As I write this, our country is grieving and angry. Emotions are high, and lives have been lost. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday is approaching and a change of leadership in our country is at hand. Impeachment proceedings are upcoming and our country has experienced a tumultuous moment of violence in the midst of a global pandemic. The times we are in are not, by anyones definition, NORMAL. I do not have answers. I do not have enough words. But I know music is a way for my students to process and acknowledge what they are hearing in their homes and classrooms. Music is a way to open conversation and empathy. I began singing a song I learned many moons ago - Seeds. I was also singing the song, "Give Light" and knew those two songs would help my students (and me) to further growth, courage, and strength during times of frustration, grief, and confusion.
1. Books
These are books I will be using in my classroom over the next many weeks. Some I will read, some will be sung (in our heads, hearts, and homes), and others will be used as jumping off points to create poetry, rhythms, melodies, and speech or body percussion work.
2. Songs
We Shall Overcome The Story of a Song (this is also a book - I HIGHLY recommend this video and have used it many times with my students).
Seeds by Gemini - One of my all-time FAVORITE songs to sing with students. It is just lovely.
Movement for this song can be found here - as well as a lovely description about planting seeds of kindness.
Sing About Martin - Echo song PERFECT for the littles.
Martin Luther King
Give Light - I have posted about this before numerous times and cannot say enough about this song in times of darkness- students and adults alike LOVE this song!
Glory with new lyrics by Franklin Willis - The new lyrics Franklin wrote are SO perfect for right now!! Check out the instagram video here!
3. Play Alongs and Body Percussion Activities
Martin Luther King Jr. Play Along
Martin Luther King Jr. Rhythm Match Up
We All Sing with the Same Voice - the book is above - here is a sing aloud:
You can also add the following body percussion - these are the scaffolded slides:
Want all this in one place? Click HERE to get all this as a Google Slide - you will be asked to make a copy and then can rearrange and edit to make it the most useful for your classes.
Be safe, everyone. Don't forget If you are not already, be sure to follow along atwww.ofortunaorff.com, on fb -@0 for tuna orff, and instagram -@Aimee_ofortunaorff
If you enjoy these resources, please consider treating me to a cup of coffee:
Can you relate to the question marks above? I think many of us are stumbling forward with Remote/E/Distance Learning but also looking to next school year and asking the question of "What will that look like?"
Are you feeling the pressure of all this uncertainty? Take a moment and watch and listen to Jimmy Fallon and crew (with pots, pans, glasses, even a toaster as instruments) perform Under Pressure:
We are all wondering and there are no clear answers. If you would like to see me talk about this, head over to these links - technology was not my friend today, so it is in two parts.
Singing can be dangerous -Webinar: What Do Science and Data Say About the Near Term Future of Singing with National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Chorus America, Barbershop Harmony Society, and Performing Arts Medical Association (PAMA).
Comparing your lessons to others creation of padlets, flipgrids, SeeSaws, Google Slides, Google Classrooms, and Virtual Classrooms damages your
Sense of Self
Doesn't Help You Get to Your Goals
Limits You
Next year may include a mix or one of these teaching realities: remote, streaming live from our classrooms, face to face with small groups in our classrooms, face to face with large groups, traveling on a cart, with a mask, without a mask, with a face shield, without a face shield, seeing our students on a different schedule, remote one week or day, face to face the next, etc.
We Also Know
We are creative.
We want to be relational with our students.
We will teach children.
We will teach children music.
We will teach the elements of music; rhythm, harmony, melody, form, and expressive qualities.
Things to Consider
Some things will be more important than ever - a focus on social/emotional learning. Students will need music to heal, to celebrate, and to move forward in a positive way.
Structure and routine. Students will have been out of school and away from tradition, routine, and socialization for almost six months. It will be a time of re-learning, particularly for our youngest students, and our more vulnerable students.
