2017 Mill Road Carol Sing

Welcome to 2018!  At the close of the 2017 school year, the 3rd graders at Mill Road Elementary shared a mini-musical called "Shiver Me Timbers" at the annual Carol Sing.  Each third grade class learned two songs that were sung through out the script.  Additionally this year, we had a group of 9 students who came to before school rehearsals and shared two of the songs that they worked on.  

The before school Orff Ensemble set the mood as they opened the show with a piece called "Ere the Waters of the Deep" by Teresa Jennings, with an orff ensemble arrangement that I created.

Nearly 30 students volunteered several lunch recesses to rehearse speaking parts for our musical.  "Shiver Me Timbers" told the story of a pirate crew who was on their way to their annual pirate get-a-way in Hawaii when their ship ran off course and they ended up in the North Pole.  The crew was very surprised when they saw white mounds of snow instead of white sandy beaches! Mrs. Burkett's class performed "Wintertime" by David and Ann Ellsworth. Students added boomwhackers, boom tubes and glockenspiels to challenge their performance skills.

In the story, the elves at the North Pole were just as surprised to see three rowboats full of pirates coming ashore.  Mrs. Burkett's class performed the traditional Christmas tune "I Saw Three Ships" arranged by John Riggio.

The elves were frightened to see these strangers at the North Pole, because as everyone knows pirates are terribly mean!  They quickly learn that they shouldn't have prejudged their visitors.  The pirates turn out to be very friendly and the elves and pirates bond over a carol sing-a-long!  Students, faculty and nearly 130 visitors participated in the traditional sing-a-long.

After the sing-a-long, the before school Orff Ensemble shared a piece I wrote called "As You're Walking" which was based on a speech piece by BethAnn Hepburn.  After learning the piece, the students practice honing their improvisation skills.  We performed the piece in Rondo form in which the A section kept coming back and the intermediary sections were performed as student improvisation.

Mrs. Tuell's class shared the song "Talk Like A Pirate Day" by David and Ann Ellsworth after Santa declared the day "Talk like a Pirate Day" in honor of the friendly pirates.

The 3rd graders of Mrs. Tuell's class closed the show with the song "Hawaiian Christmas" by Karl Hitzemann to celebrate the Pirate's final arrival in Hawaii with the help of Santa and his elves.  We watched an instructional video on basic hula dance moves and the class created their own hula for the song.

Class Discussion and Critique Language

This year I am focusing on cultivating intentional discussion and self assessment in our music class. That began with the introduction of our discussion starter posters (seen below). Students are encouraged to use this language whenever they would like to contribute to discussion. For example, students can use the "I Notice..." poster any time we are discussing what music looks or sounds like and how it connects to what we already know. Students might say, "I noticed that this song has a pattern in the rhythms" or "I noticed that every phrase ends with a rest."

This is also a great way for students to use supportive language when critiquing others, while being specific and direct. Students might praise others by saying "I noticed that John remembered to go to rest position when he was done playing." When giving constructive criticism, "I noticed that Mary didn't bounce her mallets, which is why her xylophone did not sound right," sounds a lot kinder than "Mary doesn't know how to play her xylophone the correct way."

 The "I Predict..." poster will help students think ahead about their performance or make a hypothesis about what a piece of music might sound like. 

 

 The "I Value..." poster helps students voice their opinion and connect to something they observe that they really like or enjoy about a piece of music or a peer's performance. I will be using this language to help students understand what I am looking for in a thoughtful performance or as a way to praise students for taking an academic risk. 

 Finally, the "I Wonder..." poster will encourage students to share their confusions, questions or "out-of-the-box" thinking. The phrase "I wonder" allows students to share their ideas while not feeling like they are being judged on whether they are right or wrong. 

Another goal I have for the year is to have students mindfully use self critique when dealing with performance tasks. We are using a three point critique system (explained below). During class, there will be times when we quickly show a 1, 2, or 3 with our fingers so students can express their comfort level with a new skill. Other times we may fill out critique forms. When using the forms, I am able to write notes to the students, such as helpful hints or words of encouragement to help them grow as musicians.

We all start as beginners, but some students are able to master concepts and skills at a faster rate. A number 1 or Beginner level means the student needs help from the teacher or a friend to be successful. Beginners may be given the option of performing a skill that fits the music but is on a level under the given task in order to have them experience success.  

