I wanted to share sample lesson plans + agendas + resources for the entire school year. To view, here's the link:
You'll see the year organized by week, with 5th grade (first-year orchestra) on the left and 6th grade (second-year orchestra) on the right. The blue week number in the first column is a link to that week's lesson plan, and the image of the agenda/white board in the second column is a link to the Google Drawing. Feel free to make a copy of either and then edit them for yourself. The fourth column lists links to corresponding blog posts.
Then, the link below is more specific lesson plans for each week, including full orchestra rehearsals too--not just small groups. Because the repertoire changes each year, I called pieces things like [String Fest Piece #1], [String Fest Piece #2], or [Spring #1] with pretty broad lesson plans for those. (Please see this post for different repertoire options)
- Lesson plans by the week (first-year orchestra) (Google Doc)
- Lesson plans by the week (second-year orchestra) (Google Doc)
In my district, orchestra begins in 5th grade with 30 minutes of small-group learning once a week and 30 minutes of full orchestra once a week. (6th grade is still elementary school in my district.) The school year begins just after Labor Day and ends the first or second week in June. The first week of school for me is spent recruiting and finalizing rosters and creating the first small group rotation schedule (most students will have signed up the previous spring), so small groups begin the second week of school, hence 35 weeks of lesson plans. Full orchestra rehearsals begin the third week of small groups (so the fourth week of school, about the last week of September). For performances, we have a winter concert in early December, a district-wide String Fest field trip and concert the end of January (right as the second semester is starting), an elementary orchestra Solo/Ensemble festival in March, and then a spring concert in early-to-mid May. Orchestra Expressions is the method book we've used for several years, and then I have different supplements and composition worksheets and other resources that I've created as well. I hope seeing the school year mapped out in this format with one orchestra teacher's plans helps with both long-term planning and individual lesson plans!
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