How To Teach Music with Jessica Grant

Want to get your students speaking, playing, and learning on day one? Here's the perfect piece to use with your older elementary students. Learn a new speech piece that allows students to review/learn class expectations and procedures while making music. Head to TpT to get the Welcome Back to School Resource  HERE ! Follow me on Instagram @howtoteachmusicwithjessica

We are just past the halfway point of 2024! It's a great time to review how you're goals are going. In today's episode, we'll look at three areas: Long term goals Short term goals Task oriented goals You'll hear how I'm doing on a few of mine and gain a few ideas for continuing to go after yours. Follow me on Instagram @howtoteachmusicwithjessica

I recently attended the AMLE Institute in San Diego, CA and am excited to share some insights from my experience as well introduce you to AMLE, if you've never heard of it before! Hear an overview of the Institute and takeaways from homebase and different sessions I attended. Head to Instagram and follow me @howtoteachmusicwithjessica! I'd love to connect with you! LINKS Association of Middle Leve...

We're continuing the series for arrangements inspired by pop music for the classroom. The Pirates of the Caribbean Theme is a great piece in 12/8 that is so much fun to play and a great opportunity for students to explore intervals of thirds in the chorus! Get your free Google Slides and full arrangement of the piece HERE ! You'll be prompted to make a copy. For other barred instrument arrangement...

Learn a fun xylophone arrangement to use with your students that focuses on a verse/chorus form and movement activity with the song Down performed by Marian Hill. Get the free Google Slides presentation at https://www.jessicagrant.org/shop/p/down-by-marian-hill-xylophone-arrangement and click on the shop. Instagram: @howtoteachmusicwithjessica Website: www.jessicagrant.org 

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: @howt...

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...

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 te...

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 Swea...

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 ce...

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 th...

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 import...

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...

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'r...

Last week in episode 276, I talked about how we can identify and support students who demonstrate exceptional musicianship and need a push beyond the standard Today we're looking at how to identify and support students who are struggling in areas of musical concepts or performance of musical skills.  I'll talk through some common areas of struggle that I've seen in my students over the years.  The...

How do you support students who are excelling in your music classroom?  How can you provide opportunities for leadership, skill development, and musical opportunities outside the classroom?  You'll hear five ideas for nurturing the musical growth of students who love music and excel as musicians. Follow Jessica on Instagram @howtoteachmusicwithjessica Website: www.jessicagrant.org

One of the things I'm continuing to learn is that I'm getting older - I'm in my mid 40's.  45 to be exact.  And that means I'm in midlife.  Who knew?!  I've been spending time learning about midlife and how little there really is that is shared with us through resources or conversations.  If you're a female teacher in midlife, this is the episode for you!  If you're not, join in the fun of listeni...

One of the things I'm continuing to learn is that I'm getting older - I'm in my mid 40's.  45 to be exact.  And that means I'm in midlife.  Who knew?!  I've been spending time learning about midlife and how little there really is that is shared with us through resources or conversations.  If you're a female teacher in midlife, this is the episode for you!  If you're not, join in the fun of listeni...

The first day of fall is in just a few days on September 23 and what a more perfect lesson activity to use in your classroom than Vivaldi's Autumn from The Four Seasons.  In today's episode, you'll hear about five ways that you can use the first movement of Vivaldi's Autumn for a variety of student lessons. Head to my website www.jessicagrant.org to find lesson materials in my shop from today's po...

As educators, we love sharing musicians, artists, and composers with our students.  Listening to their music inspires us to create, move, and engage in music making and composing ourselves.  Today I'm talking with Emi Ferguson about the book Iconic Composers that she wrote with Nicolas Csicsko.  The illustrations by David Lee Csicsko are incredible!  Emi and I discuss the project, how this book ca...

Whether you find yourself in a new situation or at the same school in a new school year, my conversation with Adrian Gordon will give you some great ideas for how to transition, build, and thrive.  Adrian shares thoughts from his book "Note to Self: A Music Director's Guide to Transitioning to a New School and Building a Thriving Music Program." Follow Adrian on Instagram: @apgordonmusic Purchase...

I often see people post questions in Facebook groups and music teacher chats that ask: Where can I go for professional development?  What are sessions I can do on my own time virtually?  How can I access quality content that can be applied to my classroom?  So glad you asked!  Jessica Peresta is here to talk about an amazing professional development platform called LEARN!  You'll hear how Jessica...