Moving Forward
So,what can we do now? SO much!!!Think about what you want your Kindergarten, Fifth Graders, ________ to know about one element of music - rhythm, for example. What would you normally teach your students to prepare division of beat? A song? Ok - If we are unable to sing the song together due to restrictions, make a recording of yourself singing the song to play during the class. Students can sing the song "in their heads and hearts". Perhaps they can sing specific words or the highest, lowest or "home" pitch. Learn the song the same way you normally would- maybe you record yourself teaching the song by rote in sections with space for students to sing "in their heads and hearts" until they can lip sync the whole song. Now of course, that is not the best and it will be awkward at first, but we are moving forward, right? Then maybe you may have had students keep the beat with the song - use body percussion or non-locomotor movement- jump, twist, wiggle, sway, etc. Perhaps students clap the "way the words sound". Then maybe you had them play instruments. Uh oh- sharing may be problematic due to virus.
But wait - what if each student brings in an empty oatmeal box, 4-5 pairs of chopsticks, and 2 plastic eggs filled with pennies, plastic beads, paperclips, etc. (no food items- bug/insect/vermin issue). If parents are unable, others could donate. No plastic eggs? Oriental Trading has 144 for less than $5.00. The best part - everything goes INSIDE the oatmeal box, AKA drum. These would be stored in classrooms along with art supplies, etc. They do not take up much space and everything for music class goes inside the oatmeal box. Play with lid only, use chopsticks as mallets or create rhythms using chopsticks as manipulatives or use as conducting batons, tap together for light wood sound, etc.
Hopefully, you are getting the point here - we can still teach music!!! No, it won't be the same. Grieve that, mourn it, and choose to move forward.
Technology
Obviously, there is some amazing tech, sites, and apps available to many of us that we will continue to use remotely or face to face.
If your students will not be able to use barred instruments next year or you are on a cart AND your students have access to tech in their rooms, Brent Geyer has created some fabulous internet based virtual xylophones for our students to use. Not an app, nothing to sign up/in, no personal info shared, and beautiful sounding! Many thanks to Brent for providing these for FREE!!!
There is a line from my favorite medical drama that is in every episode. The director of the hospital asks a simple, yet powerful question - "How can I help?"
Let me know. I may not have an answer, but I am here for you.
Our Holiday Concerts (I have 3 of them) this year are all a play on our school theme of "Reach for the Stars". My older students concerts are called, "Songs of Night, Songs of Light". In addition to a couple songs I wrote, and songs about candles, stars, and moons, we are also singing "Silver Moon Boat", "Oh Watch the Stars" and "This Little Light of Mine". As I was completing the concert line up I found a very special song called "Give Light". You know how you find those songs you know are going to resonate in a very deep way with your kiddos? I LOVE this song, it is probably my new favorite. Especially for this moment in time.
Our country is broken, divided, hurting. Some would say we are having "growing pains" and others would describe it as birthing pains. Any way we can describe it, yesterday, 11.9, felt oddly similar to 9.11. Whatever your thoughts, feelings, and political affiliations, we can all certainly admit how fractured our country feels. I recently posted this on my facebook account:
I. Can. Choose. I can choose to be offended by others who have different beliefs, opinions, political parties, and values. I choose faith, even when my faith in my fellow Americans, and in humanity, is at an all time low. I choose love, kindness, and the strength to speak out against bigotry, hatred, and devaluation. I choose to get on my knees and pray for all of us; red, blue, green and all in between. I choose to advocate for the millions of orphans in the world who are lonely and in need of families. I choose to celebrate our freedoms and not live in fear. I choose God, and the one nation under it. I choose to stand up and speak out. I choose. Do you?
You may agree, you may disagree. It's OK, we can agree to disagree and to move forward. The song, Give Light, calls us to come together, to love one another, to teach peace and to give light to one another so "people will find the way". It has become a powerful illustration of just what can happen with a little light overcoming a whole lot of darkness. It is not political, but the words were inspired by a fellow North Carolina freedom fighter named Ella Baker.
When I found the song, I decided to send an email to the group that had recorded it (found them on youtube). They were incredibly kind and told me story after story about how the song had been used by individuals all over the world fighting for personal and political freedoms. The song here is presented with permission, c. 1996, words and music by Greg Artzner & Terry
Leonino. The final verse we changed after Greg shared a story with me about a widow wanting to use the song at her husbands funeral. He was an organ donor, and so the final verse is "give life". We are singing it a capella to begin, then adding guitar. We also added motions for each verse. My students BEG to sing this and it will be a song I will use often, especially in the darkness, when a little light is needed. If you would like a better copy, please email me at musicquilt@hotmail.com
And here is a group of fourth grade students singing Give Light.
