Exploring Our Roots, Expanding Our Future: Lesson 2. Students are ready to perform the piece composed with all ostinati accompaniments. Download the lesson here: Roots Lesson 2 Video demonstration:

Exploring Our Roots: Introduction and Lesson 1. Using a pentatonic scale, students will identify, compose, read, and perform 16 beat rhythms containing quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rests. Download the lesson here: Roots Lesson 1

This lesson is from Purposeful Pathways: Possibilities for the Elementary Music Classroom, Book One – by Roger Sams and Beth Ann Hepburn. Click on the link to download the lesson: PurposefulPathways_SimpleSimon

This lesson is from Purposeful Pathways: Possibilities for the Elementary Music Classroom, Book One – by Roger Sams and Beth Ann Hepburn. Click on the link to download the lesson: PurposefulPathways_Cinderella

This lesson is an excerpt from Purposeful Pathways: Possibilities for the Elementary Music Classroom, Book One – by Roger Sams and Beth Ann Hepburn. Click here to download the pdf. 

This lesson is an excerpt from Purposeful Pathways: Possibilities for the Elementary Music Classroom, Book One – by Roger Sams and Beth Ann Hepburn. Click here to download the pdf. 

Swing-En: Today was the second-last rehearsal before the spring program.  It began for me, as it does for countless Orff specialists everywhere, with setting up instruments, distributing mallets, selecting needed non-pitched percussion instruments . . . and a sense of excitement!  Class members arrived.  Conversations reached forte and even became a bit staccato. Rehearsal began…

It is my pleasure to be posting to the Teaching With Orff blog from the collegiate perspective! I am currently a junior at Baldwin Wallace University and will student teach this coming fall in a general music classroom that incorporates the Orff approach. It is my goal to make my posts to the blog a…

Road to Improvisation_notes This workshop presents a logical sequence to develop confidence and skill in improvisation. Teachers are required to show their students are mastering student learning objectives (SLOs). Improvisation is the highest form on Bloom’s Taxonomy to demonstrate musical elements through movement, rhythm and melody. An improvisation rubric is included to help students and…

In this episode of Instrument Repair Hospital, “Dr. Lissa” gives tips on how to clean and store your Orff instruments for the summer. Take good care of your Studio 49 Orff Instruments for their long lasting health and great sound! Materials: – Gloves – Old English scratch cover – Furniture polish – Goo Gone – Thin gold metallic…

On Saturday, July 7, 2012, the Cincinnati Children’s Choir won a Gold Medal in the Champions Category of Youth Choirs of Equal Voices in the World Choir Games with a total score of 84.13 points. They were the top US choir in this category and placed 5th in the world. Their winning performance included Cantate…

The colors of these simple rhythm cards can be used to link the iconic color name with the sound.  Whether you use Kodály, Gordon MLT syllables or the Frank Erickson number system, these cards help you see what the students understand.  Observe and assess the students immediately without lugging papers home to grade.  The students…