Happy New Year! I know many teachers are beginning this new semester with student teachers from local universities. The experience of having a student teacher can be exciting, daunting, and stressful all at the same time. You never know what it is going to be like when handing your classroom over to another person. I… Continue reading Starting Out With Student Teachers
Category: Orff
Leaf Man
Fall in Ohio is beautiful! There are so many colorful things to see outside. I have a lot of trees in my backyard so it is a symphony of colors everyday once the leaves start to change. This means it is a great time of year for my lesson associated with the book "Leaf Man". … Continue reading Leaf Man
I Got a Letter
I love this song for sooo many reasons. It has a great feel to the song and you can cover so much curriculum across a bunch of different grade levels. Basically the main concepts that I worked on with my students were Low La, Whole Notes, and Improvisation. FREE lesson plan for this song: I… Continue reading I Got a Letter
You’ve Got Mail…part 2
Here is the rest of the "mail". I started in part 1 talking about the first 3 songs in my concert; Writing a Letter, Postcards, and Bills Bills Bills. This post will discuss the remaining songs; Amazon Boxes & Flowers. I Got a Letter has it's own post: I Got a Letter Amazon Boxes: Just… Continue reading You’ve Got Mail…part 2
You’ve Got Mail…part 1
This year my 3rd grade concert was entitled "You've Got Mail". We did 6 different songs all about things you get in the mail. I wanted to share with you some of the songs we did and my process for getting us there. This post contains the first 3 songs "Writing a Letter", "Postcards", and… Continue reading You’ve Got Mail…part 1
Project Based Learning: Composition
Last week I presented at our Board of Education meeting about Project Based Learning in the music room. I want to share with you what I shared with them. I think that almost all of what I do in my Orff classroom is Project Based Learning, PBL. I just had a discussion with a colleague… Continue reading Project Based Learning: Composition
Digital Recorder Karate
Tons of music classrooms utilize a program called Recorder Karate. This collection of songs and teaching materials are available through Music K-8, but many teachers also create their own versions to fit their classroom needs. I have done the latter, creating my own version of Recorder Karate to use in my classroom. No matter what… Continue reading Digital Recorder Karate
