Amy M. Burns

Elementary Music Technology and Integration

Amy M. Burns has taught PreK-grade 4 general music for over 25 years at Far Hills Country Day School (FH) (https://www.fhcds.org/). She also teaches grade 5 instrumental class, directs the FH Modern Band, is the Performing Arts Department Manager, and teaches privately in the after-school conservatory, having served as director for over 20 years. She has authored four books and numerous articles on integrating technology into the elementary music classroom. She has presented many sessions on the topic, including four keynote addresses in TX, IN, St. Maarten, and AU. She is the recipient of the 2005 Technology in Music Education (TI:ME) Teacher of the Year, the 2016 New Jersey Music Educators Association (NJMEA) Master Music Teacher, the 2016 Governor’s Leader in Arts Education, the 2017 NJ Nonpublic School Teacher of the Year, and the 2026 NJMEA Distinguished Service Awards. Her most recent publication, Using Technology with Elementary Music Approaches (2020), is available from Oxford University Press (OUP) and Amazon. Burns is also the Community Coordinator for Midnight Music (MMC) at https://midnightmusic.com/, the General Music Chair for NJMEA Board of Directors, and the Elementary Music Consultant for MusicFirst (https://www.musicfirst.com/), a company built by music educators for music educators, dedicated to helping music teachers and their students make the most of technology in the classroom.

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Life Is a Highway — Rhythm Play-Along for Your Elementary Music Class

March 01, 2026  /  Amy M. Burns

Looking for a fun music activity for your youngest learners?
We’ve got a rhythm play-along video that’s perfect for steady beat exploration, literacy, and musical engagement — plus a set of free manipulatives to support your lesson!

📺 Where to Find the Video

You can access the shortened rhythm play-along video for Tom Cochrane's song Life Is a Highway with the performance by Rascal Flatts on YouTube here:
➡️ https://youtu.be/5AH-DFC7yoU

This version is teacher-friendly and designed for elementary musicians. It’s ideal for engaging students in rhythm play, reading, and ensemble skills.

📥 Where to Find the Free Manipulatives

To help your students interact with the music in a hands-on way, free classroom manipulatives — such as rhythm cards, visuals, and a top ten fun facts sheet — are available here:
➡️ https://buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech/extras

These free resources include a PDF and a PowerPoint file. With the PowerPoint file, drag it to your Google Drive, and it will convert it to Google Slides.

🎵 How to Use These in Your Classroom

Here are quick ideas for turning this into a meaningful music-making experience:

  • Steady Beat Warm-Up: Begin with echo clapping the beat from the video.

  • Rhythm Reading + Movement: Use manipulatives as movement stations around the room.

  • Group Performance: Pair students up — one performs rhythm cards while the other keeps steady beat along with the video.

  • Wheel of Names: Use https://wheelofnames.com/ and add your students' names to the wheel. Spin the wheel and the student who the wheel names is the one who performs one of the rhythm patterns for the class. New Bonus: Try the multiple wheels that Wheel of Names just added to name two students at the same time to perform the patterns.

I hope that your students enjoy this play-along video! 🎶✨

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