This past summer I was in Finland at JaSeSoi Ry’s International Music Village (Finnish Orff Association).  It was amazing and I loved my time both in Finland and making music with musicians and teachers from 14 countries.  I also fell a little in love with the Scandinavian lifestyle and their connection to the outdoors.  Did you know there are 188,000 lakes and more than 1,000,000 saunas in Finland?!

JaSeSoi Ry has put together an amazing resource online called “Nordic Sounds”.  There are songs, games, and dances from Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Sweden!  Pronunciation videos, background info, teaching ideas and videos make this site exceptionally user friendly! Check it out here!

When I came back home, I began looking for more music and dances from this area of the world. Via Facebook, I came across a dance teacher in Portland, Oregon, who has been a tremendous help to me. Christie teaches Scandinavian dancing to children 5 years old and up to adults.  She has been incredibly generous and due to some technical problems with sharing music files, she even sent me 2 CD’s via snail mail!

Many of the dances are new to me, including the one I am sharing today. This is called the Nisse Polka, though Christie calls it the Nixie Polka and her students call it the Caterpillar Dance.  The Nisse is a Christmas figure – read more below! Many thanks to Christie (again) for her help in putting all of this together and for being so willing to share!  On to the dance!

Here is the dance performed by Christie’s kids at a Scandinavian celebration.

The post Nisse Polka first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

As the weather gets warmer, and classrooms get much warmer (especially for those of us without air conditioning) taking the kids outside can be a nice change for music learning! I’ve compiled a selection of lesson ideas for meaningful and engaging music lessons in the out-of-doors. 

Games: 

• Any of the singing games you teach inside can go outside. Those who teach on a cart or have small rooms can go outside and play the singing games that are a challenge to play in restricted space. Some favorites for my students are, Cut the Cake, Ye Toop Doram, Acka-Backa, Chicken on a Fencepost, and “I Have Who Has” review games. These games can be found in most music series books and in online lessons for free. 

Singing: 

Singing outside can be tons of fun too.  

• Have a “campfire singalong!” Set up a fake campfire with flashlights to battery-operated tea lights and tissue-paper. Set up benches or logs around the “fire” grab a guitar or ukulele and teach your students all the camp songs you know.  
• On another day go “camp song caroling”! Walk around the school and sing camp songs (instead of holiday carols) at the first-floor windows around campus.  
• Blow bubbles, sing and move the contour of a bubble as it blows away. Some students move and sing while some watch then switch roles.  
• Grab a few picnic blankets and sing the song “Going On A Picnic”. Bring out a basket full of fake picnic food from the toy store, laminated pictures of food or those squishy toys the kids love so much. This song is great for working on solo singing skills. “Teddy Bear Picnic” would be a fun addition to the theme.  

Props: 

Many times, props are difficult to use in the classroom due to space and safety concerns. Going out doors opens up the space to move and use those exciting props. 

• Jump rope rhymes are fun! Teach the rhymes and jump rope to the beat. Jump faster or slower. Compose B section chants and notate them on the ground in chalk. Choose a form and add body percussion and voices to the second section. 
• Stories with songs, vocal sounds, body percussion and small instruments are great to read and perform outside. Possum Come A Knockin’ by Nancy Van Lann and Baby Rattlesnake told by Te Ata are outdoor favorites for me. Choose stories you wish to take outside and make a bucket or bag for each story. The children carry the supplies for you! 
• Tennis balls and basketball bouncing to the beat games can be found online. Grab a blue tooth speaker and take those lessons to the playground where there is enough space for everyone to bounce and play without bumping into each other. 
• Parachute and stretchy band games/songs would be even more fun in the sunshine and fresh air! 
• Borrow hula hoops from the gym and take a drum along. Do some quick reaction activities. Play beats while the children move in a variety of ways, (walk, tip-toe, skip etc.) When the drum stops they have to jump in the hoop. This can also be an elimination game, remove hoops as more and more students are “out”. 
• Everyone finds a stone or stick, sit in a circle and play all the stone and stick passing games that you know. Put the stones and sticks back when you are finished. 
• Click here for a fun “Music Tug of War” lesson from “Floating Down the River on the Ohio” music blog. 

Folk Dance: 

Folk dance is fun inside, it is also fun outside! 

