Spring Break is HERE!!!

Most of you know that I had to have major surgery in December which turned into 2 surgeries and after this morning at the wound care center, it looks like another will be in a couple weeks... arghh!!! We are on spring break this week and even though it is not the weather I would like it's still sunny today, although a little chilly but I'll take the sun anyday- even when it's cold. As I'm looking at not being able to go back to school full-time I am working on some ideas for centers in the music room and have found several on pinterest- I'll put them here once I'm finished creating and modifying them- I'm working on the following: *Music Instrument Match Up Folders *Musical Math Cards *Rhythm Round About Come back soon to look for them!

Back to School!

This past week was my first week back since I had to have emergency surgery Dec. 13th! Three months and another surgery later, I was back- only half days, though, which I am soooooo glad I did! This week we have spring break so we're out and I'm trying to get my stamina up! Next week I'll be going in for half days again then full time April 8th (day after my birthday). I'll be full-time for about 6 and a half weeks and then school is done... wow, short school year!!! I am currently working on lessons that allow me to not have to be up and down all the time (my typical way of teaching) and I'm coming up with a ton of ways- working on some center ideas right now..I'll be sharing some within the next week or so. Happy spring!

Move It! Dance Resource Review

As a music teacher who uses the Orff Approach to teach (and believes strongly that it is THE way to teach music... hee hee!) I can't separate music and movement! That's not to say that every song we sing HAS to have movement, but we do move and groove a lot! There are so many wonderful resources out there. I have a generous music budget and complete freedom to purchase what I want for my program; blessed, I know! However, every few years I go through my materials and if I haven't used something in a few years I either stick it in the music library or donate it to a fellow music teacher not so richly blessed. There are many resources I use but these are my favorites; if I had to move to a foreign country and was only allowed to ship one box, these would go right on in!!! Step Lively: This is an EXCELLENT resource and of course, comes with a great CD! I LOVE Kinderpolka- you can literally do this with kindies up to fourth/fifth grade and is such fun. GREAT for large groups.. I've done this with 300 kiddos and it's awesome!!! Another dance that is wonderful for upper grades through adults is Sasha, a lovely Russian dance. I've done it with third graders and I did it with our faculty one year. It begins in scattered formation and everyone has to find a partner which is such fun b/c dancers find a new partner each time. My students LOVE this dance and beg for it! There are MANY others in this book. Another Step Lively I don't use as frequently but still chock full of good stuff: I also should say that Step Lively has 2 French resources; one is a collection of French songs/dances and another is a Canadian resource. If I still lived in Maine I would definitely use these as we have large populations of French Canadians (like me; my grandparents were from Canada.. oui!). Who in the world could do without the New England Dance Masters and the Amidons. LOVELY people, amazingly talented folk musicians, storytellers, teachers, and dance instructors! One of my students favorite dances, Sashay the Donut, can be found in this book... SOOOOO much fun, people!! There are other wonderful resources that I couldn't do without, also by the New England Dancing Masters: Hope you enjoyed this post and got some new ideas for movin' and groovin' with your students! Now go "MOVE IT"!

4 weeks and counting....

Well, I thought I'd be returning to school this week but I had to have a 2nd, bigger surgery a week ago and now will return March 15th... I am really, REALLY bored and wish I had Sibelius loaded on this laptop and not just my school laptop. I'm chomping at the bit to get back to school and the kiddos! Yesterday my sweet art teacher and friend brought over a HUGE box full of homemade get well cards! They are awesome and I've only made it through about 50 so far.

Chinese New Year Music

Chinese New Year is coming up next week! My daughter was adopted from China so this is a big deal holiday in our house; when she wakes up on CNY she has a special red envelope (hong bao) with "lucky money" inside and we do other things to make it a fun and meaningful holiday for her. Our school (where I teach and she attends) also has a sister school in China! Here's a piece I wrote last year, the title is "Xin Nian Kuai Le" or "Happy New Year". Easy level bordun for accompaniment- add unpitched percussion (UPP) for the percussion line- lots of gongs, drums, etc. to "scare away" evil spirits. Very nice with a big, low gong at the end. Good for your upper level recorder players, too- those who have a solid low "C". Look on youtube for pronunciation guide - Xin = Shin, Nian= like it sounds, Kuai= kwahee, Le = luh Yi (number 1) = eee, Er (number 2)= are, San (number 3) = sahn, "Jia Yo" (Let's Go! as in cheering people on) = jya yo. Enjoy!

