We are working on sight singing as well as learning the rhythmic accomp. to our spring song.

Final Days of MP 2

Seventh Grade - We are doing the sing off.  Everyone can either be a judge or a singer.  We will work our way through until we get to the one winner of the sing-off.  We will also be listening to the student chosen songs and we will be critically evaluating them using our newly  honed listening skills.

Eighth Grade - We are in the midst of presenting our Rock and Roll Research projects.  We will be ending the marking period with an improv. singing.

Chorus Class - We are working on reading music!