KEEPING THE BEAT a Publication of the Great Plains Orff Chapter

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1 KEEPING THE BEAT a Publication of the Great Plains Orff Chapter FROM THE PRESIDENT: Welcome Back From Break I hope everyone had a great 7irst semester. Mine felt like it just 7lew by GPOC had a wonderful semester this fall. We had an awesome Fall Workshop on September 13 th in Lincoln with Victoria Redfearn Cave. Upcoming Events Workshops: 1/10: GPOC Chapter Sharing 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. 2/28: Ben Torres 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. INFO ON PAGES 4-6 In November, a group of teachers from Nebraska were able to attend the AOSA National Conference in Nashville, TN. The conference was 7illed with singing, speaking, playing, and lots of line dancing As always, there were many awesome sessions to go to and wonderful presenters. Congratulations to two invaluable GPOC members, Karen Benson and Shelly Smith. They presented two sessions at conference and did a wonderful job. GPOC is lucky to have you both as part of our chapter. We thank you for your consistent leadership Congratulations are also in order for the GPOC board for being awarded the Chapter of Excellence at conference. We were one of four chapters to get this award. We received this award for meeting our goals, getting all of our paperwork and tax information in correctly, and getting everything turned in on time. This is no easy task Special congratulations go to Nicole Chapman (GPOC Past President) and Kelly Whisinnand (GPOC Treasurer) for all of their hard work last year 1

2 After such a wonderful semester, I am excited for the new one that is about to begin. GPOC has two workshops coming up. The 7irst is the Chapter Sharing at Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church at Q St. in Omaha from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 10 th. Members of our chapter will be presenting lessons using books and lessons from Orff Level III. Then, the amazing Ben Torres will be joining us for our Spring Workshop on Saturday, February 28 th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the University of Nebraska- Omaha. We hope you can all join us for lots of singing, speaking, dancing, and playing Happy New Year Rachel Stevens President, Great Plains Orff Chapter General Music Specialist, Patriot Elementary rachelstevens525@gmail.com The majority of the information and reminders we need to share with GPOC members between newsletters will come through our Facebook page Request to join today Why should you join? -To get information on upcoming workshops and events -To have the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues -To be a part of a supportive online community -To have the opportunity to post questions, comments, and ideas -To share lesson ideas and get opinions of other Orff Schulwerk music educators 2

3 Join the Great Plains Orff Chapter Membership in the Great Plains Orff Chapter offers you: * Advance notification of all upcoming workshops and events * Subscription to "Keeping the Beat," the GPOC newsletter with news, info, lesson plan ideas, arrangements, and ideas for teaching * Advance notification of Orff-related courses * Discounts to selected workshops * GPOC information the whole year through with our website -- members ONLY Facebook Page * A network of like-minded music educators * Special deals on all sorts of things for your classroom. To join or renew your membership, simply contact our Membership Coordinator, Brittany McCleery at brittany.mccleery@gmail.com Last Name Great Plains Orff Chapter Membership Form for Home Address First Name City ( ) State Zip Phone School District School What grade levels/areas do you teach? Do you belong to any other organizations? American Orff Schulwerk Association (AOSA #: ) Org. of American Kodaly Educators National Association of Music Educators Other Do not publish my info in the annual GPOC membership directory. Please return this form to: Brittany McCleery, Membership Coordinator Davenport Circle Omaha, NE

4 Professional Development We don t want you to miss anything that is happening with GPOC this school year. Winter/ Spring 2015 Presenters We are very excited about our remaining presenters for this year. Please join us Saturday, January 10th: GPOC Chapter Sharing. 9am-1pm Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church at Q St. Omaha, Ne, Saturday, February 28th: Ben Torres. 9am-1pm University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) Organizations of Membership Jan. 10th GPOC Sharing Feb. 28th Ben Torres GPOC membership dues 9am-1pm 9am-1pm GPOC and AOSA $15 $40 Free GPOC only $20 $50 Free 4

