Elementary Music/Music Technology Blog

It has been a nice first month at school. I am enjoying teaching and my students have been a delight. Don’t get me wrong-I have had discipline issues, but that pales in comparison to the “a ha” moments.

Some items that my students created:

1. My Kindergartners arranged and created an accompaniment for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. 
2. My 1st graders performed their first 2-part orffestration.
3. My 3rd graders performed their first 4-part orffestration to the song Long-Legged Sailor.
4. My grades 4-8 band had their first rehearsal and they were thrilled to have their own wikispace this year.

The Kindergartners used Sibelius’s Groovy Music, and grades one and three were recorded using Apple’s GarageBand and the internal microphone.

If you get a chance, please take a listen to their performances. Though they are not perfect, I am thrilled to hear their progress and see the light gleam in their eyes when they listen to their performances on the website!

This week, I had my Kindergartners arrange Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in the proper order. I present them with six picture cards. Two cards have stars, two cards have question marks, one card has a world, and one card has a diamond. Using these cards, the students must arrange the cards in order: Star (Twinkle twinkle little star), question mark (how I wonder what you are), world (Up above the world so high), diamond (like a diamond in the sky), star (Twinkle twinkle little star), and question mark (how I wonder what you are).

Once the students completed the order, I launch Sibelius’s Groovy Shapes on the computer which is connected to the Smart Board. There is a lesson that comes with Shapes titled “Twinkle.grs.” To launch this lesson, you click on create and then songs. From there you click on applications>lesson plans>twinkle.grs. This brings up an empty create screen. I click on the melody circle and four melody circles appear. The circles all sound the various parts of of the Twinkle melody. I mix them up and then the Kindergartners come up to the screen one by one and place them in the correct order. The remaining students will be guided by me to place bass lines, arpeggios, percussion, chords, and bonuses in the song as well as changing the tempo since we were also studying largo and vivace through movement this week. Once each student has had a turn, I play the song. The Kindergartners’ faces light up with joy over the accompaniment that they just created to the Twinkle melody that they arranged in the correct order.

To hear two of Kindergarten classes’ works, please click here.

In previous years, when I have taught my 3rd graders to play the recorder, or my privatemiddle school flute and clarinet students, or my 5th grade instrument class to play woodwinds, I have had to thoroughly explain the importance of practicing. As much as I try, I have had students who become discouraged because they cannot immediately play the instrument well when they can immediately go to chorus and sing or immediately memorize their lines and act on stage. Learning to master an instrument takes a great amount of time, skill, practice, and patience. This year, I have found two items that have been very successful in reaching the students about the importance of practice and helping them to feel success.

1. SmartMusic: SmartMusic is an interactive software program that accompanies students when they practice from their method books or their solos. It has an assessment tool to give immediate feedback when they perform one of their pieces. There are a variety of subscriptions from students subscribing at home for $30 to the teacher subscribing so that it is on his/her computer at school for $130. The students love the assessment portion and enjoy being able to practice with an accompaniment.
2. Michael Phelps: Yes, Michael Phelps. This year, when my 3rd graders were learning to play a piece that had two notes, B and A, they were getting frustrated when they could not master the song after two practice sessions. I then stated to them that Michael Phelps did not just jump into the water and win 8 gold medals, he had to practice and work hard to achieve that. Once I said that, I saw my students’ eyes light up, I heard them say “he’s awesome,” and then they all placed their recorders back in their mouths. They practiced a few more times and successfully played the song. This, in turn, earned them their next “recorder star” that they could place on their recorder strap. When they earned their star, many of them told me that it was the highlight of their week.

What do you do to encourage your students to practice or just to keep going and not give up on their instruments?

One of the items I like about the Kodály methodology is their presentation of musical concepts. When a concept is presented, the teacher teaches it through three stages: Preparation, Presentation, and Practice. For example, if you begin your young students with the pitches so, mi, and la, and you want to introduce the pitch la, your first stage would have a few lessons where the students are singing songs with the pitches so, mi, and la. During the second stage you would present the pitch la through a lesson that involves hand or body signals and the introduction of the word “la.” Finally, the third stage of the concept is presented through lessons that involve practicing the pitch la through singing and placing it on a 3-line staff.

When I want to present the pitch la on a 3-line staff, I can do this in various ways.

