Ms. Houston
Concert Choir, Advanced Women’s, Mixed Ensemble
Highland High School
B114 | 801-484-4343 ext. 254
katie.houston@slcschools.org
Concert Choir, Advanced Women’s, Mixed Ensemble
Highland High School
B114 | 801-484-4343 ext. 254
katie.houston@slcschools.org
Course
Description
Course Description: In Highland High School choirs, students will study the building blocks of choral singing including body alignment, breathing, and vocal tone. They will also study music theory, including note names, rhythms, time signatures, and music vocabulary. They will continue to develop their sight-singing ability. They will demonstrate their understanding through the preparation and performance of a choral concert each term.
Course Description: In Highland High School choirs, students will study the building blocks of choral singing including body alignment, breathing, and vocal tone. They will also study music theory, including note names, rhythms, time signatures, and music vocabulary. They will continue to develop their sight-singing ability. They will demonstrate their understanding through the preparation and performance of a choral concert each term.
Course
Goals and Objectives
The Utah State Music Core divides the goals of music education into four music standards, which are the following:
The Utah State Music Core divides the goals of music education into four music standards, which are the following:
1. Perform: Students
will use body and voice as means of musical expression.
2. Create: Students will improvise and compose music.
3. Listen/Analyze/Evaluate: Students will expand music listening skills and use musical vocabulary to analyze and evaluate music.
4. Discover Meaning: Students will find avenues of understanding and communication through connecting music to personal growth, the joy of living, traditions, culture, and history.
2. Create: Students will improvise and compose music.
3. Listen/Analyze/Evaluate: Students will expand music listening skills and use musical vocabulary to analyze and evaluate music.
4. Discover Meaning: Students will find avenues of understanding and communication through connecting music to personal growth, the joy of living, traditions, culture, and history.
Course Materials
Students must bring the following three things every single class period:
Students must bring the following three things every single class period:
1.
Pencil
2.
Folder (provided by me)
3.
Music Notebook (provided by me)
4.
A Winning Attitude
Uniforms
Mixed Ensemble: Men will provide their own black shoes, pants, and a black collared shirt. I will provide a white tie. Women will provide either 1) their own knee length black skirt and short sleeved black shirt or 2) a black short sleeved knee length dress. I have several used ones women can purchase for a great price from former students. If women feel more comfortable wearing black pants and a black collared shirt, they are welcome to do that instead.
Mixed Ensemble: Men will provide their own black shoes, pants, and a black collared shirt. I will provide a white tie. Women will provide either 1) their own knee length black skirt and short sleeved black shirt or 2) a black short sleeved knee length dress. I have several used ones women can purchase for a great price from former students. If women feel more comfortable wearing black pants and a black collared shirt, they are welcome to do that instead.
Advanced Women: Uniforms will be
decided by the class during the first week of school. We will keep the cost
under $50 per student.
Concert Choir: Women wear the “Cherise”
dress from stageaccents.com. I have some used ones for sale- please see me if
you’d like to try one on. I will order new dresses for girls who need them. The cost is $70 with shipping. Men need to
purchase a black tuxedo including pants, jacket, shirt, and black bowtie by our
first concert in October. The same tux will be used in Madrigals. Men do not
need tuxedo shoes, but they DO need black dress shoes of some kind. I have some used tuxes for sale that men can
come try on if they are interested. Here
are just a few of the many places men can look for tuxes:
· * Stageaccents.com
· * Concertattire.com
· * Mr. Mac
· *Tuxedo Wholesaler
Assignments
and Procedures
Participation: Participating in choir
each day is the most important part of this class. When students are dedicated
during class, they earn 10 points per class period. To earn 10/10 participation
points daily, a student must do the following, or else be subject to losing
points:
*Refrain from chewing gum and/or eating
*Have all materials ready (folder, notebook, pencil, etc.)
*Be on time (students automatically lose 2 participation points per tardy)
*Work hard and participate in all class activities
*Refrain from texting
*Refrain from talking while teacher is instructing
*Refrain from chewing gum and/or eating
*Have all materials ready (folder, notebook, pencil, etc.)
*Be on time (students automatically lose 2 participation points per tardy)
*Work hard and participate in all class activities
*Refrain from texting
*Refrain from talking while teacher is instructing
Absence and Tardy
Make-Up: Participation points for absences are not excused, even if
the absence is excused (unless the student is participating in a
school-sponsored activity or there is a special circumstance of prolonged
absence). Participation points can be made up within a month of the
absence/tardy. Students can make up 5 absences per term and 5
tardies.
--To make up an absence, students must
work on choir or other vocal music outside of class for
30 minutes and enter their practice time on Charms (see blog for instructions).
This counts for 10 participation points. Students MUST indicate in the
practice log under “title of song” the date of the absence or tardy they are
making up or else it will not be counted.
--To make up a tardy, a student must practice for 10 minutes and log it in to
their practice log on Charms. Students MUST indicate in the practice log
under “title of song” the date of the absence or tardy they are making up or
else it will not be counted.