5 Join us for the 2015 Great Plains Orff Chapter Sharing Session Using Literature in the Music Classroom is as Easy as A. B. C. & more Members will be sharing ways to easily incorporate literature into your classroom, plus so much more You won t want to miss it WHEN? Saturday, January 10th 9am-1pm WHERE? Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church at Q St. Omaha, Ne,

6 MUSIC THROUGH THE DAY with Ben Torres SATURDAY, February 28th, am - 1pm University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) Music Through the Day Using the Orff media of singing, saying, dancing, and playing, experience and explore a variety of engaging activities across grade levels seen throughout the day of a music teacher s daily schedule. Soprano recorders will be incorporated. Ben Torres is in his 11 th year in Richardson ISD and his third year as the K-6 music specialist at Brentfield Elementary in Dallas where he also directs the Brentfield Singers, the Rhythm Cats Orff Ensemble and serves as the JJ Pearce Area Team Leader. The Brentfield Singers was selected as an Invited Elementary Choir and performed at the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Convention in Prior to this, he was the K-6 music specialist at Richland Elementary where he also directed a choir and Orff ensemble, which was selected to perform at the TMEA Convention in 2011, and served as the Berkner Area Team Leader. Ben received his Bachelor s Degree in Music Education from West Texas A&M University in Canyon. He completed his Orff Schulwerk training at SMU and teaches movement in the Orff Schulwerk training course at Trinity University in San Antonio, teaches movement and recorder in the Orff Schulwerk course at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, and other courses in the country. He has also served as the Secretary for the North Texas Chapter of the American Orff- Schulwerk Association (AOSA) and is currently the Chapter Vice-President. 6

7 MEMORIES FROM NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2015 The Nebraska Crew together before and after Opening Ceremonies. The carpet in the hotel was very musical Dancing with the Amidons Shelly and Karen presenting Southern food Line dancing anyone? and friends One of my favorite things was being "Nashville, aka Music City, was the perfect place to learn and share ideas about the creative process of leading my students in singing, speaking, dancing, and playing. It was great to be surrounded by so many teachers who think and teach the way I do - Carolyn Stuwe Quotes about Conference able to collaborate and network with music teachers from around the country and around the world. It was always fun to see the students who performed. - Laura Malcolm 7

8 Snowflake Singing Lesson by Britney McCleery This vocal exploration is great for Primary Grades but my older students enjoying doing this activity from time to time as well. Before the Lesson, Create Coffee-Filter Snowflakes: Fold coffee filters in half several times Cut small sections out of the filter Unfold to reveal a beautiful snowflake Activity: 1. Throw the snowflake filter into the air and let it float down to the ground. As it is floating to the ground sing a descending ooo until the snowflake hits the ground 2. You can continue as a large group or give a snowflake to groups of two. One student throws the snowflake while the other sings it to the ground. Then switch roles. Winter Clock Rondo This song is based on Christmas Clock from the book Holidays and Special Days by Grace C. Nash and Janice Rapley. I changed the lyrics to adapt to a winter program. I like to use this song with my Kindergarten and 1 st Graders to assess SM singing. I also use it to assess playing a steady beat on different instruments. A Section: B Section: 8

9 C Section: D Section: Create a Rondo form (ABACADA) for performance. Possible Extensions: Consider playing a chord bordun (or an ostinato) with the A section. Consider playing non-pitched percussion instruments on the B, C, D Sections. Consider having the students create movements to go with B, C, D Sections. Possible Assessments: Sol/Mi/La Pitch Matching (Primary) Playing Triplets (Secondary) Rondo Form 9

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12 Winter Break is Over Lesson by Rachel Stevens I teach this speech piece to my students in 2 nd, 3 rd, and 4 th grades. Process Speak poem in rhythm while patting the steady beat. The students will catch on quickly. Students join in and speak poem while patting the steady beat. Students can then respond with something they did over break. o I remind my students to think about something fun and not only the gifts they received. o I also encourage my students to respond in rhythm and not just speaking it. This poem gives the students an opportunity to share something they did with others, keeping it musical, short, and simple. 12