• Draw a circle in sidewalk chalk and perform all the circle folk dances you have worked on this year. “Sashay the Donut” is a great outdoor circle dance! Play music on your Bluetooth speaker.  
• Play parties require no recorded music, draw “sets” on the ground with chalk so the kids can easily stay in lines. “The Noble Duke of York” and “Alabama Gal” are great places to start! 

Review: 

End of year review takes a new turn when you include fresh air and a new space. 

• Play rhythm and/or sol-fedge hopscotch. Draw a few hopscotch boards and fill the squares with rhythms or melodic patterns to read. The students must hop and read the music to earn the point. Be sure to include supports for students who may need them. 
• Get some cheap paint brushes and cups of water. Paint brush rhythms using the water on the pavement. The kids must clap the rhythms before they dry. (This game is more challenging the hotter it gets!) Give pairs of students a paint brush and take turns “painting” rhythmic dictation on the sidewalk. 
• Draw big squares with the notes of the treble, bass or grand staff all over the black top in chalk. Play a note review game by calling out a note name and asking the kids to run to the answer. Make up a song and play it on uke or guitar so they can sing along. When you say or sing the letter name at the end of the song, they run to find the correct note.  
• Use “found items” as iconic notation or markers to label phrase form. 

Play: 

• Take those recorder, ukulele, or bell songs outside and let the kids practice in teams. They will be able to hear themselves better, and you will too. 
• Any drum, ukulele, or recorder lesson would work well outside. If you have a projector on your phone, you may be able to project charts on the shady side of the building! 

Create: 

Use the skills the students already have to make something new. 

• Go outside and LISTEN! (How long can they listen? Time it!) Journal, recreate sounds, compose sound carpets or vocal exploration pieces using the recreated sounds they hear around them. Improvise a story to go with your music. 
• Make “story stones” for musical stories or rhythm stones or melody stones or chord progression stones then hide them. Have students find the stones and organize the order of a musical story like Peter and the Wolf or compose and perform rhythmic or melodic compositions by rearranging the rocks.  
• List all of the folk dance moves they know in chalk. Add one or two of their own and create a new dance or play party. 
• Collect items and work in small teams to build an instrument out of items found on the grounds, compose ostinatos and sing favorite songs with their instruments. 

I hope I have inspired you to take your music lessons outside. If you have great ideas for outdoor lessons please add them to the post by writing your ideas in the comments below.  

The post Take It Outside first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

Orff Schulwerk and New Beginnings

This lesson will use a process in which important nouns, verbs, and descriptive language are chosen and used as a springboard for individual and group creativity. A canon will serve as a unifying piece of music and a music literacy component will take shape as this piece of music comes to life slowly through solfege.

We will explore components of folk dance through the New England Dancing Masters version of “Sweets of May,” found in Chimes of Dunkirk (an invaluable resource) and use these figures to create our own adaptation of this folk dance. We’ll go one step further and create a new elemental composition of instrumental music to be played on Orff Instruments which includes ideas generated from exploring the the magical poetry of the children’s book. The final product will even include exploratory improvisations!

The power of Orff Schulwerk comes from unlocking the potential for creativity and awakening the endless possibilities of Music by Children!

Please click here to download a pdf of the lesson, which details Drue’s process and includes links to his Google slide presentation and printable cards.

The post Colors Springing, Voices Ringing first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

If you are dancing regularly with your students then it is a short and easy step to have an evening community dance with students and parents. I recommend starting out by having a dance for, say, only the fourth graders and their parents and siblings. Have the fourth graders take a parent or some other adult for their partners and do an hour of dances the fourth graders already know. You can do the same for the other age groups, and eventually alternate age-group community dances with whole school (all ages) community dances. If you do not have experienced dance musicians in your community, it is fine to have a community dance using recorded music. What a perfect way to spread the joy of the music in your classroom into greater school community. 

Someone asked me once about doing a waltz at the end of a community dance.  If you have the right combination of children and adults, it can be wonderful to end a community dance with the “Circle Waltz Mixer”.