Sometimes we don't need help but we do need more practice at a skill or concept. A number 2 means students are on their way to mastering a skill or concept, but have not arrived at Independence.

 Independent students have mastered skills or concepts. Students who are a "3" do not need help or practice. Independent students may be given challenges, such as adding another layer to the song's harmony.

Musical Pen Pals 5

Today, Mrs. Tuell's class finished their musical pen pal video to send to Donegal Primary School.  They selected "Fast Dance," an Orff instrument arrangement from Music for Children: Vol. 2 (American Edition).  Our journey with this piece of music started as a form review.  The original piece is performed as ABA form, however, we only learned the A section of the song for our performance.  The students also used this piece to review contours and harmony.

After the entire class learned the melody, we worked on adding two different simple ostinati as our harmony.  I helped the students to identify parts that they were successful with and we determined who would play each part.  The students were also challenged to add movement to this piece and body percussion was agreed upon.  After designing the body percussion movement, several students volunteered to be in movers instead of instrumentalists for our performance.  We video taped several times and discussed our progress in our videos.  A final form was decided (intro, A section with movement, A section with glockenspiel harmony added, coda) and we are excited to be sending out our final performance today.

Take a look at what Mrs. Tuell's class created:

Musical Pen Pals 4

Recently, Mrs. Melvin's 2nd grade class at Bainbridge Elementary finished their video for our musical pen pals at Donegal Primary School.  Mrs. Melvin's group picked the song "Hunt the Cows," which they learned to highlight AB form, and the note "do".  The song already had a great movement game to show the form of the song. The students had to create some instrumental parts to add to our performance to make it more interesting for our viewers and more challenging for the performers.

The students added a chordal accompaniment using C, D and G boomwhackers.  Of course, what would "Hunt the Cows" be with out a little cow bell?  The students decided to use the cow bell only during the B section, every time we sang the note "do", which highlighted the movement of the game.  The students also designed the spoken introduction that you will see in the video.

I invited our Principal, Mr. Kiehl to help us out with the video.  Mr. Kiehl knows the principal at DPS and we are hoping that their principal, Mr. Miller, will take part in the videos too!  The students voted on which part Mr. Kiehl should play and taught him how to play his part.

Before taping the students watched a preliminary taping of their performance and discussed ways to make their performance even more successful.  Take a look at what they created:

What is your box?

So many times I hear educators say, "I want to get my kids to think outside the box," and yet so many times I have also overheard the same teachers listing the many restrictions that make out-of-the-box thinking impossible. Or so they think!  I recently read a new book by George Couros: The Innovator's Mindset, that has really changed my thinking about innovation and problem solving.

As much as thinking outside the box is regarded as an important learning goal for the 21st century, sometimes it is more important to grow learners that can use the restrictions of their "box" to solve problems or be creative.  In his book, Couros focuses on nurturing "problem finders": students who are able to identify problems in their community, school or classroom and then create and implement a plan to solve those problems.

In other words, as educators, we don't have any excuses!  Innovation can happen anywhere and in any "box."  However, we will never teach our students how to be problem finders or solvers until the adults in their life, primarily educators, model what it means to have an innovator's mindset. 

So what is your "box?" Many educators list time, funding, or lack of support from administrators and parents as the "walls" that are boxing them in.  However, by taking on an innovator's mindset, what educators would realize is that those "walls" may actually be the inspiration for many innovative ways to reach their students.  

I recently presented with the educationcloset.com 2017 Winter Connectivity Conference where George Couros was one of the keynote speakers.  Phil Hansen, another Keynote speaker at the conference shared his view on creating within limitations.  His message was very inspiring and powerful. Take a look:

Creating within limitations requires innovators to recognize opportunities and follow the paths that are created out of opportunity.  I don't know if I can consider myself an innovator yet, but I certainly have been following some opportunities that I never would have imagined.  Each opportunity leads me down a new path and connects me to some very amazing people in the world of education. In The Innovator's Mindset, Couros talks about this concept as the "adjacent possible."

I'm going to keep working on building my "palace."

Thanks @gcouros and the #IMMOOC crew for allowing me to join you down many inspiring pathways!

