Create a viable, meaningful program that will motivate your students and have them participating with enthusiasm with Middle School General Music: The Best Part of Your Day. A welcome guidebook for music teachers trying to navigate the sometimes turbulent waters of middle school general music, it offers strategies and lessons that have been created in the real world of general music by a practicing teacher. Revised and expanded to align with the National Core Arts Standards, each section of this second edition is full of tips and lessons to help middle schoolers develop a life-long love of music. From instructional units to composition projects, rhythm games to listening lessons, you’ll find plenty of ideas for working with young adolescents. An appendix of suggested resources steers you to materials appropriate for middle-level students. Bolster your program with the discussion about why general music is so vital in middle school. If your music classes feel like the perfect storm, let McAnally make them the best part of your day.

Packed full with tasks, activities and reflections to help student-teachers to integrate the theory and practice of music education, this book aims to develop open and reflective practitioners who will critically examine their own and others’ ideas about music education and the way in which children learn music.

As music educators continue to explore various ways of learning and teaching popular music, recognizing and understanding a blend of traditional and non-traditional pedagogies that engage teachers and learners in authentic practices is of vital importance. To meet this emerging need, Action-based Approaches in Popular Music Education delves into the practices and philosophies of 26 experienced music educators who understand both the how and the why of popular music education. This edited collection represents the variety, the diversity, and the multiplicity of ideas and approaches to the teaching and learning of popular music. It’s these actionable approaches, practices, applications, lessons, and ideas that will enable music educators to understand how to better incorporate popular music into their teaching. This book is not an antidote to the lack of uniformity in popular music education – it is a celebration of it.

You’re a secondary instrumental or choral specialist, newly assigned to the general music classroom. What now? First, take a breath, calm down, and then read this book. Two experienced teachers who conquered this challenge offer practical advice with great care and wit. Chapters of the book address attitude, school environment, classroom management, curriculum and assessment, and student performance. In addition, concrete lesson plans are provided for each grade level. This book covers Pre-K through sixth grade.

Introduction -- The Communication Domain -- The Cognitive Domain -- The Behavioral Domain -- The Emotional Domain -- The Sensory Domain -- The Physical Domain -- Unit Plans – Conclusions