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.

#techtiptuesday 5 Things That Are Great About MusicFirst Elementary!

October 01, 2024  /  Amy M. Burns

MusicFirst Elementary, Powered by Charanga, offers a well-rounded curriculum designed specifically for young learners that can be used with one device in the classroom to a room with 1:1 devices. Let’s take a moment to explore five important aspects that contribute to making MusicFirst Elementary (MFE) a wonderful curriculum for young learners:

5. Scope and Sequenced, Spiraled Curriculum

When one launches MFE, they will find a scope and sequenced, spiraled curriculum for grades K-5. There are six units in each grade level with 6 lessons per unit. The concepts that are taught are reinforced in later grades so that students revisit and retrieve the information that they have learned in previous years. There are also curriculum maps, standard alignments, numerous lesson plans, assessment checklists, theory guides, progression guides, and so much more documentation that you can use so you do not have to recreate the wheel and you can give to your administration when asked.

4. Original and Traditional Music

MFE has original and public domain music available in their song-based curriculum. These songs are diverse with performers from around the world recording with original lyrics and instrumentation.

3. Kodály and Orff-Inspired Lessons

MFE listened to their teachers and added Kodály and Orff lessons as requested. You will find Kodály Curriculum Maps, Folk Songs, Orff Activities, and Interactive Kodály Songs to help with teaching.

2. Recorder, Boomwhacker, and Ukulele Resources

Click on the Supplementary Tab within MFE, and you will find resources for recorders, boomwhackers, xylophones, and ukuleles. I have personally gone through each recorder song to create a scope and sequence progression for teaching recorders to grades 3 and 4!

1. Seven Creative Tools Including YuStudio, a Web-Based DAW with Video Scoring Capabilities!

MFE has seven creative tools that you could use with one device projected to a screen, as a station within the lesson, or in a 1:1 classroom with intuitive student logins either integrating into a current learning management system or having MFE create the logins and passwords for the students. Each tool makes it possible for you to teach with just MFE, eliminating any need to subscribe to additional notation and DAW services.

  • NEW! Graphic Score

    A graphic score is a creative method for writing music, using shapes, letters, or pictures to show sounds.

  • Rhythm Grids

    Rhythm Grids are a great tool for music learning. They can be used for warm-ups, teaching new ideas like notation and meter, decoding, and for composing.

  • Quickbeats

    Create your own beats with Quickbeats!

  • YuStudio

    YuStudio is a web-based, award-winning digital audio workstation (DAW) that is easy to use for both students and teachers and can score videos!

  • Music Notepad

    Music Notepad is a useful tool for learning music notation and creating your own songs.

  • Music Explorer

    Interactive tools for over 20 instruments to assist with various musical activities such as pulse games, listening skills, notation introduction, improvisation, and composition.

  • Percussion Writer

    Play and compose with classroom percussion instruments.

Try out MusicFirst Elementary today with a 30-day free trial found here: https://www.musicfirstelementary.com/site/free-trial/

Check out more MFE tutorial videos that deep dive (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO2UG241-fB6Ghg2abkM1PvcB-j1TySq-) into the curriculum or shorter videos (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO2UG241-fB5gvd-38w5B9OYFkiwGgLhZ) to get you started.

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