Practice at home: When important
performances are coming up (especially festivals), I may assign students
individual practice to be done outside of class based on how prepared we are
and how much we get done during rehearsals. Students are responsible to log
their practice time into CHARMS by the due date I designate. These practice
sessions are worth 10 points each.
In-class performances: Students will sing
alone or in a group for their in-class performance (50 points). Students will
be graded individually for this assignment, even if they perform with other
people. Term 1 can be any genre of music; term 3 must be suitable for region
solo/ensemble and have an accompanist. More details on that will be provided in
January. In-class performances must be memorized.
Sing to Serve: For Sing to Serve,
students will serve the community through music and write a one-page reflection
about their experience (50 points). I will announce musical service
opportunities throughout the year. This assignment is due twice,
once in term 2 and once in term 4.
Concert Report: Students
must see a choral, orchestral, or band concert (that they are not in) once each
term and fill out their concert report form (50 points). Performances must have a conductor. There are only TWO exceptions I will count in
order to support our performing arts department: I will count the school
musical (for students NOT in it) as a concert during term 2 and the dance
concert during term 3. These are the
only exceptions! Upcoming concerts are posted in the classroom under our class
calendar. I will do my best to post upcoming concerts on the choir blog as well
(click on the link on the right side under “Concert Report Options”). Plan in
advance! Students must turn in a program along with their concert report form (this
can also be found on the blog on the right side under “Choir Assignments”). If
there is no program provided, students must take a selfie with the choir in the
background. If there is not a program or picture, the assignment will only get
half credit.
Music Notebooks: In choir,
students learn note names, rhythms, time signatures, dynamics, and other
elements of choral singing. I will provide a notebook for students in class.
Students will do an activity in their notebooks daily after warm-ups to help
build their musical understanding. At the end of the entry) term, I will
collect the notebooks and give 5 pts. per activity. I throw out a few
activities when I calculate the total value of the notebook so students with a
few absences won’t be penalized if they miss activities while they are gone.
Quizzes/Tests: As needed
depending on the class, I give written quizzes on note names, rhythms, and
music vocabulary. I also give performance quizzes in groups. These quizzes will never be worth more than
50 points and can always be re-taken as many times as a student wants.
Concerts/Festivals: We have one big
concert at HHS each term (worth 100 points). A concert
absence must be arranged with me at least three weeks in
advance by a parent due to a critical family circumstance or region/final athletic
event. If excused by me, students will write a 3-page research paper as an
alternate assignment (also worth 100 points) due the day of the concert. If
there is an emergency illness excused by a parent by telephone or in person,
the student will have 2 weeks do his/her paper after the concert is
over. Additionally, we perform at Temple Square each winter (worth 50
points) and in a choir festival each spring (50 points). The same
concert absence policy applies for these two performance.
Students are expected
to keep themselves informed of upcoming concerts and events. There will be no
acceptable excuses for not knowing about a performance! All concerts are listed
on the choir website and on Charms and will also be listed on the board at
least a month prior.
Additional
Policies
Cell Phones: The only time you should be on your cell phone is when I ask you to pull it out during announcements for calendar review. I reserve the right to take a phone if it is being abused during class. In order to get your phone back at the end of the period, you will need to do one of the following things: 1) Sing, “For She’s a Jolly Good Teacher” or 2) Do 10 minutes of classroom service during lunch.
Folders: If you leave your folder out when you leave instead of putting it in your assigned cubby, it will go in the dungeon. You can get it back one of two ways: 1) Sing, "I'm a Little Teapot" or 2) Do 10 minutes of classroom service during lunch.
Cell Phones: The only time you should be on your cell phone is when I ask you to pull it out during announcements for calendar review. I reserve the right to take a phone if it is being abused during class. In order to get your phone back at the end of the period, you will need to do one of the following things: 1) Sing, “For She’s a Jolly Good Teacher” or 2) Do 10 minutes of classroom service during lunch.
Folders: If you leave your folder out when you leave instead of putting it in your assigned cubby, it will go in the dungeon. You can get it back one of two ways: 1) Sing, "I'm a Little Teapot" or 2) Do 10 minutes of classroom service during lunch.
Important
Websites
o www.highlandhighschoolchoir.blogspot.com
This
website will include important choir dates, pictures/performances,
notifications about concert report options, info about local voice teachers,
assignments that can be printed off, and more. This year, I will keep all
calendar items and copies of assignments on the blog rather than
charms. Please check it often!
o www.charmsoffice.com
You will need to UPDATE YOUR INFO and
ADD A PARENT in the Charms system in order to get credit for this assignment.
Many of you already have a Charms account already and just need to log in and
make sure your info is correct. For instructions on how to do access
Charms and update info, please refer to the Highland High School Choir website.
Charms is how I communicate with parents and students and track makeup practice
for absences and tardies.
FOLLOW
US ON INSTAGRAM! @highlandhighschoolchoir
Please visit this website
and complete the survey in order to get credit for reading the disclosure
document.