A few years ago I discovered that the Circle Waltz Mixer (sometimes called the Family Waltz Mixer), a dance I had done only with adults, is a wonderful dance for children. I adapted it a bit (replacing the waltz at the end of the sequence of the original Family Waltz Mixer with a two hand turn) and tried it successfully with 5th graders, then 4th graders and 3rd graders. Here is an adapted version (replacing the two hand turn at the end of the sequence with a slow bow) of the dance that works great with 2nd graders and can sometimes work at a community dance. While the below description is specifically how to teach the Circle Waltz Mixer at a community dance, it is also a great way to teach the dance to, say, a 2nd grade class. Instead of adult and child partners, I recommend having “gent” and “lady” partners. The boys are the “rocks” and the girls are the “twirlers”.  Of course you can do the dance another time with girls being “rocks” and boys being “twirlers”, but I find that it is much easier for you and for the children to keep track of the “rock/twirler” roles if you do this as a “gent/lady” dance.

Here is how I teach a Circle Waltz Mixer in a community dance situation. The main difference between this and the version of “Circle Waltz Mixer” in “Sashay the Donut” and in the YouTube videos is #14, replacing the two hand turn with a slow bow. 

Note: In the Youtube videos we are using the cut from the “Sashay the Donut” CD for the Circle Waltz Mixer: “In Continental Waltz”.

Process

1) Have all children get adult partners, all adults get child partners (as much as possible).  At a minimum, make sure all younger children are with either and adult or an older (say, 4th grade or older) child.

2) Have them all promenade in a circle. Adult/older person promenade on the inside and say “I am a rock”. Child promenade on outside and say “I am a twirler”. 

3) Have them face the center so the “rock/adult” is on left and “twirler/child” is on right.

4) At this point I say “All the rocks do this” and I demonstrate putting my hands together up above my head (like you are going to dive upwards). Everyone can look around and make sure every other person is a rock.

5) Demonstrate how to twirl (I always teach this while dancing with them with a wireless headset microphone) with the dancer to your left (I am assuming you are a “rock”): both facing the center, the Rock takes the handy hand of the Twirler to the Rock’s left (Twirler’s right hand in Rock’s left hand) and gives the Twirler’s hand a light tug. The Twirler moves to their right while turning so that they end up facing the Rock. The Twirler and Rock change hands (Twirler’s left in Rock’s right) and the Twirler keeps turning and moving to their right, ending up on the Rock’s right.

6) Have everyone point to their own right and say “That is the direction the twirlers go”

7) Tell the “Rocks” to glue their feet to the floor (do not move their feet at all during the twirl). 

8) Have everyone practice one twirl.  If it doesn’t work perfectly, have everyone go back and practice again.

9) Add the forward and back between the twirl and practice a few twirls (Twirlers keep moving to the right past successive Rocks).

10) Demonstrate how to twirl someone into the partner-facing-partner-holding-two-hands position that you twirl into to prepare for the next figure.

11) Have everyone twirl into that position.

12) Have everyone drop hands and watch you and your partner demonstrate the “in, out, spin in, out, in, spin out” figure.

13) Have everyone practice that figure.

14) THIS IS THE KICKER: Instead of a two hand turn here, I demonstrate with my partner a verrrrrrry sllllooooow bow to partner followed by “Open like a book and face the center”. This slow-bow-open-like-a-book replaces the two hand turn (which can be disorienting and likely get some dancers on the wrong sides of their partners).

15) Have everyone practice the slow-bow-open like a book.

16) During the dance if you see a section of the circle get hopelessly confused it is OK, with the music still playing, to stop the dance, have all the “Rocks” put their hands up in the air, and then figure out where there are, say, two “Twirlers” next to each other and put one of them into the part of the circle where there are two Rocks next to each other.

I do the Circle Waltz Mixer at a family dance only if:

 * the acoustics are not too bad and the dancers are doing pretty well with the other dances

  * there are not too many really young children dancing

  * there are enough adults and older children to make a circle of partners where all the “Rocks” are adults or older children.

  * there is enough time to do the teaching and still have plenty of time for everyone to enjoy the dance.

At its best, you will reach a point where you are not calling, and everyone is dancing to the music. Voila! you are in dance heaven.

The post Teaching and Dancing the Circle Waltz Mixer first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

Folk dancing is one the most popular components in our lower school music curriculum.  Through controlled chaos the dance consistently brings a sense of joy and a feeling of community to its participants. In a subtle way folk dancing encourages risk taking, exercises a sense of self-confidence, and adds to the student’s social, physical, and emotional well-being.

But you already knew all of that!

