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If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands - Blog Post
November 1, 2014

If You’re Happy and You Know It!

  “If You’re Happy and You Know It” is a classic children’s folk song and is so wonderful for so many reasons.  It gives you a chance to talk about improvising new lyrics and coming up with variations.  It gives you a chance to define the word “lyics.”  It allow […]
Beanie Buddies - Great for steady beat, rhythm practice, and more!
October 18, 2014

Beanie Buddies – Great for K-1

In my Orff Level I training we came across a couple fun activities for Beanie Babies that got my brain spinning and thinking about what could be done with those little critters.  Probably a lot of you already use beanie babies or stuffed animals for a variety of things.  In […]
Why should you teach folk songs, what resources to use, and how to go about doing it!
October 4, 2014

Why Teach Folk Songs? – Resources, How-to, and More

I remember when I first started teaching elementary music I spent my first few months teaching fun songs from the written textbooks that I had access to, favorite lessons from local music workshops, and memorable songs from my own childhood music classes.  But then I hit a wall.  When I […]
August 30, 2014

Bring it Home – Make Music Personal!

Well, it has been four years in the making, but I’m finally feeling good about the connections that I’m creating for students when I talk about Charlie Parker.  I’ve always taught them something about Parker or at least tried to bring up his name, but since his birthday comes so […]
Kids in Motion is a fantastic resource for movement in the elementary music classroom!
July 25, 2014

Kids in Motion – A Must Have Movement CD

“Kids in Motion” is a CD that I was introduced to during my student teaching and is a resource that I go back to again and again.  I’ll admit, this album is pretty old and one of MANY on the list of great resources made by creative partners Greg & Steve, […]
Great video to show off an instrument family with various sizes!
April 25, 2014

Film Friday – Trombones of all Sizes!

Trombones, trombones, trombones of all sizes!  This video features the “German Brass” ensemble, a talented musical group which is comprised of members of major German symphony orchestras and professors at university music schools.  The German Brass has some fun with trombones in this entertaining musical act set in a circus […]
Ideas, suggestions, and classroom management tips to make teaching recorder a snap!
April 14, 2014

Recorder Tricks and Tidbits #2

We’re edging every closer to the end of the school year but we’re still plugging away with recorders!  My students have really fallen in love with this quirky little instrument and I’m so proud of their progress.  Today I stood back as my kids played “Mambo Mary B-A-G” from the […]
I Want to Sing in Opera - Hilarious video for singing voice
April 4, 2014

Film Friday — I Want To Sing in Opera

  This video has always made me laugh.  Patricia Routledge (you might know her as Hyacinth from the BBC’s “Keeping Up Appearances,”) does a wonderful job of acting as an opera diva and really hamming it up for the audience.  The basic plot is that the soloist who sings about “wanting […]
April 1, 2014

Recorder Tricks and Tidbits #1

So, my first year teaching I hated teaching recorder.  It was so much work and so much logistical planning and so much stress.  It took some time, research, and planning to make it fun.  Now I really like playing and teaching recorder.  Here are some little tips I’ve picked up […]
The Living Piano - Video to use with students
March 21, 2014

Film Friday – The Living Piano

Imagine a giant piano keyboard set up in a park for anyone to play.  Sounds like fun, right?  Step on the keyboard and a note will sound.  Find a friend and you can play a song together.  Now instead of synthesized piano sounds, imagine that any time you step on […]
The Leprechaun Song - Great for improvisation with primary grades.
March 13, 2014

I Caught a Leprechaun – New Fun Song!

BI’ve made a podcast episode about this blog post.  Check it out on iTunes or wherever you download podcasts!  You can also listen to the podcast on the web through this link. Every year I tell my K-1 students about the Leprechaun that keeps showing up in my room.  I […]
Taking a famous, kid-favorite theme song and making it new!
February 28, 2014

Film Friday — Angry Birds Cover

  In this fun video, the musicians of the band/group Pomplamoose use video and musical editing to cover the theme from the Angry Birds game.  My students are still absolutely obsessed with Angry Birds and not a day goes by that someone doesn’t walk by wearing a t-shirt with some sort […]
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