1. Floor Staff: I can use my floor staff carpet (though this has 5 lines) or place three pieces of tape on the floor, and have the students place note heads on the staff. However, my concern with this if I would like them to hear the pitches, then I have to perform the notes on the staff with my keyboard or the students have to try to sing the correct pitches. What I really wanted was a 3-line staff that would play the pitches as they placed the notes on it. Therefore, they would hear the correct pitches as they place the notes on the staff correctly.
2. SMART Board: Using the line tool, I can draw 3 lines on the SMART Board. I then use the pen and set it to smiley faces. The students  place the smiley faces on the correct places on the staff for so, mi, and la pitches. The students enjoy this thoroughly. The only concern again, is that I have to play the pitches.
3. Notation Software: Whether you use Finale or Sibelius, you can set the staff up so that there are 3 lines (see below on how to do this). Once you have a 3-line staff, enlarge the screen so that it is at least 300%. This assists the students greatly in correctly placing the notes on the lines or in the spaces.  I like to use this method because the pitches will play as the students place the notes on the staff. Therefore, they can hear and sing back the pitches and determine if they placed the notes correctly on the staff.

To make a 3-line staff in Sibelius: Create a new score using voice as your instrument. Once the staff is on screen, go to House Style>Edit Instruments>Families in Ensembles - Singers>Instruments in family - Voice>Instruments not in ensemble - New Instrument. You will be asked to create a new instrument based on voice, in which you answer yes. Name your new instrument S-M-L. Click on Edit Staff Type>General - Number of staff lines - 3>Gaps between Staff Lines>32. Press Notes and Rests - uncheck Rhythms (stems, dots, ties, rests, etc) to make the notes into note heads. Click OK twice, then Close. You now have to add that “S-M-L” to your score by pressing the letter ‘i’ on your computer’s keyboard, click on Singers>S-M-L>Add to Score>OK. You now have a 3-line staff listed in the instrument S-M-L that you will always have in your library. To be clear, it will play the pitches correctly while the students place the notes on the staff. However, if you want the so-mi-la to be in a major key, then the 3-line staff will be most successful if you use the keys of F or G (no key signature necessary).

To make a 3-line staff in Finale: Start a new file, using vocals, 4/4 time, and key of C. Enlarge the staff to 300% using the % tool. Click on the Staff tool>double-click on the clear box next to the staff>Staff>Other…>Custom Staff>unclick the top and bottom black boxes>Click OK twice. Click on the Simple Entry Palette and your students can now place so, mi and la notes on the 3-line staff in the keys of F and G. Unfortunately, this cannot be done in the freeware, Finale Notepad.

Though the procedures for using notation software will take some time to get used to, if you have used notation software before, then this could be a viable option if you would like your students to hear the pitches as they are placing them on a staff. If you are not using a 3-line staff, then just setting up a new file in a notation software will work well.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Last week, we had our first assembly at school. At FHCDS, we have K-8 school assemblies every G Day (we have a 7-day cycle), so that the entire school can gather as a community. These assemblies consist of our concerts and students’ works; performers from dance companies, opera companies, theater companies, and instrumentalists; and educational assemblies on the environment, various countries, writers, history, and story tellers.

For the first assembly, our 6th through 8th graders were on adventure trips, which meant the assembly would only be for students in K-5. Therefore, I asked our assembly coordinator if I could have a 40-minute sing-along. I invited one of my good friends who is a drummer to come in and accompany me as I lead the students from the piano. I also created a powerpoint (actually a keynote presentation - which is MAC’s version of powerpoint. I like it because it offers better and smoother transitions, among other reasons.) so that students could sing along with me. This first assembly was very successful and the students love it! After they experienced this assembly, they entered my music classroom singing with more enthusiasm than they did the week before.

I usually pick patriotic songs and songs that we have sung in music class. To make sure that I keep the 5th graders interested, I will add a couple of pop tunes. This past year, our school opened a new gymnasium, so I added some sports songs and some fight songs to the curriculum to get the students into the spirit of the new gymnasium (and to keep them singing).

If you would like to view, use, or adapt my powerpoints, please feel free. I have included them as a keynote document (MAC users who own iWork), a pptx document (the most recent version of powerpoint) and a ppt document (the older version of powerpoint). I hope that it encourages you to perform a sing-along with your elementary students.

To download either of the presentations, please click here. Since the files are rather large for this blog, this link will bring you to my home page where you can download them there.

