That scream that was heard could have possibly been from a music teacher who has found out that he or she has to teach middle school general music, or that the schedule has been revamped for that, or that he or she has to travel to the gym to teach general music so the band director can have the room. It seems so often, that the middle school setting is experiment time. General music is often lumped into "exploratory" classes, often not even worth a grade. But, it can be done!

The following are some ideas contributed by teachers and gleened from music education lists on activities to use with the middle school general music setting (many with little or no budget required. Also, these can be squeezed into some of those weird time schedules):

"Give Aways" (By Gretchen)

Materials: upbeat contemporary music
a small dixie cup for ea player
small loose candy NOT individually wrapped
(M&M's, Skittles, etc.)

How to play: Clear the playing area of chairs so there's plenty of room for players to move about.
Give all players a cup w 10 candies inside (NOT to be eaten yet). Explain that when the music is playing,everyone is to move about the room giving away some of their candies. For example, Sue goes up to Jim and gives him 3 pieces, then on to Mark and gives him 1 pc., and on to Amy to give her 4 pieces, etc. At the same time, players may be giving Sue candies. So say Sue gives Jim 3 pieces, Alan gives Sue 2, etc. When the music is stopped, (pause button), call out "Stop
and count ____" (any number from 0-20). Immediatelythe players stop moving and begin counting their candies. Players that do not have the number called, sit down on the floor. Those who do take turns introducing themselves and telling 1 thing about themselves. After this, all stand up, the music is started, and play continues.

Cautions: Watch for anyone who is NOT giving away candies but is standing around accumulating candy. Give a warning and threaten disqualification. Also, no one is allowed to refuse anyone's candies or they're out too. Keep the rounds short so everyone has a chance to get the right number of candies and share. Be sure to change the number you call out each time. It's always fun to call out Zero once in a while.

If there are still a few players who have not yet gotten to share, just let them do so if you're running
out of time. Play until all have had a time or two to share or interest begins to wane.

From Marilyn:Check the Music With MIDI by McGraw-Hill for Grades 6, 7, and 8. There are listening lessons and applications of listening lessons in many of these, and a great supplement.

From Roberta: My vote is for a STOMP unit - high energy, high interest. (Video is available from Plank Road Publishing). Lots of percussion ensemble rhythm work - include reading notation this way. Have the kids make their own instruments. I'd also do some BOOMWHACKER stuff...could get them reading melodies that way.

More from Gretchen:A Getting To Know You Game
Materials: 1 full roll of toilet paper
upbeat contemporary music
chairs for all but 1 player

This is actually musical chairs, but with a twist. Before play and without any explainations, hand a
student the toilet pp roll ask each one to take somepaper, fold it up nicely, and put aside where they can get to it. Remember, say NOTHING else.

Arrange the chairs in 2 rows or whatever for musical chairs. Begin the game. When the music is stopped, whoever is out is to retrieve their TP and then for each square of paper they must share something about themselves. The first square is for their name. It's a hoot for those who have taken a long streamer of paper!! When that person has shared, take away a chair and continue play.

Create instrumental ensembles! Divide the students into groups (probably no more than 5). Review basic rhythm patterns and have the students rehearse them by clapping and counting. Within each group, assign a percussion accessory instrument. Each student needs to write an assigned number of beats of rhythm for his/her instrument. Then,each group needs to rehearse, then perform for the rest of the class.

If you have access to a MIDI and some budget, purchase Freestyle by Mark of the Unicorn and download some MIDI files. Divide the students into groups of 2's and 3's and allow each group to orchestrate the MIDI's while the rest of the class is in session. It's amazing what the students can come up with!

Speaking on composition (again, if you have access to computers), with the support of your principal, try an electronic music composition project. I say you need the support of your principal because this will call for the students to go around and record environmental sounds. For this project, some very strong ground rules need to be set. Other than that......Divide the students into small groups, each with a battery tape recorder. Send them off to record different sounds (water, doors slamming or squeaking, etc.) Record the sounds into your computer using CoolEdit. CoolEdit has features that will let you manipulate the sounds in all sorts of ways! Let the students work at the computer to manipulate their sounds (again, you might have to have one group work at the computer while others do something else). At the end of the unit, play all the sound compositions and see if the other students can guess what sounds were used.

Reports sound dry, dull, and boring. But, not if you challenge the kids to come up with the most creative presentation! Assign composers or performers and see what they come up with. You might get some great PowerPoint results. Someone else might decide to dress up as his/her assigned musician and present the report. Others might act out a skit. Make it a competition!

The Music Madness Education Site is open to more ideas for middle school (and high school!) general music. Please contribute your ideas, and they'll be featured in a future update.