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.

Filtering by Category: Play-Along Videos

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. Read for more and if you like my resources, please consider buying me a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech

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

Being Thankful/Giving Thanks/Thanksgiving Music Activities

November 20, 2022  /  Amy M. Burns

Need musical activities for early childhood and elementary classes for this shortened week? Take a look at the Being Thankful/Giving Thanks/Thanksgiving Music Activities Wakelet (https://wakelet.com/wake/zeVd8qvk_TuEbRCXzbL4I) and read the blog to see some of the highlights from the Wakelet!

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categories / #elmusedtech, Boomwhackers, Elementary, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Kindergarten, Play-Along Videos, Preschool, Ukulele, Orff
tags / #elmused, #elementarymusicteacher, #Wakelet, #elementarymusicteacherlife, #elementary

October Elementary Music Wakelet: Pumpkins, Corn, and Play-Alongs, Oh My!

October 05, 2022  /  Amy M. Burns

Need an elementary fall-themed video for preschool through grades 4? Or a Halloween-themed video? Rhythm Play-along? Boomwhacker? Song? Games? Look no further! Here is a Wakelet, along with a YouTube webisode and blog to give examples of how they can be used in the classroom this season!

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categories / #edtech, #elmusedtech, Elementary, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Free!, Grade 4, Grade 5, Kindergarten, Preschool, Play-Along Videos
tags / #elmused, #elementarymusicteacher, #free, #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

Higher #elmused Moving Up Song Medley

May 23, 2022  /  Amy M. Burns

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

Countdown to 2022: 5 Free Tech Activities for #Elmused (#3) Google Slides or Seesaw Retrieval Practice or Assessment in Rhythm Literacy

December 29, 2021  /  Amy M. Burns

Here in the Northeast of the States, the holiday started with an outbreak of the Omicron variant of Covid. This caused schools to pivot their current plans and weigh the options of remote learning, concurrent learning, or live learning with more restrictions. This week, to bring us into 2022, I am going to blog and share daily activities that can be used in your adapted #elmused classroom when returning from the holiday break.

#3: Puzzle Rhythm Play-Along Patterns

In November, I created a “Be Thankful” Rhythm Play-Along Activity. This Seesaw and Google Slides Project accompanied the video to serve the purpose of retrieval practice or assessment.

Google Slides: Be Thankful Rhythm Play-Along Retrieval Practice or Assessment

This google slides activity involves a puzzle for the students to solve. Once they solve the puzzle, they are to use the Mote Extension (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mote-voice-notes-feedback/ajphlblkfpppdpkgokiejbjfohfohhmk?hl=en-US) to record themselves performing the rhythm pattern. Once they have completed eight slides, they can press play and perform with the Be Thankful Rhythm Play-Along. Although this video was from Thanksgiving, it can be used throughout the year.

Seesaw: Being Thankful Rhythm Play-Along Retrieval Practice or Assessment

Very similar to the google slides activity, this Seesaw Activity uses the microphone tool to record themselves performing the rhythm pattern that they create from piecing the puzzle together. Once finished, they can press play on the ninth slide to perform all of the rhythm patterns with the rhythm play-along video.

Resources

Google Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/u/1/d/1XWZYsa-Mu7-Qcb7rT3u8h7dWxxDrOzJ0R19dU-nQsPg/copy

Seesaw: https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_activity?share_token=-163i544RUCMX3aV1K7nAg&prompt_id=prompt.a6088603-e514-4177-9e60-d06a771c261e

Check back as we count down to 2022 with #2 tomorrow!


Note: At the 5 min mark I say that google slides is much easier. However, Seesaw is what was supposed to be referenced at that 5 min mark.

categories / #elmusedtech, Assessment, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Kindergarten, Play-Along Videos, Seesaw, Google Slides, Free!
tags / #elmused, #elementarymusicteacherlife, #elementarymusicteacher, #elmused #mused

Trepak from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker: Rhythm Play-Along

December 05, 2021  /  Amy M. Burns

In this play-along video, the students will practice half notes, half rests, quarter notes, and eighth notes in duple meter. This is a great tool for the practice portion of Kodály's prepare/present/practice approach. Here is a link to the process of creating this video using free tools: https://youtu.be/IrEfOhZK-1w

categories / #elmusedtech, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Play-Along Videos, Seesaw
tags / #elementarymusicteacher, #MBE #elmused #elementary

Holiday Rhythm Play-Along Mashup

November 28, 2021  /  Amy M. Burns

Here is a rhythm play-along that includes 4/4 meter, whole, half, eighth, dotted quarter, and quarter notes, as well as fermata, repeats, rolls, and quarter rest. It is a mashup of six holiday songs listed below. Check back for a body percussion play-along to accompany this mashup, and eventually teaching materials. Like my resources? Please consider buying me a coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/elmusedtech.

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

categories / Play-Along Videos, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Free!
tags / #elmused, #edtech, #elementarymusicteacher, #elementarymusicteacherlife, #elmused tech, #elmused #mused

©2024 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.