If your school is like mine, you might be asked or required to have a music website that links off the school’s main website. A website is a great way to communicate information to parents and to showcase students’ compositions and performances.

If your school does not have a platform for you to create a website, then you can create a free wikispace at wikispaces.com to serve as your website, or even to have as a music class wikispace where students contribute their works, opinions, and homework assignments.

Some items that can be added to your music website:

• Concert Calendar
• Concert Dress Code
• Students’ Compositions
• National and/or State Standards
• Recordings of Students’ Improvisations or Performances (I tend to stay away from music that is copyrighted)
• Your Curriculum
• Grading Rubrics
• Monthly Music Newsletter
• Assignments for Music Class
• Blog of the music teacher asking musical questions and the music students answering them (this depends on the age of the students)
• Contact Information - your email address
• Your bio so that parents know a little bit about you
• Music Field Trip Information and Forms
• Classroom Rules or Expectations
• Pictures of Concerts - Check with the school if you are allowed to post pictures of your students

Some examples of music websites (I found the first three on the MENC Discussion Board and they are wonderful):

• http://woodstown.org/~nowmos.c/ - Christine is a music teacher in Southern NJ. I had the pleasure of viewing her in action last year and she has an excellent music program. Her website is nicely organized and very thorough.
• http://vandaliabutlerschools.org/helke/music.htm - Wonderful information for parents so they know what their children are learning in music and what is expected of them.
• http://schools.portnet.k12.ny.us/~afriedman/ - This website is beautifully set up! Just take a look at it!
• http://musicmusic.musiced.net/ - Jean Fadiga’s blog for her piano/theory course. Jean is the TI:ME MD Chapter President. She learned how to create a blog in her music class in a TI:ME 1B course that I taught this summer.
• http://msumusictech.wikispaces.com/Day+3 - When I taught Technology for Music Teachers at Montclair State this summer, the participants created these wikispaces for their music classes. Though these are works in progress, they were excellent beginnings.

Need music graphics for your website? Then look no further. http://www.musicgraphicsgalore.net/ has a collection of free musical icons, clipart, graphics, backgrounds, and images.

I would show you my school’s music website, but it is password protected. Therefore, I showcase most of my students’ works on my own website: http://www.amymburns.com so the parents can view and hear them easily.

What is on your school’s music website?

Apple introduced the newest version of the iPod Touch yesterday. Quoted as the “funnest” iPod ever, it is now thinner, has the volume controls on the side as opposed to going through the menu on the screen, and has a built-in speaker, which as Jobs stated is “for casual listening.” The volume controls and speaker are in the same location that you would find them on the iPhone. The prices for the 2nd generation of iPod Touch are nice: 8GB for $229, 16 GB for $299, and 32GB $399.

One item for the iPod Touch that intrigued me: Apple’s In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic. I had been a huge fan of the microphones that attached to the iPod Video, iPod Classic, and iPod Nano. These microphones have been made by XtremeMac, Griffin, and Belkin. However, since the introduction of the iPod Touch last October, XtremeMac discontinued their microphones and Griffin and Belkin’s microphones would work well for the previous generation of iPods, but were questionable with the newest generations, especially the iPod Touch. Therefore, I was recommending the iPod Classic for music classrooms because you could put your curriculum CD collections on it and successfully attach a microphone to turn your iPod into a recording device, which in turn, made it a wonderful assessment tool. Once the application store debuted, the iPod Touch became more useful in the classroom because you could download musical instrument applications for your iPod Touch and turn it into an instrument for your students to use (your responsible students, that is). But, I still could not find an application for an iPod Touch microphone. I found ones for the iPhone, but not the iPod Touch. (If I am mistaken, please write me and let me know!)

The Apple’s In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic seems to be the solution that I have been looking for. The website states that this device will give you a better listening experience and will allow you to record via the microphone. If the microphone has as decent a sound as the XtremeMac Micromemo did, then the $79 price is a nice one. The con is that the microphone will only work with the newest iPod Touch (2nd generation) as well as the newest iPod Nano (4G) and the 120GB iPod Classic. Therefore, if you bought your iPod Touch before this month, you could be out of luck.

The In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic will be coming soon. I am anxious to see if this will be a good assessment tool for the music classroom.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

As I stayed after school today to begin planning the concert music for the December Concert, I reflected back to the first concert that I prepared. This occurred back when I was an undergrad and I was performing my student teaching at a nearby high school. The band concert came off well and I learned a great deal from the cooperating teacher.

