Blog

Online Learning Activities 2020

This post has links to resources I have used during lockdown for Covid-19, or links to resources I have previously created which could be used for online learning.  Primary ActivitiesChoice BoardsI was asked by my publishers, Bushfire Press, to write some resources based on their Music Room series for remote/home learning during Covid-19. These editable … Continue reading Online Learning Activities 2020

Creating ePubs in the Music Classroom

Book Creator is one of my favourite apps to use in my music classroom. One of the advantages to using a general classroom app in music lessons is that the students already know how to use the app and therefore most times I do not have to spend time teaching them all the skills needed. On … Continue reading Creating ePubs in the Music Classroom

Gathering Video Assessment for Reporting

It's that time of year again in Australian Schools with mid year reports due. Now that I have finished and sent mine through, I would like to share with you how I use video observations to help me with my assessment. Taking video footage in the classroom is really easy now that we have it readily … Continue reading Gathering Video Assessment for Reporting

Music and Media Advertising Unit of Inquiry – Best TV commercials for 2015

This post was written for my Year 6/7 class so that I could provide them with TV commercials to view in one place without sending them to Youtube. Feel free to use it as a resource with your students too. Central Idea: Media has the power to influence thinking and behaviour. Lines of Inquiry: The … Continue reading Music and Media Advertising Unit of Inquiry – Best TV commercials for 2015

Coding Music Instrument Apps in Hopscotch & Tynker

Why should we bring coding into the music room? Because not only is it cross curricular and ticking the STEAM methodology of teaching, it is also asking our students to think about the fundamentals of music. What is it we need to consider when making an instrument? Pitch, melody, and/or beat, rhythm, tempo and tone … Continue reading Coding Music Instrument Apps in Hopscotch & Tynker

21 iPad Apps for the Music Classroom: General Education and Music Specific

Your school has purchased a class set of iPads or implemented a 1-1/BYOD structure, so which apps should you deploy or ask your students to purchase? The following 21 apps are the ones that I have found over the past 4 years to be of great value in my classroom (Kinder-Grade 7) and is my current … Continue reading 21 iPad Apps for the Music Classroom: General Education and Music Specific

Adding Tech in the Music Classroom – Photo Dice App

  I used to dread making custom dice for my classroom, unless you are lucky enough to have wooden cubes to paste pictures onto, one step on a cardboard template dice from a student and there goes your fabulous creative lesson. Photo Dice by MachWerx iPad app is now my answer to this problem! I use Photo … Continue reading Adding Tech in the Music Classroom – Photo Dice App

Create your own MIDI musical instrument with Scratch and the Makey Makey

Coding is the new buzz word in primary education with many schools starting to teach it with the emphasis on teaching STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). It is also possible to add in the Arts, with new research showing  that teaching STEAM (STEM + the Arts) projects significantly impact learning. Intrigued by this, I attended a workshop on coding … Continue reading Create your own MIDI musical instrument with Scratch and the Makey Makey