Thursday, July 28, 2011

Step Lively Dance Resources

I started using the Step Lively dances last school year. There are 4 books in the series and they are great "ice breakers" and good for beginning of the school year and end of the school year for quick, accessible, high-energy dances!
http://www.marianrose.com/shop/index.php
I use book 1 and book 3 most often; Book 2 has Canadian dances and Book 4 has French dances.
GREAT stuff!!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Orff Resources

There are a few REALLY good sites out there with detailed Orff lesson plans, etc. This is by no means a conclusive list, just a start:

Ontario Music Educator's Site:
This is a site I wandered onto and it has some really good info/lessons/etc.
http://www.omea.on.ca/resources.php

Utah Schools site:
Complete with sound files, etc. http://www.schools.utah.gov/curr/fineart/core_curriculum/general/songbook.htm

For all you "techies" out there; this is an ipad app called, appropriately, "Singing Fingers: This app lets your finger ‘paint’ sound. Play it back by moving your finger(s) over the shapes and swirls. This could be used for graphic scoring, solfa acivities and even composition tasks in groups.
http://wrightstuffmusic.com/2011/06/12/ipad-apps-for-orff-lessons/

Add your own in the comments.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Why Blog?

So, it's something I've thought of for a while now; after searching for things on the web having to do with elementary Orff Schulwerk, I found the resources LIM*I*TED! Not much out there.. so... I'm throwing in my meager two cents worth. I am heading into my 18th year of teaching; most of those years hungry to learn more about the Orff Approach, even after completing my Master's Level Certification... I continue to want to improve, to learn more, and to encourage others to teach music in such a unique, exhilarating way that is WAAAAY (yeah, I know I just used that word in a different WAY!) more fun (and meaningful) than traditional music education.
I'd love for you to join me and add your own comments, thoughts, tricks, tips, and YES! LeSsOn PlAnS!
So, join in, share your best; what works, what you love, what you have written, what "jumping off points" we can use to begin a lesson. Ask your questions here... no ? too "elementary", no judgments.. let's start the ball rolling, fellow Orff-fans!