As I have been teaching every year for over a decade, I have learned a few things about concerts that you cannot be taught in undergrad or graduate school and you do not think about until they happen to you.

We all learn about how to prep our students for a concert. This list contains the other items besides preparation that have happened to me with PreK-3 general music/choral.

1. Risers - Part I: Some students are bound to fall off of the them. Try to put your wiggly students towards the front of the riser. I never tell the students that they are in height order. I tell them that they are in singing order.
2. Risers - Part II: On the day of the concert, find out from the nurse who has been in his/her office in the past two days. If there are students who have been in for vomiting, headaches, or nausea, and they appear at the concert, put them on the first two risers in case they faint. If they have a temperature, encourage the parents to take them home because performing under the hot stage lights is bound to make them more ill.
3. CD Accompaniments - Part I: They are wonderful because you can lead your students directly in front of them. However, there are times when the students get off with the canned accompaniments. One remedy to this is to make sure that you have a monitor connected so that the students can hear the accompaniments. Many times the speakers are in front of the students facing away from them and they cannot hear the accompaniments accurately. Therefore, by having a monitor that faces the students, they are more likely to stay with the accompaniment.
4. CD Accompaniments - Part II: If the students do get off with the accompaniments, I will put myself in front of some of my stronger singers and begin singing to them so that they get back on with the accompaniment. Once the stronger singers get back on, then the other students will follow lead.
5. iPod/MP3Players - If you compress your CD accompaniments to MP3 files so that you can play them from your iPod, then the MP3 file will sound different over a large sound system as opposed to what you hear through the ear buds. If you can keep from compressing your files to MP3, they will sound better when played over a large sound system.
6. If you are stuck behind the piano - With younger student, it is difficult to lead them in singing from behind the piano. Assign a couple of your strong singers to stand in front of the rest to lead them.
7. The Screamer - In elementary, we all have one. Although I can calm the screamer into a singer in my classroom, the lights, riser, and the presence of his/her parents leads the singer back into the screamer. I love enthusiastic students and I do not want to crush that energy as they are learning throughout the elementary years. Therefore, I will place my screamer away from a hanging or floor mic.
8. The Flasher - Young students can be very shy in front of an audience, and some can…well…be so shy that they use their dresses to cover their faces…and end up flashing the entire audience. This fact was an educational way to encourage the school to go to classroom “informances” for very young students. Informances are when the young students sing concerts in their classrooms and only the parents come to see them perform. Therefore, they are no longer in front of a large audience and they are in an environment that is considered safe to them. If you cannot convince a move towards informances, then try not to bring attention to your little flasher.
9. The Crier - This tends to also be a very young student. If this happens at a concert, I will bring the crier to his/her teacher as opposed to his/her parent. The teacher usually can calm the crier and encourage the child to rejoin the concert.
10. The Waver - There are numerous wavers on the riser and as much as I try to instill concert etiquette in them and their parents, there will always be the waver. Some children need the reassurance of seeing and acknowledging their parents before they perform. And, I can understand that with the younger students. Therefore, I have the students on their riser spots 10 minutes before the concert begins. The parents will then take multiple pictures, wave numerous times, and yell “HI” at their children before the concert even begins.
11. The Wanderer - The wanderer is the student who wanders somewhere else once the concert ends because the parents– who are picking the students up right after the performance ends–could not get to their child. The wanderer again tends to be a younger student. Therefore, when our concerts end, the elementary students go back to their classrooms with their classroom teachers and the parents pick them up from there so that there is no confusion and the classroom teacher can keep track of all of them.

This is my list that I have compiled over the years. What items are on your list for elementary music concerts? Please leave a comment and share!

I took a week off from blogging so that the Music Education Carnival could be the 1st blog and so that I could get back into teaching my elementary students.

If you have missed the last two TI:ME NJ In-Service days, then I highly recommend that you attend this one! The conference will be sponsored by Sibelius and SoundTree. Our keynote speaker is none other than our TI:ME NJ past-president, Dr. Jim Frankel! I have attended many of Jim’s sessions, and I can tell you that his sessions are well-researched, knowledgeable, fun (he is a funny guy!), professional, and absolutely excellent. Every time I attend one of his sessions on podcasting, internet resources, copyright, or other numerous technology sessions that he has held, I learn something new.