Up Beat! 2nd Session

I am so happy to be meeting with my Up Beat! preschoolers again!  Our 2nd 10 week session of our preschool music program started on February 14th.  Naturally, many of our activities were Valentine's Day and love themed!

With a few new faces in our group, we started with or regular "Hello" song and then introduced all of the children with the song "Do You Know My Valentine" (sung to the tune of "Muffin Man").  We sang the song "Time for Music" and pointed to 8 valentine hearts to show our steady beat.

The children also love showing their steady beat with movement scarves and I was overjoyed when several of our new friends echoed some of the melodic patterns we were working on!  

The children loved guessing who I loved during the song "Love Somebody".  Let's see if you can guess one:  The one I love is red, with black spots and has 6 legs.... Love my ladybug, yes I do!

We read the books "The Ballad of Valentine" by Alison Jackson and "Skidamarink" by Jacqueline East, all before our "Good Bye" song.

This week the weatherman and I did not coordinate well, but I'm not going to complain!  The preschoolers engaged in many snow related activities including reading "When Winter Comes" by Nancy Van Laan and "Owl Moon" by Jane Yolen.  We danced and froze like snowflakes and even built a snowman out of musical instruments!  After "melting" our snowman, we used the instruments to work on our steady beat to the song "Snowman Drum" (aka "Aiken Drum").

Our favorite part of this week's lesson was using our new stretchy band!  The kids had so much fun showing steady beat motions and pulling back on the reins of our horse.  Woah!!!

Musical Pen Pal 3

Continuing on our Music Pen Pal journey, Mrs. Chroshinski's 2nd grade recently sent Donegal Primary another video!  I loved the creative process of designing this performance with the kids.  The students identified one of their favorite songs so far from this school year: Ghost of Tom.  I then challenged them to add harmony and movement to the song.  The students suggested using scarves to imitate ghostly motions and we turned a simple rhythmic ostinato into chordal harmony.  The pattern the students used for their harmony is known as a i-VII shift (1-7 shift).

The students gave suggestions for movements that were then combined into a choreographed piece.  We initially performed our chordal harmony on the xylophones, but the students suggested using boomwhackers instead and it really worked out well!

After practicing, taping, critiquing and re-taping, Mrs. C's class was ready to share the following video:

The students were very excited to get a video back from a 1st grade at DPS.  In the video, the students from DPS showed their knowledge of Call and Response form through the song "Down By The Bay."  Bainbridge and Mill Road students loved seeing that other schools sing the same songs we do.  Watching the video also reminded the students about the work we have done on Call and Response form.

Shoo Fly!

2nd Graders at Bainbridge and Mill Road recently used the folk song "Shoo Fly" to experience ABA form.  After learning the song, we brainstormed ways to change the B section as a whole class.   The next week the students were put into groups of 3-5 students with the challenge to create a motion and lyrics for a new B section.

During the task the students were given only 2 minutes to work as a team to create their new B section.  After brainstorming and developing their idea, all of the groups performed their B section during a group practice.  We then gave each group a chance to perform their arrangements.  Take a look at some of the fun ideas they came up with!

Tasks such as this help to stretch the students' ability to use 21st century skills such as collaboration, creativity and critical thinking, while also applying their musical knowledge and skills.

Thank you to Dr. Leigh Ann Garner for the inspiration for this activity!

Mill Road Elementary 2016 Carol Sing

On December 22nd, the 3rd graders at Mill Road Elementary helped to lead the school in our annual Carol Sing.  This year Mill Road Elementary has a super hero theme, so for our Carol Sing, I wrote an original script that incorporated the theme.  

"Super Hero Holiday" tells the story of Santa and Mrs. Claus before they became the traditional characters that we think of today.  In the beginning, Santa was 'Super Santa' and Mrs. Claus was 'Captain Claus', super heroes who's mission it was to save the world's toys from destruction! 

Super Santa soon realizes that the two super heroes have been fixing the toys of naughty children who do not take care of their toys and, in fact, there were nice children who did not have any toys at all.  Super Santa and Captain Claus decide to change their mission and deliver toys to the nice children of the world instead.  After changing their focus, they realized that they will not be able to complete the mission alone.  With each obstacle, they add more super heroes to their team (the reindeer and elves) until they are able to complete their mission of delivering toys to the nice children of the world.

