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Check out this blog post for 12 different ideas to use when teaching the 12 Days of Christmas!
December 3, 2016

12 Ways to teach The 12 Days of Christmas

I have always loved teaching the 12 Days of Christmas!  There are so many fun and funny ways to make this song relevant to your kiddos and lots of great activities to go along with it.  I’ve taught the 12 Days in a lot of different ways and thought I […]
A fun way to teach musical form while reinforcing classroom expectations!
April 6, 2016

Link Up!  Cumulative Form and Classroom Management

I had to take a minute or two and share this fun little classroom management strategy that I stumbled upon.  It all started as I began to look for another way to teach cumulative form.  In case you’re not familiar, a cumulative song is just a song with a simple verse structure that gets […]
December 13, 2015

Jingle All the Way – Ideas for December

“I can do this.  I can do this!  I’ve only got one more week….  ONE MORE WEEK!”   Does that mantra sound familiar?  I know that many of you are also psyching yourself up for one more week of high-energy kids who are sugared up from holiday parties and are […]
This favorite folk song is great for teaching song form.
October 10, 2015

Turn the Glasses Over – Playing with Form!

I love teaching this fun little folk song, “I’ve been to Harlem” a.k.a. “Turn the Glasses Over,” to my students!  I learned the basic version of the song at my Orff Level 1 training a few years ago and have been playing with how to teach the lesson ever since.​  This year […]
O Tannenbaum - Teaching about a tree!
December 13, 2014

O Tannenbaum!  Teaching about a Tree!

Holiday carols are so much fun!  I love introducing my students to carols because they give you a chance to spark the kids’ interest and teach them about other countries, time periods, and (in some cases) different languages.  In that regard they are much like folks songs because they open […]
Teaching form with the Happy Song!
November 15, 2014

Pharrel’s “Happy” Song to Teach Musical Form

I love Pharrel’s “Happy” song and I know that my kids do too!  This summer I was brainstorming a way to use the Happy song in my classroom and it struck me that I could so easily use this fantastic song to teach form to my students.  I developed the […]
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 […]
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 […]
Five Fat Turkeys - Adding a B section and playing with the form of the song.
November 18, 2013

Five Fat Turkeys – ABA form

“Five Fat Turkeys Are We” is one of my favorite songs to teach to little folks during the holidays.  It’s a fun song with a great story and most importantly it gets kids to think critically. I love asking kids questions and telling the story of the song in a way […]
Pumpkin on the Vine - Perfect song for fall with ABA form!
November 5, 2013

The Pumpkin on the Vine – Identifying ABA Form

One of the things that is required in our district curriculum is teaching first graders to identify ABA form in song.  Last year I couldn’t find any songs in my Thanksgiving or Fall repertoire that I really loved that were easy for my kids to see ABA form.  So, I […]

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