Our current TI:ME NJ President, Dr. Rick Dammers, is hosting our 3rd annual conference on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm at the Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ. I thank Rick for keeping this annual conference active. It is a great and educational way to spend a day!

To register for the conference, please send the following information to dammers@rowan.edu

Name:

School Name & Address:

School Phone:

Home Address:

Home Phone:

Preferred Email Address:

Registration for TI:ME Members is $25, and Non-Member registration is $40. Please make all checks payable to “Rowan University”. Payment should be mailed to NJ TI:ME, c/o Rick Dammers, Wilson Hall- Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro, NJ 08028.

The schedule of the conference will be available shortly.

Hope to see you there!

  Welcome to the 3rd edition of the Music Education Blog Carnival! I am thrilled and honored to host the carnival this month. As you savor the end of the Holiday Weekend, I encourage you to read through all of these blogs. These articles below will definitely inspire and educate you as you begin the school year.

I divided the blogs into two categories: Music Education and Music Technology Reflections and Resources and Tech Tools for the Music Classroom.

Music Education and Music Technology Reflections:

These articles make you think about the current status of music education. You will read about what educators like about music education, what can be improved, and the lessons learned from watching others achieve success through hard work. I hope that you find these articles thought-provoking and inspirational. These articles are posted in alphabetical order by author.

1. Amy M. Burns: “Top 10 Reasons I Like Teaching Elementary General Music” from Elementary Music/Music Technology.
2. Eugene Cantera: “1, 2, 3 and the beat goes on….!” from Discover, Learn, Play.
3. Nancy Flanagan: “FIVE THINGS I’D CHANGE IN MUSIC EDUCATION” from Teacher in a Strange Land.
   
4. Patricia Gavins, submitted by Sarah Scrafford: “Open Courseware v. Online Universities: Is Self Study Right for You?” from Online Universities.com.
5. Paul Heingarten: “Private Lessons are Important” from Music and Band.
6. Joel: “New Classroom Rule: Don’t Talk To Me” from So You Want To Teach?
7. Heather Johnson: “The Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing” from VARC Blog.
8. Miles Moen: “The Necessities of Life » Pandora.com” from The Necessities of Life.
9. Graham Rutherford: “Do You Really Want a Record Deal?” from Music Business Strategies.
10. Travis J. Weller: “Lessons learned from Michael Phelps” from Composing Like Mad.
11. Thomas J. West: “Who’s Running This Show? The Body/Mind Ego and How It Affects Your Results” from Thomas J. West Music.
12. Theresa White: “When Technology Blocks Technology” from Education in Music.

Resources and Tech Tolls for the Music Classroom:

These articles have some excellent solutions, links, and ground-breaking ideas for music education and the music classroom. I highly recommend reading all of the articles because you will find at least one item that you can utilize in your classroom. These articles are also listed in alphabetical order by author.

1. David French: “Interactive Internet links for Primary and Secondary Music” from Tanbur Music Education Links.
2. Richard McCready: “Is there a Garage Band for PC?” from Tech Toys and Tunes .
3. Joe Pisano “Out Of The Box, Connecting The Audience, Performers, And Composers Through Skype -Part 1” from Music, Technology and Education: Mustech.net .
4. Erinn Wrobel “Teaching with Video Game Music” from Notes from the Mitten.

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The Music Blog Carnival was created and is maintained by Dr. J. Pisano of MusTech.net and Joel of SoYouWantToTeach.com in order to promote the great works being done by Music Education Bloggers across the Internet.

The Music Education Blog Carnival is published on the 1st of every month and is a recognized member of the communities of blogs indexed by BlogCarnival.com. All writings submitted to the Music Education Blog Carnival are examined to ensure that they are valid, interesting, and related to our discussion topic(s).

Previous Editions of the Music Education Blog Carnival:

1st Music Education Carnival Edition:
July, 2008 at http://soyouwanttoteach.com

2nd Music Education Carnival Edition:
August, 2008 at http://mustech.net

I just found out that the October Edition of the Music Education Blog Carnival will now be hosted by Nancy Flanagan, who wrote the excellent post “FIVE THINGS I’D CHANGE IN MUSIC EDUCATION”, at Teacher in a Strange Land.

The next edition will happen on October 1st. Please submit your blog article to the next edition by using our carnival submission form.