Book: Born to Swing: Lil Hardin Armstrong’s Life in Jazz Author: Mara Rockliff Illustrator: Michele Wood Publisher: Calkins Creek, 2018 ISBN: 978-1-62979-555-3 Whenever I heard the name Armstrong, I always thought of Louis, until I read this book! Lil Hardin was a pianist in The New Orleans Creole Jazz Band playing at the Dreamland in…
Fall Folk Song Refresh
If you’re anything like me, you’re always on the lookout for a folk song gem to use in the classroom. Rotating a song into your repertoire while giving another one a break every once in a while can be refreshing. One of these songs might be just what you’re looking…
Book Review: Soldier Song
This well-written, beautifully illustrated picture book shines a light on the role of music during the Civil War, which helps to illuminate the humanity of the soldiers. Snippets of letters home are included in many page spreads, along with color-coded illustrations that help readers keep track of the positions of…
Book Review – Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band
Book: Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band Author: Kwame Alexander Illustrator: Tim Bowers Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press, 2011 Imagine my excitement when I came across this picture book gem written by the Newbery medal-winning author Kwame Alexander. In the Q&A on his website, he mentioned it only took him two…
The Rewards of a Retreat
I recently spent two weeks at the Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains working on a project. About ten people at a time journey to Hambidge, where the staff and natural surroundings provide the peace and solitude needed to focus. Several nights…
My first book!
If you happened across my blog and wondered why there weren’t any new posts for awhile, it’s probably because I’ve been writing for children. I’m still teaching elementary music full-time, but I’m also pursuing my love of writing. There’s even a book to show for it! And that’s not all….
Teaching Form to the Very Young
Kindergarten is a year of preparation. It’s a year to teach a variety of repertoire and allow students to experience a mixture of songs, games, instruments, folk dances, and other activities. Every concept seems to stem from the idea of same or different: singing vs. speaking, fast vs. slow, loud vs….
Differentiation Part 3 – Recorders
In a few weeks my fifth graders will dust off their recorders and begin using them in music class again. Many of them loved playing recorders in fourth grade, but some of them struggled. We spend the bulk of our time on whole class recorder instruction, but I also offer…
Differentiation part 2
Several years ago I wrote a post titled Differentiation in the Elementary Music Classroom. It was one of my first experiences providing leveled worksheets for my students that would be appropriate for their varying levels. Today’s post takes this a step further. Each time my students complete a worksheet in class, a few…
Effective Stations in Kindergarten
Everyone talks about setting up stations in elementary music classes, but some of the materials I’ve perused don’t seem to further a Kodály curriculum. Since I basically see my students once a week for 50 minutes, I have to be choosy about how we spend our class time. That brings us to the topic of…