This is a favorite dance and I love using it to introduce syncopation! There are (at least) 2 versions although I think Version 2 is probably more historically accurate. The song and dance is a play party. Here is more information about this song and more here from the University of Arkansas with a field recording from 1953. The speech at the beginning of Version 1 is something I created with my students.
I needed a new song for sixteenth notes for this season, so this morning I wrote one. Enjoy! The game is similar to others and will be a quick and easy way for my students to work on playing octaves and sixteenth notes! Click this link for the google slide.
Remote Learning has been a learning curve for me. As an Orff trained music practitioner active, hands-on music making and engagement is how my classes roll. It's not that I dislike technology, but rather that my focus is on activities, games, songs, movement, and very little technology. I also think our children have far too much access and interaction with technology and not enough with other humans, but that is a different conversation. My biggest hurdles with online/remote/e-learning have been using technology in a meaningful way. So, crash courses in imovie, screencasting, and google slides.
Our school leadership wanted to ensure that relational teaching stayed at the forefront of our thinking and planning activities and lessons for our students while they are not on our campus and our physical presence. School is still happening, and I am so thankful that our leadership made relationships our primary goal.
Delivering Content
Knowing we were to keep our faces front and center made delivering content decisions easy - it was going to be me recording videos with songs, activities, and lessons. I already had a youtube channel (3 in fact) and one I had used for sub plans before where I recorded lessons, so that was an easy decision.
Powerpoint vs. Google Slides
I have used Powerpoint forever, but think I will be switching to Google Slides now for several reasons.
Obvious, probably, but whatever I make is automatically saved to my Drive.
Easy to create a link.
Many other reasons - the top two sealed the deal for me.
Google Meet vs. Screencastify
So far, I have found Screencasting to be the way to go. Screencastify is a free add on from Chrome and is truly ridiculously easy. My favorite features are the edit once recording is complete, and the highlight cursor!
I also like that once I record I can edit the recording. Free up to 5 minutes long, click here for a tutorial and info on how to redeem the free coupon code for unlimited access.
Here is a lesson I made for my students that has been very successful as we have moved to Remote Learning:
3. How to Beatbox (complete with a mistake -no, we are NOT perfect and it's OK)
4. Beatboxing Video - my kids loved this and sent me videos of themselves making up beatboxing rhythms which have been so fun to listen to!
Videos
I have also made many videos of myself singing and using childrens literature with songs. Lessons are following a flow of "steady beat or rhythm activity", "review" (song), "new" activity or lesson and always end with an invitation for students to send me a picture of their "Sidewalk Symphony" or "Clapping Challenge" or "make up a new verse" and have gotten some wonderful pics and videos from families.
Each person has their own history and life is not a single
narrative. We are a collection of people living in multiple environments with
multiple identifiers.I am a White
female, she/her, a mom, daughter, sister; I am a musician, teacher, artist,
author, blogger, and crafter; I am also the mother of a child who was adopted
from China so our family is Chinese American; I am a singer, actor, dancer, and
jewelry maker. I was raised in Maine but live in the South and love to travel.
There is no single story to me, no single story to you and no single story of
the human experience.
Please watch "The Danger of a
Single Story":
Recently there was a lengthy discussion on Facebook about White
teachers using spirituals in the music classroom. Though there were many
perspectives, it is important to remember that each of us teach from a place of
our own stories; positive, negative, and somewhere in between. It is important
to remember during Black History Month that it is a time to pause, remember,
and celebrate the music of Black and African Americans. That is not a single
story of spirituals and Civil Rights music, but so much more.
Today we have a guest blogger.We are going to learn from the amazing Franklin J. Willis.
Mr. Franklin J. Willis currently serves as the
Elementary Music Coach for the Metro Nashville Public Schools district. For the
past decade Willis has taught both general music and choir at the elementary
and middle school levels. He is a three-time recipient of the prestigious
Country Music Association Foundation Music Teacher of Excellence award. He
specializes in providing musical instruction that will empower and engage all
students and teachers to achieve their best through authentic culturally
relevant learning experiences. Click on Franklin's picture below to learn more about Franklin and his advocacy
for music education.
