For most of us, school is not back to “normal” and now that we understand much more about how COVID is spread, we are back in the music room, able to use our classroom instruments and have a bit more freedom to move. We are excited to dig into as many of our favorite lessons as quickly as we can. The children are so excited to have instruments in their hands and to do all the things.

And then………disaster.

Let’s keep a few things in mind:

• It has been a LONG time since anything about “school” has been “normal”
• Just like the rest of us, the children have experienced a collective trauma as we navigate through the pandemic.
• Many children have spent over a year either learning from home or spent a much larger portion of their school day behind a desk and a computer with limited movement to maintain social distance.
• The children have changed.
• WE have changed.

Here are a few suggestions for refamiliarizing our children with making music together in our spaces.

GO SLOW: I am guilty of being so excited to teach some of my favorite lessons again that I rush through the process because we are having so much fun. Then, the lesson breaks down, behaviors pop up and everyone is frustrated. 

Practice personal space. Define the space for the children. Use hula hoops, tape squares, shoe polish to mark the floor or large sections of yarn to make a circle. 

• Spend time talking about the “personal space” in a playful way. 
• Grab a drum and have the children move to the beat in their personal space. 
• Make up a story that their space is “safe” from an unusually fast turtle with slimy feet who is lurking around the room waiting to “hug” little children and cover them in turtle slime. EWWWW The turtle is mesmerized by your drum, so it is safe to venture out while you are playing, and when you stop they need to hop back into their “safe space” or its SLIME TIME!
• Play one beat for them to hop out, and then hop back in. 
• Try a different direction, then another one.
• Walk two beats away from the “safe space” and back.
• Hop out and in, tip-toe, change levels, move with big and small steps.
• Repeat this game over several classes for SHORT sessions (Always leave them wanting more!)

Plan shorter learning “blocks” in each lesson, and choose activities that teach procedures in a playful way. Like this one for older elementary students.

• Use a short speech piece like Good, Better, Best by Michael Chandler
• Chant the proverb in rhythm 
• Compose body percussion ostinatos
• Perform together THE END, Now go do something else.
• The next lesson, get out just hand drums (If you have enough) or hand drums and rhythm sticks.
• Take time to remind (even the older students) how to handle and care for the instruments. 
• Plan time to teach them how to sanitize after they play.
• Play the ostinato’s they composed the previous class while chanting the rhythm in three or four ways. THE END, Now go do something else. 

If we leave them wanting more, we can reuse this activity the next lesson and reteach the sanitizing procedure again. 

Advance in small steps. Perform the chant as a round while we play our ostinatos, the next class create an instrumental B section.

REMAIN CALM. Remember that collective trauma I was talking about? Find two or three moments in your work day where you can take 30 seconds to a minute just to breathe and clear your mind. These mini-breaks will allow your nervous system to settle and help us stay calm. Many of us are feeling over-stimulated after being home and isolated for some time. Many of us are experiencing conflicting thoughts and emotions that can be confusing to our mind and body making us feel unsettled. If we take some time to reset our own mind and body we can be better leaders and models for the children and remain calm when problems arise in the classroom.

Repeating procedures and routines in a playful and musical way, with short bursts of active music making and a heavy dose of patience and compassion for our students will help them to re-learn how we have fun while learning in our music spaces. Taking care of our own needs as educators will allow us to do the same. 

We would LOVE to hear about what has been working well for you and the mini-musicians you serve.

The post Making It Work: Relearning the Music Room first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

Every year, new students enter our classrooms from all walks of life. The one commonality with all of them is a NAME. As an elementary music teacher, learning all of our students’ names can be a daunting task and we sometimes forget that the children are in new classroom groups and do not know all of the people in their class either. However, with this fun and practical name game learning names can be fun and hip! Use this activity to build community, make music, and learn those NAMES!

Curriculum Concepts

Beat, Rhythm, AB Form

Skills

In this lesson, students will:

• Learn and review key musical vocabulary—beat, rhythm, form.

• Identify A and B sections that combine to form a larger piece of music.

“I Can” Statements

• I can chant while performing rhythmic patterns using body percussion.

• I can recite and recall key music vocabulary terms in this lesson.

Tennessee Music Standards*

• 4.GM.P3.B Using body percussion or instruments, perform instrumentally (pitched/unpitched), alone and with others, with expression, technical accuracy, and appropriate interpretation.

*NOTE: Find the similar standard for each grade level, 2nd-5th grades. 

Instructional Procedures

Preparation and Items Needed

1. Print out and become familiar with the following documents included in this item:

• Lesson Plan
• Speech Piece

2. Use a drum or the video below to establish the beat

A SECTION

1. Echo-chant each phrase. Put two phrases together until students are able to easily chant the speech piece.

2. Echo-teach the body percussion part.

3. Divide the class into two groups. Lead one group in performing the body percussion parts. When

the beat has been established, bring the other group in chanting the speech piece.

