Musicplay for Middle School

Musicplay is a sequential curriculum with lessons that follow the calendar year. The weekly lessons outline the new concepts that will be taught, those that will be reviewed, and include seasonal and holiday repertoire. The planning is done for the teacher with the monthly Lesson Outlines showing the month at a glance. Forty detailed weekly lessons offer a menu of musical activities. There is more than enough material in each lesson plan for two 30-minute music classes.

Each lesson plan is like a menu. There are many song choices, and for each song there are activities to choose from along with reproducible items for students to use. You can choose the songs and the activities that teach the curriculum concepts required by your state as well as songs and activities that hold the most appeal for you and your students.

Six performance/accompaniment CDs (or downloads) with more than 100 musical selections are included with the Teacher's edition! Teen and adult voices are used, and there are many recordings licensed from popular entertainers. Accompaniments include Orff arrangements, piano accompaniments, and orchestrated accompaniments. Performance songs on the CDs have both performance and accompaniment tracks - use the accompaniment-only tracks for your performances. Multicultural songs feature authentic performances - the songs are in original languages and are sung by native singers. Many of the multicultural songs are game songs that appeal to children even though the language and sound may be unfamiliar. Rounds and a wealth of choral selections and folk songs in unison, two, and three parts are included. Piano, guitar, and ukulele accompaniment books are available.

Assessment suggestions are given throughout the teacher's guides along with checklists of important skills.

Musicplay supports and enhances science, social studies, and language arts (including poetry) curricula. In middle school, songs to teach vowels and consonants are included. The student books and digital resources are wonderful literacy tools providing many opportunities for shared reading. Students will develop reading skills while they learn music. This level includes projects for students. A pop song project accompanies the Avril Lavigne song Sk8er Boi. A composition project moves students from creating rhythm compositions to writing their own 12-bar blues and raps.