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!

My Attempt at the Music Bulletin Board Videos!

August 21, 2022  /  Amy M. Burns

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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NJAIS Innovation and Collaboration Conference Day 2

August 10, 2022  /  Amy M. Burns

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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categories / #elmusedtech, Elementary, High School, Middle School, PD
tags / #elmused, #NJAIS, #edtech, #summerpd, #elmused tech

Creating Interactive Activities for Assessment and Creativity

July 31, 2022  /  Amy M. Burns

The pandemic caused more technology to be introduced into every subject area. Some of this technology has a lot of benefits for elementary music classes. Especially those that foster creativity and those that provide assessments.

This week’s episode shows how to use multiple apps that are mostly free to create interactive activities that promote creativity and assessment. Learn how to use Canva, Google Slides, Seesaw, or Interactive Whiteboard apps to create amazing manipulatives, interactive assessments, and creative musical activities.

Resources

Blog: http://amymburns.com/elmusedtech/creativeactivities

Shareable Zip File: Creating Interactive Activities for Assessment and Creativity Zip File

Canva. (2022, March 1). [archive] free media license agreement - CANVA. [Archive] Free Media License Agreement. Retrieved July 31, 2022, from https://www.canva.com/policies/free-media-license-agreement-2022-01-03/

Flat for Education: https://flat.io/edu

Canva for Education: https://www.canva.com/education/

Seesaw: app.seesaw.me

Midnight Music Free Notation Files: https://midnightmusic.com/2013/06/the-big-free-music-notation-image-library/

Mote Extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mote-voice-notes-feedback/ajphlblkfpppdpkgokiejbjfohfohhmk?hl=en-US

Midnight Music Clipart Body Percussion Library: https://midnightmusic.com/2020/12/midnight-musics-body-percussion-clipart-library/

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categories / #elmusedtech, Canva, Free!, Google Slides, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Keynote, Powerpoint, Assessment, Seesaw
tags / #elmused, #elementarymusicteacher, #free, #edtech, #elementarymusicteacherlife, #elmused tech, #mused

We Are Dancing In The Forest Kodály and Orff Schulwerk Inspired Play-Along (Boomwhackers, Percussion, Recorder, and Ukulele) and Manipulatives

July 24, 2022  /  Amy M. Burns

This is the fifth 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 We Are Dancing In The Forest Play-Along (Boomwhackers, Percussion, and Recorder) video.

Each video (found on my YouTube page) will be accompanied by lesson manipulatives. The lesson manipulatives can be found on my Teachers Pay Teachers page starting in September (these free manipulatives are now showing up on my TPT page). Up until then, you can have them for free (as seen below and beginning to show up on my TPT page). This gives you the opportunity to use the video for free to work well with your classroom approach or purchase the lesson that goes along with the video on my TPT page. Either way, the videos are free to use in your classroom.

Google slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1fHjgrbaRpyIiBY6aLjXf0XuRk8G-96EGEj94rr9w2_w/copy

PDF File: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10_7A9PKoapFKYa7ZvIojoJ55OizNpaY9/view?usp=sharing

Seesaw Activity: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_activity?prompt_id=prompt.49b4ebe7-65bd-48d8-802f-a95ce1a54873&share_token=DmycA2--QjqHlOUx6gERkw

YouTube Play-Along Video: https://youtu.be/hCwj2SRlunY

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categories / #elmusedtech, Assessment, Boomwhackers, Google Slides, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 1, Grade 2, Kindergarten, Play-Along Videos, Recorder, Seesaw
tags / #elmused, #elementarymusicteacher, #free, #edtech, #elementarymusicteacherlife

Long-Legged Sailor Play-Along (Boomwhackers, Percussion, and Recorder) and Manipulatives

July 17, 2022  /  Amy M. Burns

This is the fourth 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 Long-Legged Sailor Play-Along (Boomwhackers, Percussion, and Recorder) video.

Each video (found on my YouTube page) will be accompanied by lesson manipulatives. The lesson manipulatives can be found on my Teachers Pay Teachers page starting in September (these free manipulatives are now showing up on my TPT page). Up until then, you can have them for free (as seen below and beginning to show up on my TPT page). This gives you the opportunity to use the video for free to work well with your classroom approach or purchase the lesson that goes along with the video on my TPT page. Either way, the videos are free to use in your classroom.

Here are the resources and blog of the lesson plan:

Blog: http://amymburns.com/elmusedtech/lls

Google Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yZc3cVj3E5cecZ8lBgcx0KsRdEhQlcXopEJMAfvgyXw/copy

Seesaw Activity: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_activity?prompt_id=prompt.ef00279b-e26e-4235-a8ea-94d66cb93e73&share_token=rfB59kRcRnKJQVr-jd5TXQ

PDF of Slides: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aEsBUC9yEyPGZ6fiBMnAagNL_6ZjYV85/view?usp=sharing

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categories / #elmusedtech, Assessment, Google Slides, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Play-Along Videos, Recorder, Boomwhackers
tags / #elmused, #elementarymusicteacher, #free, #edtech, #elementarymusicteacherlife, #elmused tech, #mused

Teddy Bear Play-Along Video and Manipulatives

June 26, 2022  /  Amy M. Burns  /  Source

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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categories / #elmusedtech, Assessment, Canva, Google Slides, Free!, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Kindergarten, MBE, Play-Along Videos, Seesaw
tags / #elmused, #free, #edtech, #elementarymusicteacher, #elementarymusicteacherlife, #elmused tech, #mused, #MBE #elmused #elementary, #elmused #mused

Rhythm Play-Along: Happy Birthday!

May 08, 2022  /  Amy M. Burns

This video is for birthday celebrations if you can celebrate them in your music classroom. This video will cover all of your students' birthdays throughout the school year. Like my videos? Please consider buying me a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech The musical concepts covered are 3-meter, 4-meter, accents, quarter, half, dotted half, whole, and eighth notes, along with triplets.

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categories / #elmusedtech, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Kindergarten, Play-Along Videos
tags / #elmused, #free, #edtech, #elementarymusicteacher, #elementarymusicteacherlife, #elmused tech, #elmused #mused

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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.