ideas for the classroom
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Ideas for K-12 Music Teachers and Classroom teachers.

K-12 Resources For Music Educators

These are great resources. I am definitely passing along to our music teacher at our Arts school. Thanks so much! ~ Christine Criscione

LEARN THE FOLLOWING:

STATE SONG | PRESIDENTS SONG | STAR SPANGLED BANNER

Welcome Back First Day of School

NEW TEACHER TRAINING
CLASSROOM MANAGMENT AND DISCIPLINE

NEW TEACHER SURVIVAL KIT

K12 Back to School Ideas for September

NIFTY FIFTY SONG

NIFTY FIFTY HEAR MORE SONG EXAMPLES

FUN SONGS FOR THE CLASSROOM

PATRIOTIC WAR SONGS

PATRIOTIC SONGS AND LYRICS
EVERY CHILD SHOULD LEARN AND KNOW . These pages are intended to be an on-line music library of older songs for personal, scholarly, academic, and classroom purposes. Where possible, the copyright information is in the melody and author lines of the lyric in question.

60'S SOUL MUSIC IS ALL ABOUT HUMAN SYNCRONY
Oral & Aural Tradition is the Heartbeat of Culture
EVOLUTIONARY SCIENCE & CULTURE
Singing Praise for the Unknown Culture Maker.

THE BRAIN IS HARD WIRED FOR MUSIC
#1 -- MUSIC IS LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGE IS MUSIC
Music, Language and Literacy Connections

NURSERY RHYMES

FOLK MUSIC
DO YOU KNOW
THE 84 SONGS?

ncfr

National Children's Folksong Repository

KIDS RECORD THEIR SONG / CHANT - IT'S EASY
Integrate Literacy, Music and Technology - A Cross Curricular, Interdisciplinary, Multi-Cultural Resource. For Music Teachers to support the Classroom teachers and Technology Specialists, who are using the online project that successfully integrates the technology component of this cross curricular, integrated, digital preservation project.

Learn the Science of Music

MUSIC & HISTORY


TEACH HISTORY THROUGH SONG
an excellent resource that will inspire.

FUNK BROTHERS - STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN - 2 TIME GRAMMY WINNERS, ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD - SEE THE PICS

FUNK BROTHER WEB QUEST
I couldn't be happier to announce that my friends, the Funk Brothers, were celebrated with two grammys at the recent awards show. After years of playing music as the studio band for Motown records in virtual annonmity, they received their long overdue acknowledgement as an intgregal part of rock and roll history. I was proud to be part of the production of the movie about their live's,"Standing In The Shadows of Motown," to help share the importance of this group and motivate students to pursue their dreams I have created the "Funk Brothers Webquest". In addition, if you are here are some books by various Funk Brothers to recommend to your librarian or for developing an intergrated unit of study.

The first keyboard musical instrument and the ancestor of the modern church organ.

Learn to play the musical saw
"Of all my inventions, the GLASS ARMONICA has given me the greatest personal satisfaction." - Ben Franklin

WHAT TO DO WITH OLD RECORD ALBUMS

Issac Stern teaches NY Superintendents the violin

Albert Einstein plays the violin

Historic American Sheet Music Site

DOMINO

Domino Book and Cassette

Children's Songs, Chants, Proverbs, Maps from the American Virgin Islands
Book and Cassette by Karen Ellis ©1990
60 Traditional Children's Songs, Chants, Games, Proverbs, and Culture Collected from the American Virgin Islands. 45 minute Original Live Sound Field Recording Certified # 881999 ©SRu 7- 675 ©1979

MUSIC & SCIENCE

SCIENCE OF MUSIC

SPACE TRAVEL - Mission Control by Carmina Ravosa

THE ELEMENTS SONG
SEEMLESS INTERDISCIPLINARY IDEAS WITH SCIENCE AND MUSIC periodic table, colors, the electromagnetic spectrum, Electricity, Magnetism, Optics, Quantum Mechanics, The Mathematics of Music.

MUSIC THEORY

TEACHING STAFF THEORY GAMES

TREBLE STAFF SLIDE SHOW

MUSIC THEORY ONLINE LESSONS

SHEET MUSIC

SHEET MUSIC downloads

Sheet Music

MuseScore Free music composition & notation software MuseScore is a free cross-platform WYSIWYG music notation program, that offers a cost-effective alternative to professional programs such as Sibelius and Finale.You can print beautifully engraved sheet music or save it as PDF or MIDI file.

