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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Missed " From Day One to Music Making: 4 Ready-to-Teach First-Week Activities with MusicFirst Elementary?"

August 06, 2026  /  Amy M. Burns

If you missed "From Day One to Music Making: 4 Ready-to-Teach First-Week Activities with MusicFirst Elementary", check it out here!

Pave the way for a successful school year by getting your students making music from the very first day! In this practical webinar, veteran elementary music educator Amy Burns and Elementary Education Sales & Marketing Coordinator Melanie Alexander will share four ready-to-teach activities that take students from moving and playing to creating and composing using MusicFirst Elementary. Each activity is designed specifically for the first week of school, helping you establish classroom routines while engaging students in meaningful music making.

Whether you're brand new to MusicFirst Elementary or looking for fresh back-to-school ideas, you'll discover lessons that are simple to implement, easy to customize, and adaptable for a variety of grade levels. Along the way, you'll also learn how to build positive classroom expectations using the MUSIC acronym and leave with a First Week Survival Kit filled with lesson plans, printable resources, and extension ideas you can use immediately.

Want the survival kit given out in the webinar? Click here!

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MusicFirst Elementary will have a wonderful and major update beginning this week. Many of the updates were shown in this webinar. If you get a chance, check out the new instrument apps (activity #2 in this webinar) and many of the new resources!

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