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.

Holiday Medley Rhythm Play-Along from 2021 with Downloadable Teaching Manipulatives

November 27, 2022  /  Amy M. Burns

Last year, I created a mashup of popular holiday songs from holidays celebrated in the States during the month of December. This year, I include slides for you to teach the rhythm patterns and musical elements that are found in the play-along.

Musical Elements

The rhythm play-along includes:

  • 4/4 meter

  • Whole notes

  • Half notes

  • Eighth notes

  • Dotted quarter notes

  • Quarter notes

  • Quarter rests

  • Fermatas

  • Repeat signs

  • Rolls

List of Songs

Music:

  • "All I Want for Christmas is You" written by Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff; Performed by Mariah Carey from Merry Christmas (1994) Columbia Records

  • "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" written by Johnny Marks; Performed by LeAnn Rimes from What a Wonderful World (2004) Asylum-CuRB Records

  • "Puppy for Hanukkah" written by Daveed Diggs with William Huston and Jonathan Snipes; Performed by Daveed Diggs (2020) published by Wonderland Music Company

  • “I Have a Little Dreidel,” written by Samuel Goldfarb; Performed by Maccabeats (2018)

  • “Happy Kwanzaa,” Performed by FANOKO SINGERS (2015) CD Baby (on behalf of Fanoko Singers); ASCAP, CD Baby Pro (Publishing), and 2 Music Rights Societies

  • "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine; Performed by Shawn Colvin from Acoustic Christmas (1990)

  • "Blue Christmas" written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson; Performed by Elvis Presley from Elvis's Christmas Album (1964) RCA Victor

Slides for Teaching Manipulatives

The slides shown above can be downloaded to use in your classroom as teaching manipulatives. Ways that they can be used, but are not limited to:

  • Prepare or present the new musical concepts

  • Practice the rhythm patterns found in the song

  • Have students volunteer to demonstrate the pattern using rhythm sticks or body percussion

  • Use the Wheel of Names website to choose a student to perform the pattern they or you choose. This way you can assess their reading and performance abilities for their student learning goals.

Download the slides here as a .zip file.

Check back for more play-along videos this month!

categories / #elmusedtech, Assessment, Elementary, Free!, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Play-Along Videos
tags / #elmused, #elementarymusicteacher, #canva, #free, #playalong

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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.