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 instrument class, directs the FH Philharmonic, is the Performing Arts Department Manager, and teaches privately in the after-school conservatory after being the director for over 20 years. She has authored four books and numerous articles on how to integrate tech 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, and the 2017 NJ Nonpublic School Teacher of the Year Awards. Her most recent publication, Using Technology with Elementary Music Approaches (2020), published by Oxford University Press (OUP) is available from 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.

Looking for my YouTube Channel, or the manipulatives for my Play-Along Videos, click on the social feed buttons below!

Mrs. Burns's Cross-Curricular Activities that Connect Elementary Music Across the Curriculum

1st Grade Composition: Science and Rhythms

The first graders had two geckos in their science class named Fred and Thunder. When they came to music, they created a thinking map (a tree map) that showed the traits of each gecko. The students then chose the rhythms that matched the way that they said the traits. Finally, they placed the rhythms in 2/4 meter patterns and performed them on classroom instruments as the Chameleon accompaniment track to keep the students on beat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViQawYvAvnI)

Science and Music: 1st Grade Bee Unit

One of my goals for this school year was to make more cross-curricular connections with other subjects along with keeping the music curriculum intact. One of my first endeavors was making this connection with first grade science. The first grade science teacher is one of those inspiring teachers who brings in guest scientists and makes her science classroom an educational and fun place to learn.

Read More

Smart Fun Workshop: PreK Studio Experience with Music and STEAM

During the winter months, my school has been hosting “Smart Fun Workshops” for early childhood to elementary students. These occur each Saturday and give students the opportunity to experience STEAM in fun and creative ways. It also gives parents the opportunity to experience this with their children and to be able to have an educational activity to go to on a Saturday morning.

Read More

©2025 amymburns.com

Any info, student examples, pictures, graphics, etc, may be used with permission. Please contact me personally before using any info, student examples, pictures, graphics, etc.