4. Switch groups. Repeat.

5. Challenge!! Have the entire class perform the speech and body percussion together.

B SECTION

After students have successfully learned the speech and body percussion of the A section introduce the B section. In the B section students will take turns saying their first name in rhythm. Example: My name is Franklin. (See rhythm examples on handout.) This is a cumulative piece so after 4 students say their names, class chants the names in reverse order. Then add another group fo 4 students, class chants 8 students’ names in reverse order and so on.

1. Use this body percussion pattern to establish the beat for the B Section.

2. Echo-teach the speech pattern to the first four students. Tell students to come up with a motion to go with their name, stand and twirl, clap/pat the rhythm of their name, wave hands, etc. Class will repeat that motion every time that student’s name comes in the chant. Practice several times until they are comfortable going on to the next set of four students.

3. After four students have said their names, all students repeat the names in reverse order as described above. See example.

4. Repeat the A section after each set of four names.

5. Keep repeating the B section until every student has had an opportunity to speak their name.

6. Be sure to add YOUR name to the end!!

For more activities from Franklin Willis, visit his Teachers Pay Teachers Store

© Copyright 2019 by Franklin Willis. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

The post Lesson: What’s Your Name? Speech and Body Percussion Piece first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

All Are Welcome Here

by Daniel Hershman-Rossi

Form Analysis: 

MFC I p. 91 #5

aaba

adapted version

aaaab

Materials

Book: Penfold, Alexandra, and Suzanne Kaufman. All Are Welcome. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2018.

Teaching Notes

• I would present this over several of the first few lessons of the school year. It would be applicable to my 2nd and 3rd graders. Kindergarten and 1st graders would also enjoy the book and the song (although the instrument part would be left out this early in the year, and the movement activity may be adapted)
• This lesson goes with a beautiful book about inclusivity at school called “All Are Welcome” by Penfold and Kaufman. I have scanned it to a Google Slides file so it can be easily shown on my Smart Board from anywhere in the room.

Teaching Process

• Begin with movement: present the song “Good Morning” from Cameroon (see Beth’s Music Notes for music).
  • Sing song with accompaniment on guitar or piano. Ask: what are some ways we could greet each other? 
  • Move around room while listening to song. Each time students hear “good morning” give a greeting to a friend (class decides). Choose actions for “so happy to see you” and “how do you do?”
  • Sing song several times, encouraging students to greet various members of the class while moving.
• Show book. Display cover and pictures without reading it. Ask students: what do you predict this book will be about? (meeting new people, going to school, the first day of school, where you are from, etc)
• Present book, singing text to adapated melody. Note that the melody is adapted from Music For Children Volume 1. p. 91 #5. The rhythm is included below. For copyright reasons, the entire melody cannot be presented. Note that measures 5 and 6 in the original are changed slightly and included in this adaptation as an interlude or possible coda.
• Invite students to join on “all are welcome here”
• Discuss: what is the message of this book? What is the meaning? What are some ideas from this book that we can apply to our lives at home and school?
• Go to barred instruments set up in do based pentatonic on C. Allow students to find the pitches for “all are welcome here” (EE DD C).
• Present book again, teacher singing the first part of the text and students singing and playing “all are welcome here”.
• Extension ideas for later in the process:
  • add interlude – what does it represent? (a school bell, a friend calling to you, something else?)
  • students choose how to include the interlude – body percussion, unpitched percussion, etc.
  • present the final product to new Kindergarten and PK students as an in-class performance in September. 

Click here to download a pdf of this lesson plan

The post Lesson: All Are Welcome Here first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

“Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
– Dale Carnegie

Name games are a fun way to brush up on remembering students’ names from last year and learning the names of new students. Roger Sams shares two name games that are musical, fun, and ready for you to use in class tomorrow! 

Click here to download this lesson plan.

The post Name Games first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

While most of you are enjoying summer break, here at Teaching With Orff we are already planning for back to school. Share your favorite Orff-inspired back to school lesson for a chance to win a fabulous prize from MMB Music!

Entering is as easy as 1-2-3!

1. Select a favorite lesson you have written for back to school that utilizes Orff instruments.

2. Write a brief bio and pick out your favorite headshot.

3. Email your lesson, bio, and headshot to TeachingWithOrff@gmail.com. Please include your name, school, city, state, and email address.

Submissions will be accepted through Wednesday, August 9, 2017.

A winner will be chosen by our selection committee and announced on or before August 16, 2017. The winner will be notified by email and will receive a Studio 49 KBN Resonator Bell Set 1c and wooden case. The winning lesson will be featured on our website and Facebook page

The selection committee is looking for student-centered lessons that include objectives, connections to National Standards, and a step-by-step description of the lesson and process for teaching. We are looking forward to seeing your amazing ideas!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Must be a Music Educator who is a legal U.S. resident and at least 18 years of age at the time of entry. Contest begins on July 12, 2017 and ends on August 9, 2017. For additional details including the definition of “Music Educator” download the official rules.

VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.

The post Back to School Lesson Contest first appeared on Teaching With Orff.