I love Fall! This is a quick post today about a song I wrote a while back but finally put into Finale just this week!
This goes with the book, On Halloween Night by Ferida Wolff and Dolores Kozielski, available here from amazon.com.
After every page or every two pages, perform the song below. Add gongs, shakers, whistling wind tubes and thunder drums for a super fun book. If your recorder players are learning E like mine, and pretty solid on BAG they will love to play the "Ooo" part!
We've all had cravings. A few months ago on my birthday, I really wanted strawberry cake. I was going to make one for myself that afternoon- same as my mom used to make me when I was a kid. My daughter and I have made it several times over the years - amazingly moist, with strawberries between two layers of Betty Crocker strawberry cake mix (yes, I cheat and use a mix, don't judge), and cooked "White Mountain" frosting that is heavenly! So, when my husband took us out to breakfast, we went to a place we knew had a similar strawberry cake, with buttercream frosting - so yummy! We sat down, placed our order and I excitedly asked for the strawberry cake only to be told they were out. SO disappointed! We ate our eggs and bacon (not at ALL what I wanted) and then my husband drove to the next town to the sister restaurant of the first (local chain). He got the cake, off we went to run errands and grocery shop. While at the grocery store I went to the baking aisle to get my box of cake mix and lo and behold, NO STRAWBERRY CAKE! I felt like the fates were conspiring against my wish for strawberry cake! Two more grocery stores later and we finally found my cake mix. Went home, baked, and it was perfect. Went through one failed batch of frosting -it is picky, but worth it, then frosted the cake. My daughter put the sliced strawberries on the top and it was beautiful. Into the fridge it went - and when it was time for presents and singing, out came the cake - with the strawberries sliding down the cake leaving slug. It was hysterical! Tasted great, though, and we laughed and laughed!
All that to say today's blog post is inspired! Did you know cupcakes were first mentioned in an American cookbook in 1796? They were originally cakes baked in small cups!
Shown is a sample of the lesson- email me at musicquilt@hotmail.com for the full pdf.
I grew up in Maine, and still consider that "home" along with North Carolina. My mother grew up in Maine in "the county" - Aroostook County, which borders Canada. I grew up speaking a smattering of French with my mum and my "Auntie Jo" who had a very thick French accent and learned English as a teenager. I love this fun song, and the "Zoom bala" part is really fun!
Relational Teaching. This is important in my community. Important, discussed, encouraged, and celebrated. Challenging for those of us who teach huge numbers of students. Our co-curricular faculty (Spanish, art, music, PE, media, science, and tech) decided to forego the typical team or class awards in favor of celebrating the individual and honoring those students who "Go Beyond" (our school motto).
I am doing this in a number of ways- swag tags from Tracy King, AKA The Bulletin Board Lady (on Teachers Pay Teachers), Cool Kid Spray, inspired by David Row from Make Moments Matter (which my kids already love), and being a Bell Ringer/Chicken Squawker (see my video on Facebook @ofortunaorff. I am also doing something new with classroom management and I already love how concise and easy it it has been to describe and enforce.
Here is the tour of the room, take a peek them go check out the post and video on Facebook to see how I use all these things in the classroom! @ofortunaorff
I also recently posted about re-wrapping my mallets - head over to facebook - @ofortunaorff to check out the video!
"Cool Kid Spray" - ridiculously fun and students yesterday (first day of school) loved it!
Check out the windows - Crayola makes window markers and they were so much fun to use!
And a pic of me as I start my 25th year of teaching and my daughter starts Middle School! Happy New School Year!
I am back from Finland and the International Music Village! What an amazing experience! I toured around Helsinki for 4 days before the Music Village began and then hopped on a bus for 4 hours with music teachers from Russia, Croatia, Finland, Georgia, Spain, Italy, Singapore, Australia, Poland, Austria, and many other countries. The accents and languages were so fun to listen to and the enthusiasm and energy was infectious. Then we began making music, dancing, and singing together and it so difficult to describe the joy, excitement, and thrill of the experiences I had! Here is a picture of our wonderful group from all over the world!
This is my last week of summer break and I am so glad I have this time to begin to process the experience! I am at school a little this week to get my room ready and begin the process of everything "back to school".
Plans? The first couple of weeks I have several things I do - especially name games and songs! For some reason, I have a difficult time remembering names, which is a little tricky for us music teachers who usually have between 300-1000 students names to remember! So, for me, I need to remember all the returning students and learn the new children's names! Last year I posted the "Ultimate List" of name games and songs. Check it out here!
Hope you have a great start to the school year! Be sure to follow the blog on facebook - @ofortunaorff where I post videos and extras!
