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.
Join in the fun with this exciting play-along for the song, "Puppy for Hanukkah" written by Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes. Gather your instruments, including C, E, F, and G boomwhackers, tambourines, rhythm sticks, and maracas and shakers, and get ready to play!
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One of my favorite holiday pieces is “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24” by Savatage / Trans-Siberian Orchestra (1995). It is a combination of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” played in the beginning of the song by a solo cello, and then in a round with a flute and guitar. The next part picks up the tempo and is the melody of “Carol of the Bells” or “Shchedryk”, the Ukrainian New Year’s song by Mykola Leontovych, written in 1916. I recently arranged this piece for my school’s Philharmonic, which consists of students in grades 4-8 who play strings, brass, woodwinds, and piano. They had a wonderful time learning to play and perform the song, and it inspired me to create this play-along video. For this video, I edited the song and slowed down the tempo so that it could be successfully performed by elementary and middle school students.
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Read MoreTwo years ago, I created a rhythm play-along and later added a body percussion activity. Due to the varying meters, rhythms, and tempos, I suggest trying it personally before using it in class. This rhythm play-along emphasizes gratitude with a fall theme, incorporating snippets from songs about thankfulness and appreciation.
Read MoreIn the past, I researched Canva's AI tools and had it rewrite the song, Five Little Pumpkins, and turn it into a whimsical tale. It was amusing, to say the least. I had fun using Canva to illustrate and record that tale. Most of this video was produced in Canva, with the recording of the song done in Soundtrap, and the final edits to put the three videos together in Final Cut Pro.
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Though this is not one of my popular rhythm play-along videos, I have to say that it is one of my favorite ones. This is a Halloween-inspired rhythm play-along video with all live, instrumental selections. Taking five familiar live instrumental selections played often around Halloween time, this is a medley rhythm play-along intended for older elementary and middle school music classes. This is one of many play-along videos for the fall. Click like and subscribe, check out other play-along videos, and if you like my resources, please consider donating me a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech
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Get ready to rock with this boomwhacker play-along for older elementary students, featuring the fun tune "I Want Candy" by Berns, Feldman, Goldstein, and Gottehrer, performed by Kidz Bop. This is a perfect jam to bring out during the Halloween season, as it's all about sweet treats and no mention of spooky stuff.
Read MoreThis rhythm play-along medley consists of four popular songs for higher elementary moving up days. The rhythm patterns covered are syncopation, quarter, eighth, whole, dotted quarter, and sixteenth notes, as well as quarter rests.
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This week, Midnight Music is running its "Festival of Free PD" which includes four webinars for anyone to access until Cyber Monday.
Read MoreThe wise folks at MusicFirst Elementary (MFE) Powered by Charanga have crafted a treasure trove of docs to help you get the most out of their program. If you are new to the program, use this video to assist you with getting started!
0:00-:31 Introduction
0:31-1:05 Getting Started with MusicFirst Elementary (wonderful to read as the introduction to the world of MFE)
1:05-1:20 MusicFirst Elementary Summary (Data about MFE to share with administrators, families, etc.)
1:20-1:41 MusicFirst Elementary National Standards Alignment (Showcases how you are meeting each standard at every grade level)
1:41-2:15 MusicFirst Elementary Curriculum Design (Use the principles outlined in this document to enhance your program)
2:15-2:46 Scope and Sequence (You can use this to check the melodic pitch sets and rhythmic values for each grade level)
2:46-3:05 My Workspace: Setting Up Students and Yumu (see the full video here: https://youtu.be/p3f6_XCuqhc?si=9sL9he4RvB2H4LMO )
3:05-3:40 Musical Spotlights (You can use this to find extensions for lessons, outlines for teaching concert music, and as a springboard for other lessons and unit ideas)
3:40-4:11 Social Themes (Many Essential Questions can be found here)
4:11-4:36 Guided Questions Bank: K-5 (Use these as writing prompts and for writing samples in your older elementary music classes)
4:36-4:53 Documentation found at the top of each grade level
4:53-5:28 Learning Objectives and Content by Musical Element
5:28-5:40 Learning Objectives by Activity (In grades 3, 4, and 5, Music Notepad is added) 5:40-5:46 National Standards Alignment (Checklists)
5:46-6:06 Curriculum Map (Download and give to administrators)
6:06-6:29 Musical Progression Guide (Each song is listed by grade level, pitch set, rhythmic value, activity, and more)
6:29-7:40 Assessments (Checklists, Printables, and more)
7:40-8:18 Creative Tools (A brief overview of the documentation included with the creative tools)
8:18-end Conclusion
Check out the 16 videos about everything MusicFirst has to offer and a deep dive into the curriculum and creative tools!
