A Timeless Favorite: The Kodaly Method I

 I came across this book while rummaging through a free pile of classroom resources from another school. After searching online, I see this text is sold between $200-300 and that blows my mind to have it at no cost! It's a very valued resource for vocal music education teachers and now that I have completed the book I know why we're paying big bucks for this information. I'd like to mention a variety of lasting points that stuck with me to better inform you of my impressions. The first thing that comes to mind is the attention to detail the author takes in breaking down the teaching practices. Ms. Choksy is always reminding the reader of what needs to be in place before students can perform a musical task. That thoroughness is vital to their success and we know as teachers that kids connect with music when they "get it right" immediately. Little do they realize it takes the craft of a skilled music educator to prepare them for these "aha" moments. Additionally, the lesson format is very clear and easily understood, and as such allows for teachers to easily isolate areas of instruction and how to assess them along the way. 

As I reflect on my notes throughout the book it appears that I'll need to expand my classroom repertoire to best reflect the tonal and rhythmic concepts presented throughout the K-5 levels. Many of the folk songs were unfamiliar to me, and I was surprised to find hidden song gems in the rough. I will admit that a few of them will not be adapted into my  practice due their texts, but thankfully the author provides a variety of songs to use alternatively. There are even resources available for free that help music teachers distinguish between culturally authentic and inauthentic music of our curriculum. For more information you may visit the crowd sourced charts in this link here. Aside from this, the music has me excited to use more F and G major staff activities for grades 1 and 2. The cover picture has me wanting to stop by a craft supply store and purchase felt boards... but for now we'll make due with beat strips and sticks. 

Finally, the description of listening in the general music classroom reaffirms what I've struggled with all these years: it's designed to be taught with daily music instruction. If you see the students once a week and there is limited interaction than you can not have the time to do listening activities to the fullest potential. Music teachers need to identify and prioritize how to use the precious classroom time and for me the answer is active music making every time. I would love to have a more comprehensive program, but for now we have music listening once a month and even that is a challenge. I will absolutely use the suggestions for listening when preparing composer activities from now on. I love to push myself with "new to me" ideas and seeing how they work in my music room. More often than not they are a hit, and it's texts like these that motivate me to mix things up! 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle in the Music Room!

This month I discovered a new text from Diane M. Lange, Recycle your Literature: Combining Orff Schulwerk and Music Learning Theory. You may recognize the author from a previous post from 2018 on combining these pedagogies in the review of Together in Harmony (the yellow cover) book. As I have more exposure to her career, I have been more and more convinced that her experience with teaching elementary music follows a meaningful and diverse sequencing that I am hoping to draw from in my own classroom. 

 I am going to share my thoughts on Part 2 which includes detailed lesson plans of the folk songs organized by grade(K-5). Her catalog of music includes a familiar favorite Are you Sleeping?, a few moderately familiar tunes: Canoe Song, Obwisana, Bow Belinda, and finally some more rare songs including: Postman, Round and Round, and Sandy Land. I really enjoy the variety of the music itself because although these songs are written in a variety of tonalities (Major, Minor, Dorian, Lydian) they are comfortable to sing and accessible to students of all ages. In previous years, I have not sung a wide variety of tonalities with early elementary but as a result of her lessons I can imagine how they can work with grades K-1. 

Another element to be commended are her tips for accommodations based on her experiences with these lessons. I appreciate the foresight of this section because as I teach them for the first time I can prepare for what to expect in any given group of students. The book is written on a topic that many music teachers can relate to, the practicality of recycling music and learning to asses students using a variety of modalities that are within the learning sequence.

A final thought about how I envision this working for me and my students-my plan needs to make sense with my pre-existing literacy methods from being a returning teacher in an established program. With regards to the labels from Music Learning Theory (discrimination and inference) I will instead organize using the stages from First Steps in Music: Tuneful Beatful, and Artful as well as Conversational  the Steps #1-11. I have a self proclaimed eclectic approach which includes many important components of an intentional general music curriculum. 

My hope is that any music teacher who has taken the time to read this will feel comfortable and willing to comment with their experience of recycling literature in General Music, or about how they combine research based programs in their teaching practice.

Musically,

Elia Sophia

Inside the music classroom, teaching the art with heart.

Hello and thank you for joining this conversation of Patricia Bourne's: "Inside the Music Classroom".  This title stood out to me on the music room bookshelf as a resource that I desperately needed in my life, especially as our 2019 school year came to a close. Between the normal insecurities of imposter syndrome and the added job insecurities of teaching in a time of pandemic, these chapters reassured me of why I teach and how I can improve upon it. 