39 students volunteered their time during several lunch recesses to practice dramatically reading the script.  Each 3rd grade class learned 2 songs, which were sung throughout the dramatic reading and the whole school participated in our sing-a-long intermission.  This year we had about 100 parents and community members in attendance.

Mrs. Dibble's class opened the program by setting the scene with the song "North Pole, North Pole" by Teresa Jennings.

Mrs. Dibble's class also learned an interlude on the orff instruments (xylophones) that I composed!  The whole class initially learned the melody part on the orff instruments.  Then Boom Whacker harmony, bongos and cabasa were added.  After several sessions of practice, students were selected to play the different parts of the interlude every time a new super hero was introduced in the story.

Mrs. Tuell's class performed "Teamwork" by John Riggio as Captain Claus tried to convince Super Santa to add more team members to complete their mission.

 

After the whole school sing-a-long, Mrs. Tuell's Class performed "Hip Hop Elves" by Teresa Jennings.  Several students were selected to play Boom Whackers during an interlude.

After the super hero team assembles the toys, Mrs. Burkett's class performed "Santa Claus is on His Way" by Teresa Jennings.  Several students were selected to play the Boom Whackers for this song as well.

Mrs. Burkett's Class closed the show with "A Super Celebration" by Teresa Jennings.

The 3rd graders at Mill Road are to be applauded for a wonderful performance!  Hard work and dedication were evident in all aspects of the show!  A big 'Thank You' goes out to Mrs. Irvin's son, Justin,  for being our Videographer!

2016 Bainbridge Carol Sing

This year Bainbridge Elementary has an ocean theme and as in years past, our 3rd graders made use of the school theme to share a holiday message during our annual Carol Sing.  This year I borrowed the text for our play from a picture book, something that I have not done before.

Act 1 of our Carol Sing was based on Deborah Diesen's book The Pout Pout Fish, a story about a glum fish who learns that he has the power inside himself to change how he feels.  Mrs. Stough's 3rd Grade Class opened the first act with the song My Friends in the Sea by Teresa Jennings.

Readers from Mrs. Stough's Class and Mrs. Hartranft's Class read The Pout Pout Fish in reader's theater style.  As the audience was introduced to the main character, Mr. Fish, Mrs. Stough's class performed a song with music written by myself and text taken from the story book.

All students learned the main Pout Pout Fish Song melody on orff instruments (xylophones).  We then added harmony parts on boomwhackers.  Students were selected to play the two different parts and then we rounded out the arrangement with a glockenspiel harmony, rain stick, ocean drum and cabasa.  Some students chose to focus on just singing the text.

Mrs. Stough's Class closed the first act with another Teresa Jenning's song: I'd Rather Be Happy.

Bainbridge students, faculty, staff and about 60 community members participated in a Christmas carol sing-a-long that acted as our intermission, before Mrs. Hartranft's Class took the stage.   Act 2 opened with Teresa Jenning's song Holiday of Music.
 

Next students from Mrs. Stough's class dramtically read  Deborah Diesen's book The Not Very Merry Pout Pout Fish.  In this story, Mr. Fish tries to find the perfect gift for his new found friends.  In the end he is encouraged to make is own gifts.

Much like Mrs. Stough's Class, Mrs. Hartranft's class first learned the melody to the song on orff instruments as an entire class.  We then added a bass metalophone ostinato and boomwhacker harmony and rounded out the arrangement with a glockenspiel harmony and finger cymbals.  The carol sing closed with song by Paul and Teresa Jennings called Reason for the Season.

Congratulations to both 3rd grade classes for the hard work they put in to our successful performance of "A Season with Mr. Fish."  A special 'thank you' goes out to our Carol Sing readers.  All 19 students volunteered their time during several lunch recesses to practice their parts.

Musical Pen Pals 2

The 2nd and 3rd grade students at Mill Road and Bainbridge were very excited to get their first video from our Musical Pen Pals at Donegal Primary School (DPS).  The first graders at DPS shared the song "Bingo" with Boomwhackers®.  My students enjoyed seeing students from another school and learning a new way to perform a familiar song.  The video also gave us a chance to discuss what makes a successful performance.

