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The first single from Taylor Swift's Reputation album is a fantastic way to teach musical form and provide opportunities for students to compose original melodies. Particularly with aaab form! Listen in to hear how I have used this piece with my students to learn melodies on the xylophones and get your free resource at my shop at www.jessicagrant.org. Website: www.jessicagrant.org Instagram: @howtoteachmusicwithjessica  

The first arrangement of our series: Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones!  I share the inspiration behind this arrangement, steps for teaching the piece to students, ideas for form, and how to expand on the original theme with rhythmic variations. The arrangement is written for xylophones. Get the free arrangement HERE at www.jessicagrant.org. Follow me on Instagram @howtoteachmusicwithjessica.  

Using pop music in your music classroom can be so much fun! Students love learning something they know or have heard before, playing music that they listen to at home, and performing songs for an audience who also knows the music. For the next several episodes I’ll be sharing pop song arrangements that I’ve created and used with my students for xylophone ensembles, but before we get to the actual arrangements I thought I’d share some tips for how you can find and create pop song arrangements to use in your classroom. What to look for, how to determine if a song would be a good fit for an arrangement for xylophones, and things to think about as you arrange pieces. Instagram: @howtoteachmusicwithjessica Teachers Pay Teachers Store Website: www.jessicagrant.org

Now that we're a few weeks into the new year, you might be feeling the Sunday Scaries…again. Here is how I’ve worked through - and continue to work through - my Sunday Scaries. Lazy Genius Article Headspace Article Follow me on Instagram @howtoteachmusicwithjessica Website: www.jessicagrant.org 

January is a great time for a reset of classroom procedures. Here are five procedures to review that will help re-establish expectations and set a positive start for 2024 in your classroom. Pay close attention to number five - it's likely the most important one that will make a difference. Follow me on Instagram @howtoteachmusicwithjessica or head to my website at www.jessicagrant.org to access teacher materials and join my mailing list!

It's the fifth annual goal review and goal setting episode! And the first episode of season 16. Listen in to hear how my goals went for 2023, gain ideas for how to get your goals, and listen in for what's in the works for 2024. Head to my website at www.jessicagrant.org for more teacher content or follow me on Instagram @howtoteachmusicwithjessica. Happy New Year!

Looking for gifts for music teacher friends, colleagues, family, or even yourself?  Listen in for some gift giving ideas this holiday season! Music Teacher Ideas: F-Flat Books Gift Card Musically Minted Chad Lawson Piano Sheet Music Jessica Grant Shop - use code DECEMBER25 for 25% through December 26   Other Gift Ideas: Michael Storrings Puzzles Magnolia Table Cookbooks JCrew Factory Crewneck Sweater Kendra Scott Earrings The James Method Verse Mapping Journal   Follow Jessica on Instagram @howtoteachmusicwithjessica Website: www.jessicagrant.org

If you’re wanting to incorporate centers into your music room, Becca Davis is the perfect person to talk to!  She’s here to share how she prepares students for centers, the four expectations she has for students during centers, some great ideas for setting up centers, and she shares a few favorite center ideas you can use!  Be sure to check out her centers freebie in the show notes!  Let’s talk centers with Becca! Meet Becca: Becca Davis is an elementary music teacher in Savannah, GA. She has a Bachelors from Armstrong State University and has been teaching elementary school ever since. In addition, Becca conducts a 4-5 grade choir in partnership with the Coastal Youth Choirs and sings in a group called iCantori. She loves to help other music teachers engage their students and simplify their lives by providing content and resources to music teachers via her blog, Teachers Pay Teachers store, and her courses.    Links: Instagram: @beccasmusicroom Website: https://beccasmusicroom.com/  Teachers Pay Teachers: Becca’s Music Room Book: Happier Teacher Life on Amazon Blog Post about Centers Centers Freebie

Social-Emotional Learning, or SEL, is a topic that has been discussed in educator circles more frequently in the past several years.  So what exactly is it?  How can we teach SEL skills through music learning and musical listening?  And what are some lesson ideas that we can incorporate into our classrooms that infuse SEL?  Alessandra from Teach from the Stage is here to talk about all of those things with us!  Be sure to check out her website at teachfromthestage.com and follow her on Instagram @teachfromthestage. Alessandra’s Bio: Alessandra is a Kindergarten-Grade 8 Teacher of the Arts, based in Toronto, Canada. She graduated with a Bachelors of Music Therapy and a Masters in Child Study & Education. She is a huge advocate for the arts, and continuously strives to offer students rich musical experiences where they are at the centre of their learning.  Through @teachfromthestage, she offers tons of lesson ideas, teaching tips, and music class activities to help other teachers engage their students in meaningful learning opportunities.   Social Media Links: Website: teachfromthestage.com Instagram: @teachfromthestage TikTok: @teachfromthestage  

When I first started teaching middle school general music, I had no idea about how to incorporate peer leadership into my music classroom.  I was comfortable with group work, centers, and whole group teaching, but didn’t know quite how to teach students how to teach each other.  A huge thanks to music educator Chris Judah-Lauder for her guidance, patience, and wisdom in helping me learn the importance of student leadership and teaching me how to use peer teaching in the classroom.  I can’t do this episode without acknowledging what I learned from her in this area because I wouldn’t have known where to begin or how to do it without her!  I’ll refer to this as both peer leadership and peer teaching throughout the episode.  I realize these terms can refer to different things, but in today’s episode, they’re going to refer to the same idea: that of guiding one student in your room to helping or working with another student in the room. Website: www.jessicagrant.org Instagram: @howtoteachmusicwithjessica

The songs I’ll be sharing today are perfect to use with your upper elementary classes or choir, especially if you’re working on helping students learn how to sing in 2-parts.  The pieces be great for a fall concert, to sing in class around Halloween or to use within a specific program related to a theme such as animals (The Bat) or literature (Edgar Allen Poe and William Shakespeare).  I’d love to know if you’ve used any of these pieces with your students or if there’s one that stands out that you want to do with your students! I’ll talk about each piece and share musical elements that stand out as well as activities, warm-ups, and games you could incorporate.  You can find the links to each piece in the show notes or on my website in the podcast section. Double Double Toil and Trouble by Leeann Ashby Starkey Some One by Christi Cary Miller Someone Came Knocking by Cynthia Gray The Bat by Andy Beck A Dark and Stormy Night (Ode to Edgar Allen Poe) by Mark Burrows Instagram: @howtoteachmusicwithjessica Website: www.jessicagrant.org 

We’ve all been there.  You plan the lesson.  You prep the materials.  On paper everything looks great.  Class arrives and you’re ready to go, but it doesn’t go the way you planned.  The question isn’t what to do if classes like this happen, but what to do when they do happen!  Because at some point they will.  I’m going to share a few ideas for what to do before class starts, what to do when you’re in the moment and what to do after a class doesn't go the way you planned.   Follow me on Instagram @howtoteachmusicwithjessica. Website:  www.jessicagrant.org