In the first chapter, "Going inside the music classroom" we are faced with a deep sense of responsibility to our students. Bourne suggest we self-evaluate using the 15 P's: Personality, Perspective, Patience, Predisposition,Priorities, Preparation, Passion, Preference, Practice, Prediction, Positive Outlook, Participation, Perseverance, Playfulness, and Professionalism. After completing this exercise I came to the realization that who I am will always be apart of my classroom, and that's great! I don't need to be closed off and in survival mode, instead I can feel grateful to be sharing my time and talents with a vulnerability that is both mature and honest.

Later in the book, Patricia shares her research from various child-development studies to inform and explain how this looks in her practice. In particular, I'd like to share Dr. Jerome Bruner's findings: "Children are capable of learning anything at any Time if presented in a sequential and age appropriate manner". This matched well with my own philosophy of education, which seems to be unique to many mainstream general music pedagogies. The stages to achieve mastery include: Enactive (engaging with new music), Iconic (representing concepts visually) and Symbolic (independence of western notation). I will be referring back to this chapter often as I find myself planning units from now on. I think this approach is so clear cut, and yet it allows for flexibility to adapt for teacher preferences. Like Ms. Bourne, I use long and short-short for quarter and eighth sounds, next I introduce them with beat based pictures and lastly apply numeric count syllables as the students interpret the symbols on their own.

When someone as reputable and experienced as Patricia Bourne tells her readers that she has to repeat mantra's as reminders to be her best teacher-self, it is humbling and reassuring that we are not alone in our journey. Here are a few reminders that I know have shaped my goals for this school year "I am the adult in this situation", "bad days are not personal failures", "slow down and practice patience", and "fine one thousand ways to teach a single concept." My desire is for you all to share your take-aways from this text in the comments below. I truly believe we are blessed to have professional networks that exist online to facilitate meaningful discussion, please do not hesitate to share your classroom tips and tricks!

Musically,

Elia Sophia

Elementary General Music: The Best of MEJ

A thoughtful reflection of a treasured classic

It is an article that will serve me for the rest of my career and present a unique opportunity to my general music students. When I know that something special to me has been researched and useful to others it makes me feel connected to the teacher community both personally and professionally. This particular area of the world has not had as much attention or representation in most curriculum because it is not our native folk traditions. However, without exposure to this area of music education students won't receive the rich musical traditions that can be an incredible exposure for building cultural awareness. Even as an adult I've learned of new Balkan dances that I'd like to try with students identified through the resources posted alongside this article.

The articles within this anthology include publications as early as 1970, surely making this the oldest resource in my studies. Surprisingly, the content is relevant and research based. These two details lend tried and true quality to the topics most relevant for music instruction (Philosophy, Behavior Management, Active Listening, Singing, Movement, Creating, Performance and Co-teaching). I'm blessed to have read this text as a complimentary resource from our school library, and plan to share some notable insights with you all.

One inspiring article impacted me based on its title "Teaching Music through Balkan folk dance". I am of Greek heritage which is often included in the group of countries known as the Balkans. In my childhood, I attended folk dance classes taught by Greek-Americans to educate our church community about these traditions. We would count in irregular meters and learn patterns that emphasized the strong beats as an ensemble. This experience fostered a love of community dance as a social and musical party, especially when we would dance for festivals, holidays and other similar gatherings. There was an accessibility to these dances despite the sophisticated meter and instrumentation. Our experience with music should occasionally include celebration in the elementary classroom, and nothing is more joyous than children dancing!

Although I could continue on and on about the numerous articles, I will leave you with my highest recommendation for finding a local copy to peruse. It's been very exciting to gain perspective from music education forty years ago, and I think you too will see that these articles are timeless and thorough guides to our profession as general music teachers. Wishing you all a safe and relaxing July!

Musically,

Elia Sophia

Focus on the Fundamentals: music in the time of COVID-19

This season of teaching is like none other, and it makes me appreciate the musical opportunities we enjoy at school. I'm thrilled to share what I feel has gone better than expected in my online classroom in hopes that any music teachers who stop by can have some good news!

In general the resources that I use in the physical classroom have changed within the virtual classroom. I recognized after week one that my folk songs and movement activities weren't practical for young students. These are normally priorities for my music students, and now they have been temporarily set aside for other modes of music education. I'll admit that I can't offer students my favorite activities, however let me give you an example that shares the silver lining.

The second week while looking for ways to adapt K-4 music lessons to suit the parameters of my school and community, I realized the need to go with what I know! I started by digging through this blog to reference a post from a few years back called "Link List". It was clear to me that I needed a quality website with music games for students to explore like they would with other non-academic online games. Thankfully, classicsforkids.com has been the site that perfectly suits the fundamental concepts of elementary music, from composer study podcasts to sophisticated interactive theory games.

