Ah, the middles. You can't beat them for always having surprises around the corner. They can't decide whether they're grown up or still fans of Pokemon. They want to be sophisticated, but still have fun with the "elementary" games. And when school starts, they're rarin' to go! Not necessarily academically, of course............but with getting reacquainted with friends, making new ones (especially of the opposite gender), and making sure their hair is always right. What do you do to keep their attention, especially in general music, where you might just have those kids who thought they were done with music and aren't too crazy about being there in the first place? Start your first week off right. Set your music class apart from the others by starting them off actively at the beginning.

Start right away with activities. Don't worry about the roll call til the middle of class. At the beginning of the year in most other classes, these kids sit. Take care of the rules later unless a student, by behavior, forces you to stop and go over the rules. (That might make the kid behave by virtue of peer pressure, because those other kids are NOT going to want to stop just to hear the rules!) Get them going, get them active, and don't give them a chance to mouth off or get bored! If you're singing, don't worry about singing in parts! Just do it. Let them volunteer for the harmony after they've sung through a couple of songs. The thing is..........get them going, keep 'em busy, and don't give them time to think about being bored.

It never hurts to revert back to what they had in their later elementary years. Many of these kids grew up with songs their music teachers gleened from Music K-8 magazine from Plank Road Publishing. If you don't get this, you need to! Until then, make friends with your elementary teachers and borrow some of the magazines to learn the songs. (You can order many songs individually, as well as order back issues and recordings). Check with these teachers on other songs that the kids have learned, such as songs from their music series. Sure, you're going to have some grumbles about it being from elementary school, but don't you know that most middle schoolers think it's COOL to pretend to have an attitude? Chances are, 90% of them will start singing those songs anyway!

Try the Taco Bell Canon, contributed by Emmie Weed! Her suggestions:
Just use the bottom line to make up your own simple accompaniment to be like Pachelbel Canon - F Major, C major, D minor and so on. Sounds good in unison, 2 part, and 4 part.Emmie has used it with 3rd grade and up.The words are:
Lots of cheese and some sour cream, then lettuce,
salsa, don't forget the refried beans, add
fajita, fajita, fajita, fajita, fajita, fajita,
fajita, fajita. Taco salad (x8). Guacamole
Guacamole.

Check for octavos that involve body percussion and movement. Again, they might complain, but just ignore the complaints, and they'll jump right in. These kids need movement to get their blood going. Middle schoolers need something going on every minute to prevent boredom.

Inexpensive, fun.........boomwackers can be a great tool with middle school. Boomwackers? You know, those tuned plastic tubes? Remember, middle school kids are still young at heart. Take a day the first couple of weeks to have the kids create boomwacker compositions. If you can get enough boomwackers, have your classes divide into groups and see what they can come up with. Encourage them to use harmony and create ways to hit the boomwackers (try to avoid using heads, though:-) Also, you can use the boomwackers with the beginning-of-the-year songs for some great improvistational accompaniments. If you have trouble getting ahold of some boomwackers, check the Music K-8 list archives for ideas on making your own.

Involve contemporary music in your beginning of the year activities. Last year, the Madness Site covered ideas taken from a St. Louis Orff-Schulwerk workshop. These ideas can be found here. I wouldn't advocate using any contemporary artists who use poor vocalizing techniques (actually, you'll be hard-pressed to find too many that do, but avoid the ones who are obvious). Listen to recordings and create body percussion. Listen for certain music elements and form.

If you have kids who really have an attitude about music, start with a research experiment. Have the kids come up with the number of times they hear music outside of class on any given number of days (including at home, TV, commercials). Get detailed. If they're watching TV, have them write the name of the show and whether or not that show used background music. Have them describe the style of the music and how it relates to the show. Do their parents listen to the radio while driving or doing work at home? Do the kids listen to the radio while doing homework?

Come up with a "What if music was zapped by aliens" scenario. What would their daily lives be without music? Watch a "decent" excerpt from a popular TV show, but turn off the volume. (It would be wonderful if you could leave the dialogue, but take out the music, but that would be difficult). Substitute some inappropriate music for the scenario. (For example, if it's a car chase scene, substitute "Swan Lake". If it's a kissing scene, substitute "Ride of the Valkyres".

Do a project in which you give a group of kids scenarios from commercials or TV shows and have them compose or select appropriate background music.

Start the students on music journals. Again, each week or so, give the kids certain music scenarios. Get creative! (If your favorite animal played an instrument, what would it play, and why?). Insist on correct usage of grammar and tell them to use the writing skill guidelines used in their other classes.

Middle schoolers still like games. On the second or third day, dig out your Jeopardy game, some of Artie Almeida's Looney Tunes games (available from several of our sponsors), or other games the kids liked in the past. Game ideas can be found here.

It's probably best if you hold off on the rules until at least halfway through the first day music period, or even the second day. They need to be done during the first week, of course, or you will have kids who will start taking advantage of you. But, it's best to start them off being active so they don't think this is going to be another "sit and listen" session like they have so much of the time. But, when you establish your rules, mean business! If you have any newsletters or things to pass out, if it can wait, do it the second or third day. During the first week, these kids are so innundated with papers, that yours might get lost in the shuffle, or worse, the trash can. Unfortunately, many parents rate the music newsletter right down there with the soccer sign-ups and lunchroom policies.

There are other ideas from last year on middle school general music in this article.

Main point.................get going right away! Don't spin wheels. Don't give them a chance to look for alternative, less desirable means of combating boredom. YOU teach them to combat boredom the fun way, and help them learn that music can still continue to be acceptable fun, even to a group of "super-cool teens":-)

See Our Bonus Big Kids Article: Color Guard Auditions by Laura VanDyke-Wolf