Aimee: Hi Franklin, thank you very much for taking
the time to answer some questions from your perspective.The focus for many music teachers during
Black History Month seems to be on slavery and the Civil Rights Movement.What do you feel is important for everyone to
understand about Black History Month?
Franklin: First, I think it is very important for
students and teachers to understand the history of why we celebrate Black
History Month. Mr. Carter G. Woodson [was] considered the Dean of African American
History [who] worked tirelessly to educate the public about the achievements of
African Americans. His life was dedicated to sharing the history of African
Americans. I recently learned about a fabulous resource by two veteran Social
Studies teachers, Lanesha Tabb and Naomi O’Brien that provides context on how
Black History Month was formed and why we celebrate it. Download this free
resource by clicking this link.
Now that we have an understanding of what Black History Month is
and why we celebrate it every year let’s discuss how we can celebrate the
accomplishments of African Americans in the music classroom. African American
music is diverse and has birthed musical genres throughout history. If a music
teacher wishes to focus on our sacred slave songs, which we call spirituals I
believe that it is fine. However, please give the spiritual the same respect
and study as we would give a classical piece of music with our students. Give
students the opportunity to ask questions about the music. Provide historical
context for them to understand how the spiritual was created. Offer students an
example of the evolution of the spiritual, like “Mary Don’t You Weep” by Take 6:
Including
all of this information is very important because it just doesn’t focus on the
pain of the spiritual. However, it shows through a horrific time in our history
these songs were created, and this is how they have changed over time.
Spirituals are just as varied as African American music itself. There are songs
of sorrow, songs of joy, songs of despair, and songs of hope. Ensure that our
students learn the depth and vastness of the spiritual.
Aimee: When done well, Black History Month should
focus on ___________.
Franklin: Black History Month should educate students
about the accomplishments and achievements of African Americans. There are many
appropriate ways to celebrate Black History Month in the music classroom.
Listed below are some of the themes I have used for my Black History Month
Programs in the past.
·The Evolution of the Spiritual
·The Music of Motown
·The Women of the Civil Rights Movement
·The Music of the Harlem Renaissance
·Lift Every Voice and Sing: Music of the
Culture
·Yo! What’s Up? The Story of Hip-Hop Music
·Music of Africa: The Beat of the Drum
·The Dream Lives On! The Words of Martin Luther
King Jr.
In order to create these Black History Month programs, I started
with the end in mind. Questions that I consider when planning a Black History
Month Program are the following:
·Why do I want to present a Black History Month
program?
·What did I want my students to learn?
·What do I want the student body or community
to learn from observing the BHM program?
·How did I want students to experience this
music?
·What grade level did I want to feature?
·What is my school ready for? (I could write a
lot about this one!)
·What classroom teachers would be willing to
help me plan this program?
·How will I inform students, teachers,
administration, parents, and community members about this program?
The greatest question of all these is the first one. Why do you
want to present a Black History Program? If it is to check off a list of things
that you have done this year, please don’t do it. Take time to consider the
importance of teaching the important history and contributions of African
Americans. All students should learn about Black History Month. Black History
is American History.
Aimee: Who would be your top 10 African American
musicians for music teachers to focus on during Black History Month?
Franklin: My top 10 African American musicians,
composers, or artists to teach to students would be the following: (These are
not in a specific order.)
Aimee: If you had 4-6 lessons to go deeper into
celebrating the contributions of Black and African American musicians to teach
about during February, who and what would you choose?
Franklin: If I had four to six lessons to dive deeper
into a subject surrounding African American music it would be the subject of
African American composers. Often times our students only learn about African
American artists, however I think there is valuable information students and
teachers can gain in the study of our Black composers. In my undergraduate
Music History class, we studied several European composers and only studied one
African American composer which was Duke Ellington. I did my own research and
learned about many black composers before Duke Ellington who were trailblazers
and virtuoso artists. Composers like Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Scott Joplin, R.