Are you looking to spice up your elementary music class and engage your students more effectively? Have you ever considered integrating technology into your teaching methods? If not, then let me introduce you to Canva, an easy-to-use graphic design tool that can revolutionize your teaching approach. In this blog post and video, we will explore five exciting ways to use Canva for your elementary music class.
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Try it for 30 days: https://www.musicfirst.com/software/musicfirst-elementary
Have you checked out MusicFirst Elementary Powered by Charanga? Check it out here!
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Level up from ChatGPT and try some of these AI tools specifically created for educators! This blog/episode focuses on three AI tools that educators can use to save them a lot of time and energy. Like my resources? Please consider buying me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech
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In this video, I am using Canva's animation tool to record the movement of the snail. This can be used as a play-along video and a sing-along video. You could also use this as an assessment and place it in an LMS platform or Seesaw to share with your students. Like my resources? Please consider buying me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech
Resources: Blog Post:
Seesaw Activity: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_activity?prompt_id=prompt.e995c45f-2425-4b93-a737-abe664e428c4&share_token=b-lfU1JtS6qZy3NrDJH-4g
Snail, Snail: https://kodaly.hnu.edu/song.cfm?id=833
Canva for Education: https://www.canva.com/education/
Read MoreHave you ever needed a one-stop shop of audio, video, image, doc, and converter tools that is web-based, free? Take a look at 123.apps.com!
Like my resources? Please consider buying me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech.
Read MoreIt's Day #4 of my week of #techtips for #music #education, especially #elementarymusicteacherlife! Today's tech tips show some fun presenter tools in Canva that can intuitively be used in the music classroom. Check back for more tech tips this week!
Like my resources? Please consider buying me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech
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Tech Tip #3: Two Sites to Create Musical Dice and Stories
Check out this post to find ways to help your students improvise music and read and perform rhythm patterns!
Like my resources? Please consider buying me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech
Read MoreMany elementary music educators are in the midst of summer break or holiday break, which means relaxing, taking time for themselves, spending time with families, and exploring some new materials and professional development for their return to the school year. I thought I would join in this by having a "Week of Tech Tips!” Check back daily with me this week as my YouTube channel and blog posts will reflect on tech tips for music educators.
Tech Tip Day 1: 🎥 Join Music Educator Amy Burns in a Fun 5-Minute Tour of the MusicFirst Elementary Kindergarten Curriculum! 🎶
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Last month, I was thrilled to be able to present at the ISTE Live23 Conference in Philadelphia, PA. I presented a poster session titled “Making Elementary Cross-Curricular Connections Intuitively With Book Creator”. It was a 90-minute session that explored the following:
“Elementary special subject areas like music, STEAM, and more have numerous cross-curricular connections. However, showcasing those connections to administrators and parents can be challenging. Book Creator gives educators ways to achieve cross-curricular connections and allows students to use multiple modalities to showcase their work.”
Check out the webinar and the blog post. Like my resources? Please consider buying me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech.
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If you are coming to summer break or a holiday break where warm weather might be involved, this play-along will bring your students to break in a fun and educational way. Plus, it celebrates Beach Boy Brian Wilson's birthday on June 20. This is an intuitive play-along for elementary students to perform successfully. The blog post also contains interesting facts and resources to learn more about the artist. #students #artist #elementaryteacher #elmused #elementarymusic
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Image by Unsplash
It is officially summer break and school has ended. For the next week, I am working at our school’s summer camp, which is a very nice camp for elementary grade-level students. For the last two years, I have had a small informance for the parents and caregivers. This year, I am going to have them all culminate with a recorded informance of Eric Litwan’s book, Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. I will have my oldest elementary students perform the song on drums, boomwhackers, xylophones, ukuleles, and classroom instruments. My middle-aged elementary students will act out the book. And my youngest elementary students will perform the sound effects. I am looking forward to seeing this come to fruition!
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