Music Express Magazine

Goodness golly! It has been almost 2 weeks since my last blog post - sorry!

My life has been crazy lately because....drumroll......I GOT MARRIED! "Ms. Dunn" is now "Mrs. Skog." Some kids have it down, but it's going to take awhile for the students, parents and teachers to catch on. No biggy, though!

There have been a lot of things going on in the music classroom because 3 grades (4th, 5th & 2nd) are getting ready for their music programs in November and December. Also, chorus is getting ready for their December concert AND several students were selected to participate in the high school's production of "Honk - the musical." Busy time!

Anyways, I am going to post today about Music Express Magazine. I am in love! (cue magical cartoon floating hearts above my head). I came across the mention of this several times in blog posts and resource lists but had no idea what it was. So, I checked out the website and literally gasped in excitement. This magazine has exactly what I'm looking for! There are world music articles, lots of music ideas (singing and instrumental) and their is always a small article about relevant music! This is huge! Sometimes it's a singer (Justin Bieber, Carrie Underwood) or a musician (Josh Bell) or even about music technology, stage production and recording. I am constantly trying to pull classroom activities back to why it's important in the big picture. We are really pushing this in our district and it's hard with some concepts. Still, this was so exciting!

Then, I discovered you could get a sample pack AND the previous music teacher had received some. JACKPOT! While some of it isn't as helpful, there is a big plus in having this subscription. It's almost $200 for a whole year (6 issues), but I can't stop thinking about how this is going to help students see the bright light and help them improve their reading and reasoning skills. As soon as I can scrounge up the money (weddings are expensive, wow), I am totally going to subscribe for a year and try it out. I get a teacher book filled with more ideas and a CD, plus 30 student magazines. I would love to use these for project resources throughout the year. So many ideas! I even found an awesome listening map that can be used for Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever next week with the 4th graders.

EEEK! Music teacher overload. 

Please let me know what you think about Music Express Magazine - good, bad, eh?