Winter Packets

My schools each have a winter band/orchestra/choir concert in December.  The closest we get to performing Christmas music is my arrangement of "Jingle Bells." It has become an orchestra tradition at my schools to end their portion of the concert with combined 5th and 6th grade orchestras playing their different parts and student volunteers ringing bells.  Before my students leave for winter break, I pass out these winter packets for them to enjoy over their time off from school.  These packets are great for sight-reading and reinforcing skills from the fall semester.  I've tried to stay away from the more religious Christmas songs and to include some melodies that may be unfamiliar to my students.  The second-year winter packet includes many rounds and duets too.

Winter packet (for first-year string players):

• Word document
• PDF

Contents:

1. Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
2. Good King Wenceslas
3. Up on the Housetop
4. Overture to The Nutcracker
5. Carol of the Bells
6. Here We Come A-Caroling

Winter packet (for second-year string players):

• Word document
• PDF

Contents:

1. Jolly Old Saint Nicholas (duet)
2. Good King Wenceslas (duet)
3. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
4. Winter is Coming (A three-part round)
5. The Bell Doth Toll (A three-part round)
6. Auld Lang Syne
7. In the Bleak Midwinter
8. Carol of the Bells

Enjoy!

Jingle Bells!

One tradition at my elementary winter band/orchestra/choir concerts is that the orchestras always end their portion of the concert with "Jingle Bells."  I've written an arrangement that works well for where my students are by this point in the year.  Beginners have an open-string arco harmony part, while the 2nd-year players have a more exciting harmony part, with lots of shuffle bowing patterns.  The beginners' harmony part is in unison; while the 2nd-year harmony part has separate parts for upper strings, cellos, and basses.  2nd-year basses are welcome to add slaps on the rests in their harmony part!  The piano interlude gives them time to set bows down and get ready to pluck.

Combined beginners and 2nd-year players play through this twice at the concert:

1st time:

• Beginners--open-string harmony part
• 2nd year players--melody

2nd time:

• Beginners--melody (or open-string harmony--their choice) 
• 2nd year players--harmony

In past years, at the school performance for students, one pre-chosen student from each class comes up and rings jingle bells while the orchestra plays.  I have students from the orchestra help with distributing and collecting the bells.  They're just little jingle bells from a craft store threaded through pipe cleaners with the ends tied together to form a bracelet.

For an introduction, I play the last two measures on the piano, and, as an interlude before the repeat, I play the last four measures again, showcasing the jingle bell players and giving the string players a moment to remember which part they're playing next. (In more recent years, I stopped having audience members come up to play the jingle bells to keep the focus on the orchestra students and have one less detail to organize for the concert.)  Before we play, students pull out the Santa hat or reindeer antlers--or whatever optional festive hat they've had hidden under their chair until this point--and put them on.  Bass players are invited to put a hat on their bass too :)

I'm sure "Jingle Bells" is one of those pieces that every orchestra teacher has their own arrangement of, but here are the parts for mine; feel free to use!  It's one that students love every year--and I enjoy hearing and playing too!

• *Beginning parts (PDF) (melody/open-string harmony) 
• *Advanced parts (PDF) (melody/harmony)
• Score (PDF)
• Piano part (PDF)

* = updated link to also include a version with limited alpha notes--can print double-sided and let students choose which side to read (Jan. 2026)

Audio files (with piano introduction and interlude)

• Slower practice tempo (60)
• Faster performance tempo (90)

Happy jingling!  I'd love to hear if you end up trying out this arrangement with your students!

Composition #3--Arco A-string Notes

And here's the worksheet for a composition for the notes of the A string plus the bow!

Composition #3 (A-string notes, arco):

• Word document
• PDF

Template for composition packet:

• Template for A string notes composition packet (Word document)
• A string VIOLIN (Google Doc)
• A string VIOLA (Google Doc)
• A string CELLO (Google Doc)
• A string BASS (Google Doc)

Enjoy!

Links to other composition worksheets: 

• Composition #1 (open strings, pizzicato)
• Composition #2 (D-string notes, pizzicato)
• Composition #4 (G-string notes, arco)
• Composition #5 (C/E string notes, arco)

Link to Templates for composition packets

Elements of Music

Here are the elements of music:

• Melody
• Harmony
• Rhythm
• Form
• Texture
• Timbre
• Expression

Keyboard

I made this giant keyboard poster labeled with letter names to help make connections between the notes on the string instruments and the notes on the keyboard.  The white paper is cut from a large roll of paper, and the black is construction paper.

And here is a .PNG of a labeled keyboard that I use in my C/E string handout.

Music Literacy Word Wall

 

There are lots of new words for beginning band and orchestra students, so I made a music literacy word wall where students can see these words in a prominent spot in the room spelled correctly and with a picture.  They are roughly grouped together by topic and then get added to the wall once we cover them in class.  Here's a partial listing of the words, no pictures, sorry:

• Word wall words (PDF)

• Word wall words (Word document)

It's exciting to see students scan the word wall to try and find the answer to a question of the week or to use the wall as a reference when writing compositions and needing to check how to draw a certain musical symbol.  They know that the words are there as a handy visual reference for them.

Composition #2--Pizzicato D-string Notes

My beginners' second composition of the school year is still pizzicato, but it includes the D-string notes, which they have just learned.  Again, I type these all up so that students can see their piece in print and try out their classmates' compositions.

Composition #2 (D-string notes, pizzicato)

• Word document
• PDF

Template for composition packet:

• Template for D string notes composition packet (Word document)
• D string VIOLIN (Google Doc)
• D string VIOLA (Google Doc)
• D string CELLO (Google Doc)
• D string BASS (Google Doc)

Enjoy!

--

Links to other composition worksheets: 

• Composition #1 (open strings, pizzicato)
• Composition #3 (A-string notes, arco)
• Composition #4 (G-string notes, arco)
• Composition #5 (C/E string notes, arco)

Link to Templates for composition packets

Storage Bins

I keep my supplies clearly labeled so students can easily find what they're looking for and put it back where it belongs.  I have containers for:

• Pencils
• Rock stops
• Rosin
• Tubes (to help with beginning bow holds)
• Cloths
• Shoulder rests
• Strings
• Miscellaneous supplies

Composition #1--Pizzicato Open Strings

Composition is an important component of my students' experience in orchestra.  From the very beginning of the school year, students are composing music that they can play on their instruments and that their classmates can play too.  I use composition as a way for students to dive into music literacy and to reinforce what they are learning about reading music.  It is an opportunity for students to be creative and actually create music to play instead of just read what others have written.  They start identifying as composers as well as string players.  It's very gratifying to see how different all the compositions are from each other within the limitations I've placed for them (open strings, pizzicato, four measures, quarter notes/rests).  I do type up everyone's compositions and turn them into packets so students can see what their classmates have created, see their own piece in print (they are published composers by the end of September!), and have lots of pieces to practice at home.  We also feature a few student compositions at our winter concert.  In their end-of-the-year orchestra surveys, there are always students who write that what they are most proud of with their work in orchestra that year are their compositions.

My example composition plus check-list

Composition #1 (open strings, pizzicato):

• Word document
• PDF

Template for composition packet:

• Template for open string composition packet (Word document)
• Open string VIOLIN (Google Doc)
• Open string VIOLA (Google Doc)
• Open string CELLO (Google Doc)
• Open string BASS (Google Doc)

Enjoy!

--

Links to other composition worksheets: 

• Composition #2 (D-string notes, pizzicato)
• Composition #3 (A-string notes, arco)
• Composition #4 (G-string notes, arco)
• Composition #5 (C/E string notes, arco)

Link to Templates for composition packets