They were not only asking why people choose or use Orff Schulwerk but also wanted to know why teachers identify as "Orff/Kodaly/Gordon/Dalcroze/Music Learning Theory/Feierabend" specialists.
Part One of this I wrote last year: Check it out here.
Find Your Tribe
“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” — Jane Howard, Margaret Mead
I think it is basic human psychology to identify with a group of like-minded people. When you find your "tribe", there is a sense of belonging, kinship, and sense of community. Add in the language that is specific not only to teaching music, but the language of the approach or methodology and the kinship/community/friendship/ support/connection is powerful as we see not only how our students are impacted, but how we are impacted professionally and personally. Some of my deepest and most impactful friendships are with other music teachers who live and teach in other states. We might only see each other once a year at the Orff National Conference. These are my "go to" people; I highly respect them professionally and enjoy their impact not only on music education and the Orff community, but also value their friendship. The first moment I attended an Orff workshop I found "my tribe" and knew these were like minded, creative, artful, and artistic musicians.
Orff Schulwerk
There are many common misconceptions I often hear -
"It is a methodology". Nope- it is an active and creative approach to developing musical understandings in every learner through the integration and development of music, movement, speech, and drama.
"It's all about the instruments and I don't have any". Nope! At its core, teaching with the Orff Approach is based on the way children learn- through PLAY! Students imitate, explore, improvise, and create as they grow and develop. Students use their bodies, voices, and classroom instruments. The "Orff instruments" - pitched percussion instruments (glockenspiels, xylophones, and metallophones) are used to create accompaniments but are "nice, not necessary".
"Orff is focused on folk dancing." Nope! The Orff Approach focuses on student centered creativity, speech, singing, improvisation, creative movement and so much more! I happen to love folk dancing, and it is a part of creative movement. Folk dancing involves movement, provides opportunities for creative physical responses to music and acts a scaffold on which students can build expressive movement language.
"The focus is not on sight singing." Right, and Wrong! There is not a singular focus in Orff Schulwerk. Elements of the Kodaly and Dalcroze methodologies are also a part of the Orff Schulwerk. Personally, I think the Kodaly sequence of "prepare, present, practice" approach aligns beautifully with the "imitate, explore, improvise, and create" approach of Orff Schulwerk. Students become artistic, expressive, and creative musicians who develop their personal musicality and expression. Many of us have come to embrace the quote, "Speak, sing, dance, and play in a tuneful, beatful, artistic way.". I love this!
So, what is Orff? Here is a 2 minute video that does a great job explaining in a more visual and auditory way!
Want a little more?
Here is a little longer video (7 minutes) that shows a classroom in action.
Workshops vs. Levels Courses
Workshops are a great way to experience Orff, and just like any workshop, clinicians offer a variety of activities and experiences. The subject areas are diverse. Many of my workshops focus on hand clapping games, songs, and dances and children's literature, art and music activities. If you are new to the Schulwerk, try going to at least four different workshops to experience the diversity of subjects and teaching styles. For a list of chapter workshops that might be near you, check out the AOSA page. AOSA is the American Orff Schulwerk Association.
Levels Courses
Workshops give you a "taste" of the Schulwerk, but your taste buds haven't fully experienced the full array of flavors! That is what Levels Courses are for! These are certification courses held for two weeks throughout the summer in every region of the US. There are 3 Levels, and a post-Level III, which used to be called "Master's Level". I would strongly recommend taking one level per summer and not trying to "double up" as you need time to let things "sink in" and time to apply your new experiences with your students. Many local chapters also offer scholarships as does AOSA, Here is a list from 2018.
Have more questions?
Drop me a note below. Hope this was helpful!
Hi everyone! Hope you are having a wonderful summer! I love my summers! The first part we spent in Maine - my home state. We go almost every summer, for 2 weeks, and rent a cottage on an island. It is truly amazing.
I always pick some summer reading - some that is required by my school - this year is Disney, other summers we have read books by Daniel Pink, Sir Ken Robinson, or other books on parenting or educational thought or trends. This summer I chose to read World Music Pedagogy Volumes 1 and 2, and For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood. I have already read the World Music Pedagogy Vol. 2 and really loved a lot of what was in there!! I am taking the Vol. 1 and the other book with me to Finland. I have a 9 hour layover (!!) in Stockholm and am not looking forward to it so am planning on finalizing my new book about Singing Games from Around the World (not titled yet), and we begin editing this fall! I am also going to read some of these on the plane and during that layover, too!
It has been a difficult summer to sit down and read - gone to Maine for 2 weeks, home for 2 weeks, gone to the beach for a week, home for a week, going to Finland for 2 weeks, etc. Difficult to find time and other distractions - garden, crafts, jewelry to make, fun to be had with my daughter, etc., often get in the way!
So, what are you reading this summer?
