Eighth Grade Chorus

Students,
I am looking forward to working with each one of you! You’ll be involved in lots of great events and performances this year. It is my sincere hope that you grow as a musician and singer, have many positive group experiences, and have fun representing Peasley Middle School. I am excited to be your chorus director this year and I anticipate many great things from you because you are awesome and wonderful!

INDIVIDUAL PRACTICE ASSIGNMENTS
Most of your grade will come from classroom involvement during rehearsals. However, to achieve personal musical growth, and to experience group success, you will need to practice at home each day. You will be given specific assignments that will require you to record your voice to demonstrate mastery of skills and music covered in class.

Your practice assignments will be in two forms...Sight Reading and Concert Music Practice. This will be considered part of your chorus grade and should be taken seriously. Wait...Yes, you will be able to do some of these Individual Practice Assignments during class! However, as the year progresses, you will need to commit to completing the work on your own. (You should be able to use your Chrome Book to to all assignments.)  

GOOGLE CLASSROOM:

The practice assignments as well as announcemnts of events and deadlines will all be shared via Google Classroom. Training on this will be during our first week of class.


COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Chorus 8 is a yearlong class. Students wishing to be in Eighth Grade Chorus must have prior experience in chorus. If you have never been in Chorus, but you think you might belong, you can audition for a spot at the beginning of the year. Those students who transfer in from another school district will be required to have a vocal assessment to determine appropriate voice placement in the group.

Students in this class will continue to develop their musicianship as a singer and member of chorus. These lifelong skills and understandings will help the student to be prepared for further vocal experiences in High School and beyond. Students will experience challenging individual and group activities that will enhance musical growth. This will include individual assessment in areas of vocal development and sight singing. In addition, students will embark on a study of music theory. These lessons will be initiated in class via web-based learning. Individual progress will be tracked throughout the year.  All Chorus students are expected to perform in our concerts.

For more information, please download the CHORUS HANDBOOK. This will explain about classroom expectations, grading, and other policies about performing in our concerts. The last page of the handout must be filled out, signed and returned during the first week of the semester.

         Copyright Paul Otto 2019