Free Music Fonts

A great list of music font links (as well as other music links) is available from Gerd Castan:

and Matthew Hindson

TOOLS

LEARN HOW TO SET UP REAL AUDIO FILES

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES AND ETHICS SURROUNDING MUSIC AND COPYRIGHT LAW?

MUSIC LYRICS FOR EVERY SONG

Music Lyrics for Choir and Voice Teachers

HOW TO GET BOYS TO SING (+ ice-breaker games and songs)

Learn how to broadcast your own Internet Radio Station from school.

MUSIC FROM THE INSIDE OUT Movie
The education program for MUSIC FROM THE INSIDE OUT, designed for both general and music educators, is targeted particularly at schools where funding for music has been reduced or eliminated. Visit the site to find out about the curriculum, which will be available this fall. Also, get information on how you can bring the film to your community with "town hall"-style workshops led by top arts and music educators.

The Philadelphia Orchestra
At the official Web site of The Philadelphia Orchestra find the orchestra's history, information on orchestra radio broadcasts, individual concerts and touring schedule.

Keeping Score
Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas teamed up with PBS the San Francisco Symphony to create the Keeping Score: Revolutions in Music television series. Find multimedia presentations that are meant to accompany and enhance the entire educational and aesthetic experience of the television programs. Currently, there are multimediaprofiles of Stravinskys Rite of Spring, Beethovens Eroica Symphony and the development of Coplands approach to creating an American sound.

Each site features a brief introduction by Thomas, and then visitors are invitedinto the score to follow along as the piece progresses.

STARTING A SCHOOL BAND WITH LITTLE MONEY

FIRST DAY BACK from summer vacation - Welcome Back fun to hear ~ John Denver

TEACHING 8TH GRADERS

PRINT OUT "GOOD TIMES WITH MUSIC AND RHYTHM" for Classroom teachers, Administrators and School Boards

FUN MUSIC QUOTES
more quotes for Teachers and about Technology

SPELLING WORDS LEARN THE SONGS AND LET THE WORDS TEACH YOU

BULLETIN BOARD IDEAS

RESEARCH

MUSIC MAKES YOU SMARTER RESEARCH
Babies, birds, whales and monkeys, have a built-in sense of tone and rhythm, according to a set of six papers on the origin and function of music in the July 2003 edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience. "Music provides a panoramic window through which we can examine the neural organization of complex behaviors that are at the core of human nature." ~ Petr Janata a brain scientist Dartmouth College Hanover, N.H.

EMOTION & MUSIC

RHYTHM SYLLABLES, RHYTHM AND LITERACY

EAR HEALTH AND PROTECTION

MOVEMENT

DANCE

Mary Wigman the Mother of Modern Dance and Traude Schrattencker

DANCE - TEACH HAVA NAGILAH

FOLK DANCE RESOURCES FOR THE PREFORMING ARTS

INSTRUMENTS

About ORFF INSTRUMENTS
What to do with Talented Musical Classroom Teachers who want to use the Orff Instruments without the "music teacher" around.

BACKGROUND MUSIC

The Classical MIDI Archives - Listen to over 4,500 music clips as you use the Internet. These classical excerpts from Back to Zach play in the background as you continue to search on the web.

FREE MUSIC

RadioGarden - The premier online music provider from around the world.

BBC RADIO - listen online

K-12 Resources

Halloween Stories and Music

"Rock journalism is people who can't writeinterviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read."
~ Frank Zappa, musician,1980 (1940-1983)


Thunderstorm Music

For the thunderstorm with body percussion , it works best with a very large group (whole school, etc.).

1st group, rubs palms together in circles (the damp, misty type of rain)

2nd group, snaps fingers, randomly, not in rhythm (rain drops tapping on windows)

3rd group, pats on legs, quickly (steady downpour)

4th group, stomps feet quickly (rain with thunder)

When all 4 are going, have the thunderstorm die down by taking the groups back out, from 4th to 1st.


It doesn't work as well with just a class or two, best used with a whole school :-)

Have you tried a rainstorm with newspaper?