So why not show off and share all those terrific qualities the dance offers to a larger community? At our school we did just that and expanded that joyful success of the dance outward toward our parent community by creating, “Family Folk Dance Night.”   Through collaboration with colleagues, administration, and parents, your school community can create a lasting tradition that brings families together in a joyfully creative way while promoting a sense of community and school spirit.

CREATE AN EXPECTATION TO GET ALL ON BOARD

Once my colleagues and administration were on board with the idea of “Family Folk Dance Night,” to insure family participation the school body treated the night as a substantial event on both the internal and printed calendars that go home with each student.  As such an attitude of full participation by homeroom teachers, students, and one accompanying adult, became the expectation for the given date.  Each child was expected to be accompanied by an adult for the event.  This event can have the potential for turning into a drop-off center for kids, the antithesis of the whole goal!

The event was discussed in music class and in homerooms so students were well informed about what the evening would look like.  As the date approached, homeroom teachers and administrators mentioned the event in their weekly newsletters, our school website, and other written correspondence that is sent home.

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

Besides music class, folk dancing can show up in a variety of other curriculums.  For a large event like this it typically feels safe to have a “partner in crime,” which is why I enjoy collaborating with our school’s P.E. department. The P.E. teachers share a similar feeling around the benefits folk dancing offers and typically it fits nicely into their curriculum.

The cornerstone of this event is that students learn the dances in class, and then become the teacher/partner to their parent.  To them, it is a delightful role-reversal!  Student-lead teaching becomes the organizational tool that solidifies their learning and perhaps as important, helps you manage a very large crowd of people!  I think you’ll find this technique surprisingly effective.  Inform students right from the start that along with your guided calls of the dance moves, they will be the teacher to their parent.  Encourage them to model your language and teaching techniques.

Working with the P.E. teacher, we agreed that in order for the night to feel like a legitimate event we should plan for it to be one hour in length; this would include one or two breaks for drinks, the restroom, and of course socializing.  Between music and P.E. class, ten dances of varying degrees of difficulty according to grade level were taught.  You can consider doing this as a unit, or as a continuing component you teach throughout the year.  Surprisingly, your older students will enjoy revisiting the basic dances you use in Kindergarten to introduce folk dancing, and vice versa. Encourage the older kids to give their parent a break and to ask a younger student to partner with them for one of the dances, like, “Rakes of Mallow.”  All of the dance music comes from recordings so that they can be practiced during music class.

LOGISTICS

Choose a space that has a sound system that you think can comfortably accommodate the dance.  I felt our gymnasium was too large, but the carpeted auditorium was just right.  It has an easily accessible sound system that can play CD’s, adequate restrooms and water fountains, and overlooking side rooms that serve as areas for sitting, food and drink concessions, and socializing.  We closed the curtain on stage, cleared the floor of the chairs, and made sure to have one microphone available for me to call out the dances.  In our auditorium, there are side classrooms with walls open up to the main floor.  We used that area for food and drinks brought in voluntarily by parents.

Plan to prepare ten dances. Groups of students should be very familiar with all 10 so that they are the leaders for the event. This is the perfect opportunity for your students to be the teacher.

Prior to the event, try to figure out how many couples per circle or line will work best with the counts in the music.  Often 8 couples per formation is best for the music so that each move can cycle through. Encourage multiple circles or lines.

If possible tape the floor to help get the lines or circles in shape.  If you’re feeling extra controlling, designate taped areas according to grade level.

Music along with FOOD always brings people together and lifts their spirits!  Collaborate with your parent’s association or room parents to bring anything from a potluck dinner to just desserts. Perhaps it’s the end of the year and your administration is feeling extra generous and will splurge on pizza if the parents association will supply paper plates and drinks.

EXPAND UPON THIS IDEA

This event has a celebratory feeling and as such, our school has recognized that the best time of year to plan it is either mid-October when we see it as a social icebreaker that welcomes our new and returning families or we plan the dance in May as an end-of-the-year celebration.  You might consider offering the suggestion to your colleagues and administration that this event be tagged to some other event at your school: a student art show, a fundraising event, or a “Celebration of Learning” display of students’ work.

This is a successful model for organizing a family folk dance night in Jenifer’s school. Please share your family or community folk dance ideas and suggestions in the comments below so we can all have a family folk dance night and ‘Make it Work”.

Children Dancing in a Ring by Hans Thoma, 1872

The post Making It Work: Family Folk Dance Night first appeared on Teaching With Orff.