This week Mrs. Nein's 2nd Grade class at Mill Road finished their first pen pal video.  2nd Graders recently added the half note to their rhythmic knowledge.  The song "Deedle Deedle Dumpling" (Lois Choksy's Kodaly Method 1, pg. 204) was a great song to highlight this rhythm.  

  After learning the song, the students learned two different ostinati with body percussion.  They then transferred the harmonies to rhythm sticks and orff instruments.  After practicing the three parts, the students recorded their performance and discussed ways to improve their singing and instrument playing.  Below is the video we sent to our Musical Pen Pals at DPS.

AOSA National Conference

This past week I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the American Orff Schulwerk Association National Conference in Atlantic City, NJ.  Read more about the Orff Schulwerk aproach here.  With over 800 people in attendance, I had the opportunity to visit with old friends, meet other like-minded educators from across the country and sit among some of the nation's most well respected clinicians and music educators.

The theme of the conference was "Sailing the Seven C's", a play on words that referenced the ocean locale and 21st Century Skill's 4 C's (read about it here).  In addition to the 4 C's of 21st Century skills (Communication, Creativity, Collaboration and Critical Thinking), the conference added Community, Culture and Connections to round out the seven.

Over the next several posts I will be sharing some highlights from my trip.  In a nut shell, here is how my trip was impacted by the "Seven C's":

Communication:

 One of my favorite sessions was on a topic called "Responsive Classroom," a classroom management technique that has been around for several decades, but is starting to build steam in the educational world.  Matthew Stensrud, presenter and book collaborator, demonstrated the power of non-verbal communication in a responsive classroom setting through interactive modeling.

Creativity:

Another favorite session of mine was on the topic of Dalcroze-Eurythmics.  In this session we split into groups and used creative movement to tell a story.  It was neat to see the similarities and differences in how each group told the same story through movement.

Collaboration:

In a session on musical modes, we split into groups to create a musical arrangement and movement for different songs.  The songs were then performed during different parts of a story.  Our group had to work together by first deciding who would be singers, xylophone and recorder players and dancers and then creating our arrangement and movement piece.  

Critical Thinking:

 One key aspect of teaching from the Orff Schulwerk approach is something we often call "processing."  In other words, scaffolding a lesson to make it more meaningful and easier to achieve high levels of musicality in a short amount of time.  Many sessions demonstrated techniques and ways of thinking through the process to make our music more accessible to the students.  When music is accessible, students are more likely to make their own connections and start thinking more critically about how to make their performance of a higher quality.

Culture:

 Music is a wonderful way to make cultural connections.  Sessions from Scandinavian Dances to African drumming were offered throughout the week.  In particular, World Drumming sessions highlighted how cultural music can begin to change the "culture" of a school or classroom by teaching respect and team building.

Connections:

The connections I made during this conference were invaluable!  Not only did I get to renew some connections from my Orff levels courses, I was able to sit among music educators that influence my teaching on a daily basis.  

I danced with Peter and Mary Alice Amidon, whose folk dancing and singing game books are used across our district. I'm Growing Up is a new favorite of mine and budget item from this past year.

I interacted with Dr. Wendy Valerio and Dr. Butch Marshal, both former students of Edwin Gordon (read about him here), who shared more ideas from the book Music Play, which I use in many of my preschool and kindergarten lessons.

Roger Sams and Beth Ann Hepburn, authors of the Purposeful Pathways series, presented several sessions demonstrating expert processing and differentiation techniques.  (I won this book and several percussion instruments in a silent auction and can't wait to start using it!)

Community:

 One of my favorite moments of the conference was on our final day when the Vienna Jammers, a percussion ensemble from Vienna, VA comprised of students ages 8-15 years old, performed in the lobby area of the conference center.  People lined the four floors of the conference center balcony areas to watch this awesome group as their music echoed through the building.  It was touching to see some of our nation's greatest educators standing in awe and being inspired by these young children.

Thank you to PMEA and the Margaret S. Bauer Grant for providing funding for me to attend, learn and grow!

Musical Pen Pals

The 2nd and 3rd grade students at Mill Road and Bainbridge were very excited to get their first video from our Musical Pen Pals at Donegal Primary School (DPS).  The first graders at DPS shared the song "Bingo" with Boomwhackers®.  My students enjoyed seeing students from another school and learning a new way to perform a familiar song.  The video also gave us a chance to discuss what makes a successful performance.