Each child has an open newspaper sheet on floor in front of him/her. They are told to dowhat the teacher does.

Teacher starts out by lightly tapping on the paper, then wrinkling the paper, wadding and crinkling the paper louder and louder, gradually get quieter and quieter with a few isolated "taps" as you end the storm.

Use one child on the timpani and another at the light switch for occasional bursts of thunder and lightning.


Concert Attendence -
Suggestions for Getting the Parents and Kids there

OLD WAY
1) daytime only concerts for elementary concerts which were alwayswell attended by the students, but made it difficult for both parents to attend the concert due to employment conflicts.

NEW WAY
1) have one evening concert per year per grade level so working parents can enjoy their children's performance.

PROCEDURE:
1) concert dates are sent home toall parents regularly in the Newsletter starting in September,
2) establish all of your district concert dates in the spring of the previous school year to avoid potential conflicts)
3) send notices in your school newsletter on the monthly calendar with a corresponding eye-catching article
4) Personally send a letter home with each child I expect to be participating in the upcoming concert with a corresponding reply note printed at the bottom


a) which the parent is asked to detach, fill out and return to you at school with


b) "Yes, my child will be at the concert" or


c) "No, my child cannot participate in the concert due to ( _____) " clearly indicated with


d) their name, child's name, phone number and classroom teacher's name.


5) Finally, send home a last minute reminder with last minute instructions for those parents who actually check their child's school bag after school each day.


ALLIGATOR PIE

I've never written solfege on the computer like this, so hope it makes sense. So, is low so (below the home do).

4/4 ti ti ti ti ta ah / ti ti ti ti ta ah /

do do do do mi--- do do do do so, ---

do do do mi mi do do do do so, ---

ti ti ta ta ta / ti ti ti ti ta ah/


ti ti ti ti ta ta / ti ti ti ti ta (hold) ta

do do do do mi do fa fa fa fa la la


ta ti ti ta ta / ti ti ti ti ta rest

so so so so so so, so, ti ti do

My words are also a bit different from the original poem:

Alligator Pie (x2)

If I don't get some, think I'm gonna die.

Take away the green grass, take away the sky.

But don't take away my Alligator Pie.

Alligator Stew (x2)

If I don't get some, don't know what I"ll do

Take away my furry hat, take away my shoe,

But don't take away my Alligator Stew.

Alligator Soup (x2)

If I don't get some, think I'm gonna droop.

Take away my soccer ball, and my hula hoop

But don't take away my Alligator Soup.

ACCENT ON MUSIC < http://www.accentonmusic.com >

19363 Willamette Dr., #252
West Linn, OR 97068
Toll Free (U.S): 1 800 313 4406
Phone: 503 699 1814
Fax: 503 699 1813


COLUMBUS DAY In fourteen hundred ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

IN 1942 COLUMBUS SAILED THE OCEAN BLUE

Maurice Abravane l was a descendant of Don Isaac Abravanel, born in 1438, who, as finance minister to Queen Esabella of Spain, arranged funding for the first voyage of Christopher Columbus.

TEACH HISTORY THROUGH SONG - ROOTS OF SHANTY MUSIC

Columbus Day So-Mi

Hi all. I've been asked to share this. It is not original, and the author's name is lost at the moment. I used it with K-2 .

Get your coat and hat, There's no time for chat. ti - ti ti - ti ta -x ti - ti ti - ti ta - x (x=rest or clap) or (ti-ta clap) s s m m s s s m m s

Take a trip on a sailing ship, The world cannot be flat! ti - ti ti- tiri ti-ti ti - ti ti - ti ti-ti ta - x s s m mm s s m m s s m m s

Who's on the Nina? (Echo:) I'm on the Nina. ta ti-ti ta ta ta ti-ti ta ta s mm s m s m m s m

Ditto for "Pinta"

Who stowed away on the Santa Maria (Echo:) etc ta ti - ti ta ti-ti ta ti-ti ta ta s m m s m m s m m s m

First I did the Q and the class did the Answer, then I pointed to individual children to give the A, so they had to be ready. Then 3 children stood behind the class on 3 "ships" (I let them pick which one they wanted) and the class had to guess who was who. Lot of fun, and easy to assess bec. they were in groups of 3.

Happy holiday. Sheila in NY