Nathaniel Dett, Harry T. Burleigh, Florence Price and many others who opened
the doors for future African American composers and artists to be accepted for
their talents. Listening to their music was empowering and it let me know as a
student that just because we were not studying it in class, doesn’t mean it is
not worthy of learning. Many teachers simply teach what’s in the curriculum and
quite frankly learning about innovative African American composers is not on
the list important things students should know in music education.
So, if I were digging deeper with students, I would do a
historical overview of African American composers in classical music. Complete
listening exercises that ask students to think and listen critically to the
music. Compare and contrast the music of these composers with the more famous
European composers to find similarities and differences. Finally, I would have
students write a personal reflection of what they learned about the composers
and to choose a favorite selection that we listened to as a class and tell me
why.
Aimee: What kinds of activities make sense for our
youngest students?
Franklin: Black History Month activities for our
youngest of students could include story books, short melodic songs, and
movement activities. Follow this link to get ideas about books to utilize
during Black History Month. Stories
allow students to read and visualize a character in a personalized unique way. Moreover,
when students can identify and see themselves in the literature they are more
engaged and learning is relevant. This lesson plan by Charissa Duncanson
incorporates short rhythmic activities with the book Trombone Shorty by Troy
Andrews.
Also an easy way to get younger students
involved with African American music is by having them keep the steady beat to
the music. That is a major standard for our Kindergarten and 1st
grade students. Can students keep a steady beat to R. Nathaniel Dett’s Piano
Suite In the Bottoms: IV. Dance. Juba? Yes, THEY CAN!
Aimee: What are your favorite resources to pull from
to ensure everyone feels included in the conversations in your music classroom?
Franklin: My favorite resource to use in the music
classroom not only during Black History Month, but in general is Expressions of
Freedom by Dr. Rene Boyer. This teacher resource does a wonderful job of
connecting African American spirituals to the Orff music pedagogy. Every time I
teach a song from this resource students absolutely love it!
Listed below are some great resources available from some African
American music educators and composers specifically for the elementary music
classroom.
I am so excited to debut some new singing games this November at the National AOSA conference with two sessions on clapping games and singing games! I just found out today that both of my proposals were accepted so I will be presenting again at National conference - which is thrilling and terrifying all at the same time! I haven't done my Singing Games session at conference yet and can't wait to share some of my favorites with students!
One of my favorite games used to be Chicken on a Fencepost, AKA Can't Dance Josey. I use the past tense because I will no longer be using that song. Last fall a fellow music teacher friend in the Orff world discovered the original field recording contained racist lyrics "n... gonna die" and "n... on a woodpile. The recording was on the Holy Names University Kodaly Center American Folk Song Database (which is an amazing resource). I listened to it several times to be sure what I was hearing and what others said were matching up. The lyrics had been transcribed by an individual (their name was included) but the racist lyrics were omitted. I sent an email to Holy Names and heard back within 48 hours. They apologized and removed the song from their collection while they, like many of us, decide what to do with this kind of song literature. I can't unhear what I heard and have decided to no longer use the song in my classroom. BUT, my students LOVE the game! So I wrote a new song with completely different lyrics, melody, and kept the sixteenth note rhythms in the song as this was the song I used to introduce the concept of sixteenth notes. I wrote a couple versions - I personally have used Version 1 more than 2 and like it better but some teachers have liked Version 2. Use what you want and enjoy!
Update 2022.09.20
An amazing fellow instagrammer Sally shared this with me after teaching it to her students and we hope it is helpful for your students in teaching the game. Many thanks, Sally! The full pdf is here!
This is a beloved folk song I learned long ago at a workshop and have loved ever since. The original folk song's words are, "I dont care if the rain comes down, I'm gonna dance all day". Needing a song for our holiday concert with a winter theme, I played around with this one and my students helped develop an easy orchestration and form we have loved using.
Sing the song as written, each time students sing the word, "dance" they strike a dance pose.
Clap "hey, hey" and patsch "carry me away".
