Welcome to Franklin Music!!!
On this page you will find information about our General Music or Encore classes for 6th, 7th and 8th grade as well as our after school choir, The Swinging Knights! In addition, I have included some information about myself, Mrs. Blacker, the Choir Director here at Franklin.
NEWS FLASH!!!!
OUR ALL MIDDLE SCHOOL CONCERT DATE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10TH!!!!!! Please check out the revised schedule further down the page.
Overall Music Strategies
In all of our music classes, we write journals on Fridays. These are just brief one or two paragraph entries on a musical topic that gets the students thinking about music and also gets them working on their writing skills.
Solfege is also a key to all of my music classes and choir. Solfege is a really simple way to learn to read, write, sing and play music quickly even if you haven't ever been exposed to it before! Think of the Sound of Music and the song "Do Re Mi". That is the solfege scale. If your student has had class with me or is in choir, ask them about it!
World Music Curriculum (temporarily inactive)
This curriculum is currently on hiatus, but will be active once again as the 7th grade curriculum in the 10-11 school year. In this class, we study music from around the world. Some of the countries that we focus on include South Africa, Japan, Mexico and Brazil. With each country we read about the history of the country and it's music, learn a traditional holiday song and usually add another activity such as a dance, instruments, or an art project. Towards the end of the 7 week course, students are put into groups and are assigned an additional country to research and teach to the class using our green screen technology. If your student is in music, ask them what country they are currently studying and see if they can sing you it's song!
6th/7th Grade American Music
We are in the process of flip-flopping the 6th and 7th grade curriculums. Therefore, for this one year, both the 6th and 7th graders are studying the same thing. We are focused on the history of music right here in the United States. We start with folk music, spirituals and slave songs, move through jazz and blues and end up with today's popular music. Through this class, students get a sense of how music developed here in the United States as well as understanding the influences that older styles had on the music that they listen to today.
8th Grade Music
8th graders enrolled in music get to spend an entire semester focusing on their musical intelligence! It allows us to get much more in depth into our topics and produce really great results!
The first quarter of the 8th grade music class focuses on the elements of music as well as music history. Elements that are studied are rhythm, key signatures, dynamics, tempo, and form. Periods in music history include the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical and Romantic Periods. Each period in music history includes notes, a listening example and worksheet packet covering the main topics of the period. Towards the end of the first quarter, students will take a comprehensive test over the musical elements as well as putting together a timeline of all the different periods in music history that they have studied.
The second quarter of this class switches focuses to vocal music styles covering voice parts and vocal health, ballads, musical theater and opera. Students will get some additional history and vocabulary to go with these topics as well as some experience actually listening to and watching performances. If we're lucky, we'll get them singing!
SWINGING KNIGHTS!!!!!
The Swinging Knights is Franklin's after school choir! We have tons of fun at rehearsals on Wednesdays from 3:15-4:30 in the music room. We perform at 2 concerts during the year with the Band and Strings departments as well as 1 concert per year in cooperation with the other two middle school choirs in Champaign Unit 4. In addition, members of the Swinging Knights have the opportunity to participate in IMEA District 3 Choir in the Fall (7th and 8th grade only), IGSMA Solo and Ensemble Contest and IGSMA Organization Contest in the Spring. We try to do at least one tour to all of our feeder elementary schools (Barkstall, Dr. Howard, Garden Hills and Stratton), and we end the year by performing at 8th Grade Promotion. If you are at all interested in joining choir, swing by a rehearsal and check it out!
Our rehearsal and performance schedule for the Fall Semester is below as well as a list of all current Swinging Knights.
Current Swinging Knights
Alyssa A., Tyler B., Aminah B., Eliza F., Chandra G., Alice H., Jameia J., Surabhi J., Dre'Anna L., Demi L., Hildegard L., Niles M., Anica M., Jarayia M., Josh M., Adriana O., Siena R., Wyatt S., Alan S., Claire S., Aisha T., Dylan T., Hollee T., Lindsay V., Molly W., Lizzie W., Maddi W., Ally W., Coltrane Z., Anne Z.
Rehearsals
All rehearsals are on Wednesdays from 3:15-4:30 in the music room unless otherwise listed.
Sep. 2nd: 1st Meeting 3:15-4pm
Sep. 9th: Regular Rehearsal
Sep. 16th: Regular Rehearsal
Sep. 23rd: Regular Rehearsal
Sep, 30th: Regular Rehearsal
Oct. 7th: Regular Rehearsal
Oct. 14th: Regular Rehearsal
Oct. 21st: Regular Rehearsal
Oct. 28th: Regular Rehearsal
Nov. 4th: Regular Rehearsal
Nov. 11th: NO SCHOOL
Nov. 18th: Regular Rehearsal
Nov. 25th: Regular Rehearsal
Dec. 2nd: Regular Rehearsal
Dec. 9th: Choosing S&E Music
Dec. 16th: Choosing S&E Music
Performances and other Special Occasions
All performances are done in concert dress of black and white unless otherwise listed.
Tues, Oct. 6th: MUSIC OPEN HOUSE
from 6-8, casual
clothing
Mon, Oct. 12th: IMEA Auditions in
Bloomington for
select students,
nice clothing
Mon, Dec. 7th: Dress Rehearsal for
Middle School Choir
Concert at EMS
3:30-5pm
Tues, Dec. 8th: FMS Winter Concert
7pm, black/white
Thur, Dec. 10th: Middle School
Choir Concert
at Edison at
6:30pm
Choir Tour Photos 3/13/2009
Mrs. April M. S. Blacker, Music Teacher and Choir Director
I am a 2000 and 2005 graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelors and Masters of Music Education. I began my teaching career in Tuscola, IL teaching at Northward Elementary. In that position, I taught 1st-5th grade general music courses as well as putting on 3 concerts a year. After 5 wonderful years of teaching in Tuscola, the opportunity arose for me to try my hand at middle school music here at Franklin. I have now been here for 4 years and love my job! It has been quite a challenge for me to keep students engaged and learning about new and different kinds of music as well as growing our Swinging Knights choir from 6 kids four years ago to its current size of around 30!
When I'm not teaching music, I can usually be found working with the Champaign Urbana Theater Company as a Music Director for productions or onstage in the shows themselves. Last Fall, I played one of the Shoo Wop Girls in Little Shop of Horrors at the Virginia Theater.
On the rare occasions when I am not teaching or rehearsing, I can be found with my husband at our farm in West Champaign County. We love animals and currently have 1 inside and 1 outside dog, 1 inside and 8 or so outside farm cats and 3 goats! It is a busy life, but I love it! We are also expecting our first child, a baby girl, in March which will cut my school year a little short!
If you ever need to contact me about your child's Encore class, Swinging Knights or just generally have a question for me, please feel free to call me here at school, or better yet, email me at blackeap@champaignschools.org