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Film Friday - Teaching steady beat with the band Mates of State.
February 21, 2014

Ball Pit Beats with Mates of State

  I love using popular musical genres to help teach classroom concepts.  Kids zero in when you pull up YouTube and get so excited to see real, live musicians performing right in front of them.  Why not use a engaging medium (music videos/YouTube) to reinforce the very thing you’re teaching […]
Watch this amazing video of Adam Ben Ezra and his upright bass!
February 14, 2014

Film Friday – Awesome Upright Bass Solo

I’m always on the lookout for fantastic videos of musicians who excel at their instrument, are amazing singers, etc.  When I stumbled across this video, I knew that it was a must-save because it’s pleasing to watch, has some great musical content, and is relaxing.  Adam Ben Ezra is the musician […]
Star Guitar by the Chemical Brothers as a video listening map.
February 7, 2014

Film Friday – Star Guitar as a Listening Map

Sometimes you need to mix up your music listening examples.  We’re not doing our kids justice if we only stick to classical.  We need to engage students with music that is culturally relevant and prepares them for a lifetime of music-making.  I want to instill in my students a love […]
Here's a new song you can use with your primary grades and ideas about how to build a concert around it.
February 3, 2014

Love Bugs – A New Valentine’s Day Song and Program!

I had an upcoming Valentine’s Day concert with my Kindergarten kiddos and needed a perfect song to tie everything together.  I did a little brainstorming, sat down at the piano, and came up with a silly little Valentine’s Day Song called “Love Bugs!”  I knew I just had to share […]
A GREAT song to teach cumulative form and to get kids moving!
February 2, 2014

The Green Grass Grew All Around

“Green Grass Grew All Around” never fails to excite and delight my students.  No matter their mood when they walk in, this song bring out big smiles and gets kids excited about class.  What’s more, this song is especially great for English Language Learners (abbreviated to ESL/ELL in many places) as it involves some […]
Use every Happy Birthday moment to teach the students theme and variation!
January 20, 2014

Happy Birthday – Teaching Theme and Variation

I try and use all my teaching time wisely.  I’ve worked really hard to get procedures in place so that I can start class right when kiddos walk in the door and keep the pace going until they’re walking out.  There’s not a lot of “downtime” for me unless the kids […]
Using the "Chopsticks" song to teach theme and variation.
January 18, 2014

Film Friday – Teaching Theme and Variation with Chopsticks!

This fantastic video uses an old favorite, the Chopsticks song, to teach theme and variation!  If I were to incorporate this video in a full lesson about theme and variation, I would probably start by teaching students how to play “Chopsticks” or at least ensure that they already know the tune.  If […]
Monster Invasion: A fun composition game for third grade and above.
January 11, 2014

Music Monsters – Composition Game for 3rd Grade and Beyond

This was a fun game that I happened onto with my third graders late last semester.  I found these super cool die-cut monsters at the Dollar Tree and knew that I wanted to make something fun with them.  I’m working on expanding my center materials/composition games because I’ll have my […]
This song is a great way to teach body vocabulary and lots more with primary kids!
January 9, 2014

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes as an ELL Tool

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes is a classic song that many, many students learn early on in life.  Lots of you folks are lucky enough to have this taught at home or in your preschools so that students come in knowing the familiar tune and words.  For many teachers, teaching […]
Singing voice with Enchanted - One of my favorite videos to show K & 1st
January 2, 2014

Film Friday —  Singing Voice through Enchanted!

“That’s How You Know” from Enchanted is one of my favorite videos to show to my little people because it is a great example of the difference between singing and speaking voice and shows the joy and power of music.  I use this video during the first quarter/semester to help […]
December 17, 2013

First Grade Carolers and Even Rondo Form

  Just wanted to quickly share about a fun little tradition that I have with my first graders.  Every year I teach them “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” and talk about carols, caroling, and teach them the fun story of this song. We first learn the song and I […]
November 27, 2013

AB patterns and movement in Elgar’s Faeries and Giants

In my district we have a specific “Guided Listening” component which is usually a pretty awesome part of our curriculum.  This allows us to teach kids to not just hear music, but to listen in specific and thoughtful ways.  They are taught to listen for patterns, form, signpost cues, and […]
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