For alternating sections, students came up with the idea of continuing the orchestration and humming the tune while doing dance moves. Here's how it worked out:
A: Song with orchestration
B: Hum melody, orchestration continues; perform Macarena movements (this works out perfectly with the song and the dance can be performed twice).
A: Song with orchestration
C: Hum melody, orchestration continues; perform the Floss (YUP.. what they voted for!).
A: Song with orchestration
D: Hum melody, orchestration continues; freestyle- students perform movement of their choosing.
A: Song with orchestration, end with "I'm gonna dance all day" 3 times followed by a final glockenspiel, "plink".
This was SO fun and really had my students moving and grooving. Good for any winter fun!
Recently I organized and hosted a workshop for our local Orff Chapter. It wasn't my typical workshop of singing, speaking, moving, creating, and playing, but a Make and Take. The workshop was inspired by the St. Louis, MO chapter who hosted one last school year.
A Make and Take workshop is where participants come to make manipulatives for the classroom, explore how to use them, and take them home.
Our local chapter has been struggling for a few years and I was hoping this would bring our chapter together and boost membership. It did- we had 37 teachers sign up and many new members!
Interested in having a Make and Take Workshop? Here is what I did:
1. It's All in the Details
Date of workshop, time (I would recommend 4 hours), and place. You will need a space large enough for tables, chairs, and materials. We used our library and it was a perfect space as there were auxiliary areas we could use for specific projects that needed hot glue. We charged for materials only but wouldn't know the specific cost per person until everyone registered. There was a cut-off date for registration and we had several people inquire after the cut-off date. I did not charge a fee for hosting or presenting so it truly was a "materials only" fee. I let everyone know the cost would be no more than $40.00 per person and chose projects and materials accordingly.
2. Project Choice
I wanted a variety of projects that I use frequently and that students enjoy; some rhythmic, some melodic, games, instrument recognition, etc. I also wanted some material heavy projects and some paper projects. The participants needed to be able to take the items home immediately, so nothing that needed significant dry time (paint, wet glue, etc.).
I narrowed down my initial list to six projects with an "extra goodie" of some apple erasers:
Top left corner - Bundles of Joy (activity from Artie Almeida) and Noteman (activity from local chapter members Shari and Ashley)
Materials: 150 pipe cleaners per person to make a class set of 25 Bundles, scissors, one large baggie.
Top right corner - Music Memory/Concentration Game
Materials: Cardstock and 2 sets of (color) printed sheets of game pieces, glue stick, scissors, one small baggie.
Game pieces available with and without names of instruments:
FREE download of Worksheets , Sharpies and small baggies.
Bottom Middle and Bottom Left - Rhythm and Melodic Monster Magnets
Original idea here from Elizabeth at Organized Chaos.
Materials: Tin Cookie Sheet, 1/8" Grid Tape , Magnet Circles, (Or Pom Poms), Googly Eyes, Hot Glue (we used Gorilla Glue hot glue sticks). Everyone made 8 cookie sheets with 64 magnets. Each cookie sheet needed an accompanying baggie with 8 "monster magnets"; 3 eighth notes (2 small googly eyes on each), 3 quarter notes (1 big googly eye on each), and 2 rests (no googly eyes), scissors, hot glue guns.
Middle Left - Solfege Texting Sticks
Materials: 25 Large Craft Sticks per person, 2.5 pages of printed solfege papers, scissors, glue sticks, one small baggie.
Materials: One plastic cup per person, 25 regular colored craft sticks per person, ball point pens (sharpies bleed on the wooden craft sticks), one large baggie.
3. Order Materials, Determine Costs Per Person. I ordered everything myself as our chapter is struggling, then I communicated costs to all who had signed up and asked for payment. Our costs came to $29.76 per person!
4. Helpers!
Get everything ready and try to separate as much as possible - I put the 64 magnets each in a big baggie and had helpers at the workshop an hour before to get everything laid out and separated so materials would be easy to pick up and count out. I also put signs above each material to let people know what they would need and a visual of what the finished project should look like.
