Book Creator is a web-based app that gives your students the opportunity to create ebooks using traditional and digital methods. In this case, we read the story by Cronin and Lewin, Click, Clack, Boo! This popular story is about how Farmer Brown does not like Halloween and tried to sleep through the evening so he does not have to listen to the sounds and see the Jack-o’-Lanterns. However, the barn animals have a different idea and decide to throw a party in the barn.
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What happens when you can use Zoomerang to create quick boomwhacker snippets? Currently, a work-in-progress, hopefully by the end of the week, I will find out!
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Need an elementary fall-themed video for preschool through grades 4? Or a Halloween-themed video? Rhythm Play-along? Boomwhacker? Song? Games? Look no further! Here is a Wakelet, along with a YouTube webisode and blog to give examples of how they can be used in the classroom this season!
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The practice of the steady beat in early childhood is so important. Rhythm can help students with their language skills, as well as their gross- and fine-motor skills. Using a play-along video is a great way to have young children practice and perform the steady beat.
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It is the start of a new school year here in NJ and I am looking at a song that will describe the feeling of starting a school year with a more normal feel. I chose the Lego Movie’s Everything is AWESOME by Tagan and Sara featuring The Lonely Island. Here is a rhythm play-along to the song.
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Hats off to the elementary music educators who create the most decorative spaces and then take it a step further to create TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube shorts showing the process of getting their rooms ready for the first day of school. I marvel at their talent and I tried to do the same as my oldest daughter and I created the music bulletin board outside of the music room.
When it comes to me and supplies to use for creating bulletin boards, the items win. Thank goodness for my oldest daughter who saved the day by finding this simple, yet very inspirational board to emulate.
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These tips might be new or a refresher for you, but they are good tips for those using YouTube in the classroom. Plus, if you cannot use YouTube in the classroom, there is some additional information in these tips to give suggestions for when you cannot use YouTube in the music classroom.
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It was another inspiring day at the New Jersey Association for Independent Schools (NJAIS) Innovation and Collaboration Conference! There were thought-provoking sessions and a wonderful keynote address. Here are my takeaways from Day 2, how some can be implemented personally and how some can be implemented in elementary music.
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The New Jersey Association for Independent Schools (NJAIS) held their annual Innovation and Collaboration Conference live, after having virtual conferences for the past couple of years. It was so wonderful to be back together in-person and to learn how educators are using technology in ways that focus on innovation and collaboration.
When I first attended this conference back in 2017, I left inspired. Jaime Casap, who at the time was a Google Education Evangelist, was one of the keynote speakers and he spoke about the fact that our current generation does not understand the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” This was a popular question asked to many of us when we were growing up in the 20th century. Instead, they are asking, “What do I need to learn to solve that problem?” And this leads to collaborating with others to solve problems. His keynote inspired me to use technology in ways of collaborating to make music. This was very successful with students working together using Seesaw and Soundtrap to create music and reflect on it together. This was especially true when the pandemic hit and we had to adopt virtual learning.
The first day of NJAIS’s Innovation and Collaboration Conference proved to be just as inspiring. As I break down some of the sessions I attended, I end each reflection with what the tech tool or concept looks like in an elementary music classroom.
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Though early and resources are not created yet, it is a fun one if you can perform Halloween songs in your #elmused #mused classroom. The video is broken down so you can focus on the portion that fits your teaching style and your students’ learning styles.
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Looking for summer PD where you can learn on your time, at your own pace, and about music creativity? Join us for a course that includes lessons and ideas for Garageband, Soundtrap, and Bandlab.
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This week's installment is a Tech Tip featuring Book Creator (https://bookcreator.com/)! Like my videos and resources? I am proud to say that I am a Book Creator Ambassador as I believe in this product and the way it helps my #elmused students' creativity and confidence. Learn more in this video and check out this blog post with examples.
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This is the third installment of my summer project of creating play-along videos of songs and concepts found in the Kodály and Orff Schulwerk approaches. This week, I feature the Teddy Bear Play-Along video to go with the retrieval practice worksheet (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zN-cwSbWZ_7aS1uhQ97olGHVgWJqUCaE/view?usp=sharing) that I posted earlier this week.
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Tech Tip: Use Flat for Education and Canva to create a station in your classroom, or an interactive worksheet to add to a google classroom or Seesaw Activity, or just as a worksheet for retrieval practice or when you have a sub. This worksheet involves naming the pitches in the song Teddy Bear using Kodály hand signals.
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Throughout the 21-22 school year, I created many “mashup” or medley play-along videos featuring seasonal pop and rock songs. This summer, I made it a goal to create play-along videos and lessons for songs inspired by the Kodály and Orff Schulwerk approaches The first is Lemonade.
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Canva is amazing! It is a one-stop show for finding templates, finding graphics, creating presentations, creating short videos, finding useable images, creating manipulatives, and so much more. This video focuses on the "Tidy Up" feature to assist in making concert programs. I cannot say enough about how great of a tool it is for #elmused educators. Like my videos? Please consider buying me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech
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Check out this lesson using Vivaldi's Spring from The Four Seasons, Movement 1, with kindergartners and creating music to a Rondo Form using https://www.doctormusik.com/apps-and-games/robot-sequencer/. Like my videos? Please consider buying me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech
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I created this Wakelet to assist music educators at this time of year with finding graduation songs that fit their preschoolers, kindergartners, higher elementary grades, and middle schoolers. The Wakelet is divided into four categories:
Below, I highlight songs from each category and how I used them with my students.
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