This week Mrs. Nein's 2nd Grade class at Mill Road finished their first pen pal video.  2nd Graders recently added the half note to their rhythmic knowledge.  The song "Deedle Deedle Dumpling" (Lois Choksy's Kodaly Method 1, pg. 204) was a great song to highlight this rhythm.  

  After learning the song, the students learned two different ostinati with body percussion.  They then transferred the harmonies to rhythm sticks and orff instruments.  After practicing the three parts, the students recorded their performance and discussed ways to improve their singing and instrument playing.  Below is the video we sent to our Musical Pen Pals at DPS.

Beginning of the year Orff experiences for 3rd grade

In 3rd grade, the students first learned body percussion and the words to a song.  We then learned how to play it on the Orff instruments.  

 Here is Mrs. Burkett's 3rd grade class from Mill Road performing the body percussion and singing "Let's Sing a Song" (Music For Children Vol. I, Canon #1 on pg. 91 modified for 2 at an instrument, lyrics by Nichole Witman). 

Here is Mrs. Tuell's 3rd grade class performing "Let's Sing a Song" on the Orff instruments.

Check out my other blog posts for videos from other grades!

Beginning of the year Orff experiences for 2nd grade

In 2nd grade we read the book Up, Down, and Around by Kathrine Ayres.  2nd grade also practiced upward and downward contour on the Orff instruments like the 1st graders, but these students focused on scale patterns and alternating their sticking.  Here is Miss Antrim's class with part of their book performance:

Check out other blog posts for more videos of the students from other grades playing the Orff instruments.

Beginning of the year Orff experiences for 1st grade

This past week all of my students started learning how to use our Orff instruments. In 1st grade the Orff Instruments were turned into trees (Thanks for the idea Sarah Patek Farrell!) and the students made their mallets go up and down the tree to the song "Let Us Chase the Squirrel". 

Here is Ms. Jenakovich's 1st Grade class playing "Let us Chase the Squirrel":

Check out other blog posts for videos of the other grades!

The wonderful world of Orff!

This past summer I completed a goal that I have had since starting teaching.  I finished my Orff Levels and am now a certified Orff teacher!  It was great to be back in the classroom this summer as a student instead of a teacher!  Last year I posted about several different music teaching methods and Orff Schulwerk is another well known approach in the world of music education.

As I mentioned in an early post, my main approach for teaching is through the Kodaly Method, which is absolutely wonderful for teaching music literacy.  However, I have been noticing that while my students are very knowledgeable, they were having a hard time applying what they know in a musical way and struggle to be independent creators.  By integrating Orff Schulwerk with the Kodaly method, I am able to help my students become musically literate and also perform and create musically.

Orff Schulwerk was developed by Carl Orff, a German composer most known for his cantata "Carmina Burana", and Gunild Keetman, a German educator.  This method promotes musicality through the use of music, movement, speech and drama.

The American Orff Schulwerk Association (AOSA) website describes Orff Schulwerk as "A Teaching Model For Optimal Learning," explaining that "Imitation, experimentation and personal expression occur naturally as the students become confident, life-long musicians and creative problem solvers."  For those of you who read my last post, that's 21st century skills at it's finest!

AOSA website

I am very excited to be integrating more Orff based ideas and activities into my teaching.  In November I will be attending the AOSA National Conference in Atlantic City to learn and grow more in the Orff approach.

 Check out my next post with lots of videos showing how we used our Orff instruments during the 2nd week of school.

 

21st Century Skills: The 4 C's

21st century skills have become the hot topic in the world of education.  The Elizabethtown Area School District, in particular, has put a much bigger emphasis this school year on the importance of 21st century skills to the future of our students.  When most people hear "21st century skills" their immediate thought goes to technology, however, they are much more than that!  As an educator, my main task is to prepare students to become productive members of the community.  With technology and information changing at such a fast pace, how can I ready students for jobs that may not even exist yet?  21st century skills are identified as essential skills for any job, even those that we can't imagine!

In my classroom, I focus on what is known as the "4 C's": Communication, Collaboration, Creativity and Critical Thinking.  As a music educator, these skills show up in many of the activities that we do on a daily basis in music class.  