5. Participants Arrive
Once everyone was present, I quickly went over where materials were (scissors, glue, and pens/Sharpies were on a separate table, hot glue station was in a different room, etc.), showed the visuals, reviewed the projects and let them know we would spend the last 30 minutes going over materials and how they would be used. This 30 minute time at the end was when I went over the Apple Tree game with the apple erasers, demonstrated how they could also turn these into magnets by gluing mini magnets on the back and use the cookie sheet boards to show the melody.
I also had a QR code to scan as participants came in which had a pdf of all directions, links to projects, visuals, and many extras to use to make more manipulatives at home. This was helpful as several used this document throughout the workshop to make sure they understood the project directions and final product.
It was a very successful workshop and I enjoyed the conversations with other music teachers. We rarely get time to sit and chat with each other and many others commented on how nice it was to have time to "talk shop" while at a workshop. I encourage you to give it a go!
I have been working on sixteenth notes with my third and fourth graders (my top grade is fourth) and realized I needed to finish a collection I began last year. Time got away from me but now it is finally finished. There are singing games, activities, and even a canon. This is not a comprehensive list of songs with sixteenth notes, simply my favorite ones and ones I want to develop further. If you would like the full 30 page pdf with 26 songs (!!!) shoot me an email asking for the collection at musicquilt@hotmail.com.
Enjoy!
2-12-2021 Update- the collection no longer includes Chicken on a Fencepost or No One in the House But Dinah due to racist themes. I thought it best to leave that information here for those seeking best practices and decolonizing their classroom libraries.
Do you know there are 38 different local times in use around the world? Therefore it takes 26 hours for the New Year to actually be celebrated by all on Earth!
Did you also know that New Year's is not always January 1? Chinese New Year is celebrated not by calendar year but by the cycle of the new moon. Buddhists in Thailand celebrate a three day water festival called Songkran in April. In the Middle Ages in Europe the new year began on March 25. The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the new year on January 14, Persian New Year on March 21, and one Hindu celebration in India occurs in April or May. Read more here. The idea for this lesson came first from my Chinese New Year song called, "Xin Nian Kuai Le". Check out this post with the song and additional activities to use for January and February to go with Chinese New Year. My daughter was adopted from China, and so the idea of New Year not occurring on January 1 is not new to me as we celebrate Chinese New Year in our family and also at my school. I began to think of New Year celebrations our students might celebrate and wanted to have something to be inclusive of all students. This also provides a wonderful opportunity to talk about differences while including everyone in the conversation about culture and celebrations.
The movement idea I first imagined was something like this, only with dancers lying on sides or kneeling on floor, something simple and synchronized with clock like movements.
I hope you enjoy, and be sure to drop me a line to let me know what you did with it!
As always, if you want the full pdf of the above, send an email to me at musicquilt@hotmail.com.
Planning holiday concerts is always tricky. I want to have all of my students diverse celebrations represented. I struggle with finding music that represents everyone and isn't too much Christmas, but just enough, or too much Kwanzaa, and not enough Hanukkah, or too much ________ or not enough ______. It is a tough balancing act made tougher by the limitations of the theme of holiday. It is not a "winter" concert as it happens right before we break for the holidays and most of my families celebrate Christmas or a combo of Christmas/Hanukkah or Christmas/Kwanzaa and a few families are Muslim, which is difficult.
Candles are a theme that is inclusive and not exclusive. This year our theme is "The Warmth of a Winter Candle". We are performing "Just One Candle", from Music K-8, which is really love and accessible to all. Students are also performing one of their favorites, called Give Light, in addition to several other pieces. I blogged about Give Light- an incredibly beautiful song, a few years ago. The music and post is here.
I wanted to put together a speech piece with several ostinati performed vocally and with non pitched percussion. This could be used to create movement, or as a drum canon, or as an A Section with small groups performing question and answer improvisations on Orff instruments in a pentatonic key as alternating sections to create a rondo, or it could be used to create a melody.
I am going to let my oldest grade -4th, decide how to perform it. I can't wait to see what they come up with!
I love seeds of ideas.. let me know how you use it. It is presented a couple ways below- one with speech only, the other has a possible idea with body percussion.