Sub Plans...Lots of 'Em!

So.. the day after my huge holiday concert, Dec. 13th to be exact, I found out the nausea I had been experiencing since Thanksgiving was actually a perforated bowel. So, off to surgery I went that Thursday eve. three weeks ago today! And guess what they found? A piece of a toothpick.. never putting those in my mouth again. I've had this surgery before (had colon cancer in my 20's.. another long story) and it's a long recouperation time. I was in the hospital for 11 days, got out just before Christmas and was able to spend Christmas morning home with my family which was wonderful but weird as I was pretty much nested on the couch surrounded by lots of pillows and medications. My incision got infected so I have an open wound that's draining and being packed every day (ick) and am now working on sub plans. I won't be back to school until probably mid-February which I'm not exactly pleased about but it is what it is. I will be going into school tomorrow to meet with my long term sub and kids return Monday so we've got a ton of work to do tomorrow. One of the best things I've found about sub plans is to leave them verbally. Use an app like evernote or record yourself another way (so many options) and talk to the kids just like you would in the classroom. When the kids need to find partners, or move to another part of the room, etc. I always say, "press the pause button now and then turn it back on when the kiddos are in place". Subs LOVE this. Another good activity is a music game round robin. I have the sub divide the students into small groups of 3 or 4 and the students play music games like Music Candyland, Counting Up the Mountain, etc. I had an earlier post on music games from early fall, look back and you'll be able to find tons of games. Groups play their game for 10-12 minutes and then rotate to the next game. This keeps things fresh and really fun as they rotate through. I also keep a Sub Plan Songbook with CD's I put together years ago just for times like this. In the Songbook are suggestions for songs with books, games, activities, and tons of songs with visuals. All the song pages have appropriate ages listed so the sub has no questions as to what songs might work with different grades. It's truly a lot of work, but it's going to pay off for me now!

Creating a Movement Rondo

1. Ask students about their favorite sports; what kind of activities are involved with each one. Make a list on the board. It might look like this: Basketball Horseback Riding Dribbling Canter Passing Jump Shooting Gallop Running Walk Hook Shot Prance Jumping Side Step 2. Reviewing theme and contrast (AB, ABA). Explain rondo form and demonstrate using sport theme. For the demonstration, have the class do each theme or section for 8-16 beats. 3. Divide class into groups, each group works together to develop their own rondo. 4. Each group performs their rondo without telling other students what their “theme” was, students try to identify the theme and evaluate their use of rondo form. To give signals for changing from one section to another within the rondo, try using three different instruments (A=temple blocks, B=drum, C= triangle) playing a steady beat for a specified number of beats (8-16).

Extension: Viennese Musical Clock from the Hary Janos Suite 1. Prepare students by marching to a drum beat. Once comfortable, ask them to change directions when they hear a change in the drum sound (use bongos or small to medium tubanos, hand drums, etc.). Experiment with different styles of marching (high, low, marching in mud, rain, sun, marching through jello or chocolate, marching when tired, happy, sad, excited, frustrated, angry, etc). 2. Listen to the music and identify the marching beat, ask students to use marching arms as they sit and identify the numbers of A (marching) sections (4). 3. Outline the form or use a diagram you have created or found. Ask: How can you tell when the sections change? What instruments are used? (This is part of a bigger piece of music (composition) written for an orchestra, but this particular movement has no strings.) Does the music sound like a mechanical clock? Why or why not? 4. Divide class into groups labeled B, C, or D. Students create movement with scarves or ribbon sticks or ??? for these sections. Everyone moves on the A section with other groups performing their movement for the B, C, and D sections. Further Extension Listen to other musical clock pieces: Syncopated Clock by Leroy Anderson Other mechanical instrument pieces: Add On Machine from Contrast and Continuum, Vol. I, by Eric Chappelle