Hip-Hop: Day 1

My 8th graders have been waiting to have this unit with me since they were in 6th grade.  I'm sure some have forgotten and some have been indifferent about the whole thing.

This year they will definitely need to be more involved.  I finally got a decent workbook put together with hopefully some challenging

The first step to teaching Hip-Hop is to be transparent.  I let the kids know that this unit goes beyond just listening to current music and talking about how it sounds.  When diving into where Hip-Hop came from and what life was like for the people who created it.  This is the side of Hip-Hop that most people don't know about.  Even my husband, who was very into Hip-Hop as a teenager had no clue what I was talking about.

So I pose a simple question to my students:

Their answer lets me know it's a blank slate.  Most of them said that Hip-Hop is music, a genre of music and they are not wrong, and it is probably how most people think of it.  

I then posed another question:  what is Hip-Hop music about?

And again they all agreed that yes, Hip-Hop was about a lot of those things.  Why? Because this is what they hear from the music on the radio.  We then proceeded to fill out a K-W-L chart on their ideas about Hip-Hop and what they hope to learn in this unit.  Like typical 8th graders they have a million questions and class can derail quite easily even with just 15 of them in each class

The only setback I have for them is their think project, to create a visual representation about what Hip-Hop is to them.  Because of our schedule I have to fit 6 weeks of material into 5 weeks...well actually 4 because they have a week-long trip to Chicago, but it's all do-able.  They will have to learn how to complete an assignment that can't be worked on in class because they will encounter that in high school.

My hope as we get into the details of the world surrounding Hip-Hop, the kids will begin to realize there is a lot more to this music than they ever imagined.

Ready, Set....Hip-Hop!

It has finally begun! The books are ready, PowerPoints almost set, and videos cued up; I've been looking forward to this unit all year.

This is the most prepared and informed about Hip-Hop music I've been since my 5th graders (now 11th graders) asked to learn about the genre 7 years ago.  But even so I'm always nervous to start the unit because as much as I think I know how my kids will react to the content.  Some are ready for the more adult content while some are still very immature.

I'm fighting a weird head cold so I wish I was more on my game but the first week into the kids rotating electives is always a bit shaky and the kids know to give me this first week to ease into having them back and from then on it's easy to get through each day.

Plugging Away

Still immobilized from my foot sprain, I've been moving soooo slow to get my planning done.  I have all the time in the world and it's taking me forever to get anything done.

I feel really creatively stifled at the moment when it comes to getting activities ready for my students but I keep hoping that something will come to me soon

There is another sale coming to my store to kick off the new year.  Everything will be 20% off starting January 1 - 4 so check out the store for the sale and new items I'll be adding soon

Winter Break!

The day goes by so much quicker when it's a half day and the kids go ice skating!

To celebrate winter break there will be a sale in my TpT store over the weekend and Monday!

Now for some much needed relaxation!

Just Another Day in 6th Grade

They successfully played a piece in 4 parts for the first time on the mallet instruments and then proceeded to do tiny dances behind their instruments...to which I responded:

"You guys are so spastic and weird."

to which one 6th grader replied:

"Why thank you!"

I love the days when they stop being hormonal pre-teens and are themselves again

Get Your Wishlists Ready!

The great thing about a whole week off is the time I have to catch up on my work and make some great resources for my lessons.

In anticipation of my 3rd - 5th graders coming back I've been making more powerpoints to accompany the songs they will be learning along with some pretty cool spur of the moment worksheets I've been coming up with.

With cyber-Monday coming up.  Teachers Pay Teachers is getting ready too join in on the deals as well.  Check my store (and others's as well) and start a wishlist to be ready for amazing deals on Monday.  I will be offering 20% off my store Mon - Wed.

Check back for the TpT banner and sale flyer!

Hooray for Great Teachers who make better worksheets than me!!!

As I was sitting down to write out another tedious workbook for my middle school students a Google image search of some worksheets led me to Susan Paradis.  I now have enough worksheets to put a work packet together for my students without it taking too much time.

There are a lot of resources for teaching piano, so one day maybe if I get a piano lab I know where to find resources. Much of the activities that are for piano I can use to help my students begin writing melodies.

How I missed this earlier on, I do not know...or maybe my brain is just extra creative today!