You will be freezing the berries individually first. This will prevent them from sticking and clumping together. You can also use a pan, casserole dish, or baking sheet. If you are using something made from metal, consider lining it first with parchment paper to protect the blueberries. It will take about two to three hours for the berries to freeze completely. Pull the tray out of the freezer carefully so as not to spill any of the berries. You can scoop them into the bag by hand or simply tip the tray over the opening of the bag. The berries will be good for up to one year. You do not need to thaw frozen blueberries before baking with them, however rinsing them with cool water until the water runs clear may help prevent them from releasing too many juices during baking.

Summary: Spread the blueberries in a single layer across a shallow tray. Place the tray into the freezer and wait until the blueberries are frozen. Transfer the blueberries to a freezer-safe Ziploc (resealable) bag. Close the Ziploc bag and place it into the freezer.

Unlike in print handwriting, you will want to begin by teaching the lowercase letters first. Lowercase letters tend to be easier to form than many of the uppercase ones, and many are also quite similar to the way they are printed. Once the student has mastered the lowercase letters, you can begin with the uppercase letters. These should be taught second because they are complex to form, and are also used less frequently than lowercase cursive letters. In cursive handwriting, you will find that some letters are formed using a similar stroke to others. It will be easiest for the student to get the hang of drawing the letter correctly if they are able to practice similar letters at the same time. Group the "round" letters together. The letters, a, d, g, q, and c are all formed in a similar way. So have the student begin by practicing with these letters. Move on to the "climb and slide" letters. These letters are all formed by drawing an upward stroke followed by a downward stroke, and includes the letters i, u, w, and t. Practice the loopy letters. These letters will all be formed by drawing a shape that involves a loop. It includes the letters e, l, h, k, b, f, and j. The "lumpy" letters include all the letters of the alphabet that will be formed by drawing a hump and includes the letters n, m, v, and x. Finish with the "mix n' match" letters. These letters include p, r, s, o, y, and z, and were put into this category because they require movements used in two or more of the previous categories. It is best to teach these last so that the student will have a chance to practice the easier formations first. In order to draw the letter correctly, the student will first need to be shown how the letter should be formed. You can do this by drawing the letter slowly and carefully on the board or you can do it on a sheet of paper. You can also search the internet for animations of how each letter is formed if you aren't sure how to draw the letter properly or if you want the student to be able to watch the letter being drawn over and over. Search the internet for "animated letter formation" plus the letter you want to show them. As with print writing, the student will need lots of practice to get each letter right. You can search the internet for worksheets, or make your own. Whether you make your own, or print them out, it is good to start with a worksheet that includes a drawing of the letters the student is learning along with a place where they can draw the letter next to it. Make sure they have many chances to practice each letter. As with print handwriting, the key to successfully writing in cursive is to practice. This will help them to develop their muscle memory. Encourage them to try writing in cursive any time they have to write something. Try to check their work to catch any mistakes they are making. If mistakes aren't corrected early on, they may develop a habit of forming the letter in the wrong way. This will be difficult to change later on.

Summary: Teach lowercase letters first. Group the letters together based on how they are formed. Show the student how each letter is formed. Have the student practice with worksheets. Remind the student about the importance of practice.

Trying to record a song you haven't finished writing yet is like trying write a novel without any ideas about the plot or characters you're going to use very tricky. Whether you're recording in your garage or at Abbey Road studios, you'll want to have your entire song figured out before you start to record. This saves you the time of having to re-record numerous takes as you figure out your song and, if you're using a professional studio, the money needed to pay for studio time. This means that your song's structure needs to be more or less decided-upon when you arrive at the studio, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you need to have every note pre-planned. Some artists, for instance, record their solos live in the studio. In some genres of music, like Jazz, entire sections of the song can be improvised still, even in these cases, the musicians know when to begin and end each part of the song and how to stay in time with one another. For more information, see How to Write a Song. Not every song you record has to be an original. You can also record your own version of someone else's song (called a cover). There are no significant legal hurdles to recording a cover, though you are obligated to give the original songwriter credit if you sell your version commercially. Some of music's biggest hits have been covers (though this is not always well-known among fans of the songs). Below are just a few famous covers: "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell (originally by Gloria Jones) "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper (originally by Robert Hazard) "Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley (originally by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton) "All Along the Watchtower" by Jimi Hendrix (originally by Bob Dylan) "Jolene" by the White Stripes (originally by Dolly Parton) "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany (originally by Tommy James and the Shondells) No matter when and where you're recording, it's always in your best interest to practice your song until you know it like the back of your (hopefully callused) hands. By the time you turn on the mics, you'll want to be able to reliably play through the entire song without making anything rather than insignificant, tiny errors. If you can't, you risk wasting lots of time playing your song over and over as you try for a perfect take. This is especially important if you're using a professional recording studio. While you can easily get away with making a few mistakes when you're recording in your garage, showing up to a recording studio unprepared can be embarrassing and costly. Studio time can be quite expensive (it's not rare for the services of a reasonably high quality studio to run at $100 per hour or more), so every time you make a mistake and need to start over, you're losing money. Plus, experienced sound engineers are present when you record in the studio do you want to mess up in front of them over and over? Just like you'll want to be able to play through your song without mistakes before you begin recording, you'll also want to have all of the equipment and accessories that you need to make your music sound just right before you step into the studio. While many professional studios will have various amps, cables, effects pedals, and even instruments handy, there's no guarantee that they'll have exactly what you need to sound the way you want, so don't count on this. Instead, have all of your equipment with you to avoid the hassle of adjusting to a new setup. Obviously, if you're recording at home, all you'll be able to use is the equipment you have (or whatever you can borrow from a friend).
Summary: If you haven't already, write a song. Alternatively, pick a song to cover. Practice, practice, practice. Have whatever equipment you need to sound "just right".