Now for more good news, on Facebook there was a message from choral composer, Roger Emerson regarding the ideal approach to choral education at this time: "Focus on the Fundamentals!"As soon as I read this post, I was given the confidence and affirmation that I was on the right track with my 5th-8th grades choir. I realized that we were not going to get to rehearse and perform as an ensemble,  but that instead the literacy components would get the time and attention they deserve as a result on the individual school environment. I have collected many freebies over the years and have scanned/uploaded files into my cloud involving concepts of rhythm, solfege, and music vocabulary.

Overall I am content with the educational opportunities I can give to students through our school. Also I want to encourage teachers that one "baton" doesn't fit all in regards to online music education. With that being said, I'm happy to share more of my systems with visitors with specific comments posted here. As usual, let's keep this short enough to be simple, clear and musical!

Mixing Middle Methods: One Choir Teachers Account

In my six years of teaching I have always had repeat materials that are staple lesson resources. Likewise, there have been even more resources that I experiment with and do not repeat in my classroom. The qualifications for the staple curriculum revolve around efficacy and context. I am the first to admit that my experience up until now has been hugely diverse in context; with so many full-time and part-time programs with their different expectations it can be a challenge to approach each year and maintain the same high standards. All this leads me to my point of this post, I promise to keep this productive!

I find that the following have been successful regardless of context: Conversational Solfege Levels 1 and 2, First Steps in Part Singing, First Steps in Music, all of which are attributed to the Feierabend model of elementary and choral music education. Here is methodology which advocates for folk music of the highest caliber and makes it meaningful by strategically emphasizing elements of musicality throughout the students development. John Feierabend has shared his story with the international music education community by leading many workshops based on these books. I have had the most teacher training in this particular methodology which is simply coincidental to the times and places of my previous ten years. All my opportunities for free or low cost professional development have featured these resources, and have been presented by John, Lilly (co-founder) and other licensed instructors.

I feel called to continue training in this methodology and continue my development as a music educator. However, there are plenty of classes which lend themselves for me to supplement these songs and techniques. My most obvious example stems from my time with middle school choir. I have Level 3 Conversational Solfege and understand that it is meant to continue through middle school. However, I haven't had the stability at one program long enough to have student buy-in for folk song education. The repertoire in there is really great with my female students who are typically mature enough to see value in them. Yet, I am simultaneously encourage adolescent males to open up and sing which is a large undertaking for their physical and emotional maturities. What I have done to  provide music literacy at the middle school level is experiment with sight-singing books including: Patterns of Sound Vol 1, Sing on Sight Level 1, and Sight Sing a Song! set 1.

For my conclusion I'd like to share a few results at the mid-way part of the school year. I am pleased with the scaffolding advice I received from Roger Emerson via the choral director forum on Facebook. He encouraged me to continue mixing methodologies as was my hunch after much conflicting advice. Overwhelmingly clear results have been noted in my middle school level choirs as a result of this mixing and matching. My students in grades 5 and 6 can easily read and sing in the keys of C major with occasional success in F and G major. Students in 7 and 8 choir can easily sing and read in C, G and F major with occasional success in B flat major. By limiting the keys in which they are using, I am allowing students to focus more on the elements of music without overwhelming them with range of pitch or theory beyond their range of development. Without these other resources, I suspect these older students (who have not had equal musical foundations) would feel misplaced by the emphasis in a part singing and repertoire based curriculum.

I encourage anyone with more experience in these methodologies to share their results with me in the comment area as I am interested in the bigger picture of music learning outside of my programs.
Thanks for visiting!

Waldorf School Songs

Happy Spring!

This Waldorf website has changed my life for the better as a vocal music teacher. This philosophy of music education embodies all major music approaches into a simple and streamlined format. When you visit the site, you are immediately presented with songs that are described as "rounds"( meaning to sing the same tune at separate start times in an ensemble). Students in my beginning and advanced choirs are being exposed to age appropriate repertoire content in a fun and sequential display. First, they make fantastic warm ups, as they are written in a singable range. Next they are simply notated that students can decode them easily with proper guidance. Lastly they are recorded and accessible for students to hear a piano synthesizer play the melody in a round. For someone like me (a teacher that regularly uses technology) this tool is a free online curriculum source meant for students of all stages in development. I can upload the files to me grade level folders on google drive and pull them up throughout the various units to introduce and reinforce content in an authentic way. This is a worthy site for all to browse: Alphabetical Index of Rounds: School Songs

Musically,
Elia Sophia Reif