Fall Fun Assignment Sheets
Keeping track of lesson assignments can be a tricky business. Students need something that they will look at on a daily basis to remind them about their assignments and what they should focus on during practice. In the past, we’ve used “Assignment Books,” which in most cases were just blank notebooks where I jotted down the pieces they were to practice.
Susan Paradis Keyboard Stickers
Occasionally I would add keyboard stickers or draw diagrams to liven up the page or remind students about new hand positions or warm-up pentascales. Still, it wasn’t always enough to get students to actually look at their assignment pages. (For the record – I use these stickers all the time and everywhere. You should too!)
This fall, in attempts to revamp how we use/view assignments, our studio started to use 3-ring binders to keep track of assignment sheets, worksheets, staff paper, and loose sheet music. Because all of these materials will be in the binder, students are (I hope) more likely to open the binder and see their assignment pages.
I’m experimenting with several different assignment sheet designs, some of which I’ve found on the websites of fellow bloggers. Of course, I’m a creature of habit, and when I find that something just doesn’t quite fit my style, that means I have to spend time creating resources of my own…
Owl Assignment Page
This morning I made a set of 6 different assignment sheets with fall themed practice charts. Each time a student practices, they can color in a small picture at the bottom of the page. Notice that I wrote “each time” instead of “each day” – every practice session counts! In our studio, a practice session means that a student goes through all or most of their assignments. Some students even practice twice in one day – once in the morning and once in the afternoon or evening!
Each assignment sheet includes a “Remember” post-it, a keyboard, a blank staff, and plenty of space to jot down lesson notes. I tried to make these as flexible as possible – I hope you find them useful in your studio!
It will be interesting to see what kind of crazy colored owls, pumpkins, leaves, apples, acorns, and candy corn show up when students come back the following week!
To download the Fall Fun Assignment Sheets, just click HERE. Please be sure to save the PDF to your computer to ensure that all the images will print out correctly.
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