Take, for example, an activity that we did during 3rd grade music class last week.  It was the first time I had seen the kids this school year, so I planned to do a few team building games to get to know them.  One activity focused on learning each others' names and using two of the 4 C's: Creativity and Critical Thinking (problem solving).  I had the students say their name as they went around the circle, but they were challenged to come up with a unique way to say their name (i.e. high vs. low, fast vs. slow, etc...).  This activity also reviewed the idea of question/answer form.  I was the question asking "What's your name?" and the students gave their name as the answer.   

After they shared their unique sounding names, they were then challenged to create movement or body percussion that matched their name.  I gave them few instructions and allowed the students to time to experiment.  After we performed our name and motion we talked about how some names matched better because you could hear or see the syllables in the motions or because they followed the contour of their voice.  

Student were encouraged to "edit" their responses if they wanted to and we performed our names one final time.  This time, we only performed the movement portion of our name.  Without the ability to use our voice, the students honed their communication and listening skills as they waited for their turn. 

Here is Mrs. Stough's class from Bainbridge Elementary performing their version of "What's your Name?":

Thanks to Susan Riley, Founder of Educationcloset.com for the great name game idea! This was a quick activity, but there were so many lessons that we could learn from it!

Move it!

Movement education:  Sound's like a Phys. Ed. topic and not something to be studied in music class.  Right?  What if I told you that in some cultures, 'music' and 'dance' are not separate terms.  They simply exist as one and the same.

 So why is movement so important to music?  Other than the fact that research proves that the use of gross motor movement activates the brain in a way that makes learning become more deeply embedded in your memory, movement can also facilitate a deeper understanding of how musical concepts work and are used.  Those tiny black dots on the paper that we read and call 'music' is nothing more than script until our muscles literally breathe life into them by singing or playing an instrument.

Can you tell I'm passionate about this subject?  It may come as a surprise to some that I am a teacher and musician by trade, but my real passion is movement!  I love dance and always have.  In fact I still take regular ballet classes, which have become very therapeutic to my soul!  While some people have been known to see certain colors when they hear music, I see movement and dance.  My brain is continuously choreographing what it hears to the point that I just have to move to the music!

Some of my earliest teaching experiences were teaching others to dance as a choreographer for show choirs and musicals during my high school career.  Not to mention the performances I would put on in the living room with my best friend and reluctant brothers when I was in elementary school!  While I have no degree in movement or dance education, several of my undergrad and graduate courses have focused on dance education, including a dance pedagogy class (one of my favorites as an undergraduate) and movement classes that were included in my Orff-Schulwerk levels, which I just completed this summer.

In my music classes we move just about as much as we sing! We use movement as our transitions from one activity to another.  We dance to folk songs to feel how meter and form play a role in how music is constructed.  We practice rhythms using body percussion and other gross motor movements before performing them on instruments that require fine motor control and an understanding of multiple musical concepts.  Because movement is so important to me and to the education of my students, I have decided that one of my focuses this year would be to integrate as much movement into my lessons as I can.  To kick it off, a new word wall has been installed in both of my classrooms.

 While I won't be assessing the students on their movement ability, this word wall will provide some opportunities for connections across curricula and serve as idea starters during our creative movement activities.

If you are interested in learning more about dance education or reading some of the research that influences my teaching, please continue exploring the links below:

Music, Movement and Learning by Carlos Abril

The Elements of Dance

Laban Movement (Brief Overview)

Dalcroze Eurhythmics (Official site)

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to another great school year!  I am so excited to start helping kids fill their minds and bodies with music and movement!  I will be using this blog to provide updates about what we are doing in the classroom (including pictures and videos), important dates and performances, and to share some topics that hold a special interest to me and influence my teaching.

Please check back often to stay up to date and connected.  You can subscribe to this blog by entering your email address on the link in the upper right hand corner of this page.  Once you subscribe, you will receive an email anytime this page is updated.  You can also follow me on Twitter (Mrs. Witman, @MrsWitmanMusic).

For parents interested in other things like schedules, pictures of the classroom, curriculum and community links, please visit my EASD district classroom website.  Here is a link:

Mrs. Witman's EASD Classroom website 

As always, please feel free to contact me at anytime!  I'd love to hear your feedback or work with you to make your child's music education the best it can be. You can email me at nichole_witman@etownschools.org.