13 HELPFUL TIPS Do you have some helpful tips you would like to share? Please David Woods at to enter some tips for the next newsletter Winter break is the most unstructured time for our students. Most families don't get babysitters, so parents take off work or send their children to stay with family members. Our students stay up late, eat more junk food, and don't have a routine. Coming back to school in January can be quite the shift in gears I use the Iirst couple of weeks to review classroom rules and basics, such as mallet technique, singing posture, unpitched percussion technique, and body percussion. To get the students back on track for the rest of the school year, I like to incorporate active singing games or dances to get the kids up and moving. Doing this, helps get the wiggles out and eases the kids back into learning. - Rachel Stevens I've had trouble Iiguring out the best way to create seating arrangements in my classroom. I know I certainly don't want chairs, I've tried having students sit around the circle, Velcro strips on the Iloor, everything I could thing of. This year, I made 4 different colors of 6 various shapes and taped them to the ceiling in 4 rows. Students have an assigned shape they sit directly under. I can then have them get into color groups, shape groups, or rows for group work, and they're not playing with carpet squares or Velcro/tape pieces on the Iloor - Kate Konrad 13

14 GPOC Book Reviews Yoo-Hoo Ladybug by Mem Fox ISBN This I-Spy -like book allows students to find ladybug hidden amongst other things around the house. It is a perfect book for preschool or primary-age students for working on steady beat and S-M. There are a lot of ways to do this activity: I have used it with and without the Orff accompaniment. I have turned it into a game like Lucy Locket where one child hides a stuffed ladybug in the room and another tries to find it. The class sings the song louder when the finder is close and softer when the finder is far away from the ladybug. I have used it as a solo singing game (a la Doggie Doggie Where s Your Bone). One child sits in a chair facing away from the class. Under the chair is the lady bug. Class sings the song while one child is chosen to take the ladybug. After the song is completed, the person in the chair sings Where is the ladybug on S-M. Person with the ladybug sings Here I am. Person in the chair guesses who sang the response. 14

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16 What Do You Do With An Idea? Reviewed by Sara Alswager Author: Kobi Yamada Illustrator: Mae Besom Age Range: 5 & beyond Publisher: Compendium, Inc., February 2014 Printing Details: Hardcover, FSC approved paper, soy ink, 36 pages ISBN: Themes: Inspiration, open-mindedness, creativity, intellectualism, clever and artistic illustrations Review: What Do You Do With An Idea? is nothing more than a children s picture book. However, I can t imagine continuing a career in the arts without knowing it exists. The text will be one of the most vulnerable and intelligent things you ve read in a long time, yet it is easily understood and internalized by children. The theme of the book is very specific: ideas are precious, take care of them. The story events, however, are broad and could enhance many objectives and activities in your classroom. It lends itself well to program usage because you can use vocal pieces that accent the words of the text, instrumental pieces that narrate its events, and movement that demonstrates events or the story s themes. With the book s message of creativity, be prepared to guide and nurture student-generated ideas. Take time to discuss the themes of this book before you use it to create music and movement, it has the ability to change your classroom climate. Summary: The book begins with a boy who has stumbled upon a small golden egg. The egg represents his idea. He is very timid at first, not understanding what it is or its purpose. As he tries to ignore it, the egg follows him. Soon he accepts his idea as a companion. However, its companionship brings challenges. Nourishing the idea takes food, shelter, and hard work. People laugh and don t understand the idea. Changes occur as the boy perseveres, the idea teaches him that it is okay to be different. Soon, the idea takes flight and changes the world. Favorite Quotes: I was afraid that if people saw it, they would laugh at it...and many of them did...but then I realized, what do they really know? This is MY idea, I thought. No one knows it like I do. And it s okay if it s different, and weird, and may be a little crazy. I liked being with my idea. It made me feel more alive, like I could do anything. It encouraged me to think big...and then, to think bigger. It shared its secrets with me. It showed me how to walk on my hands. Because, it said, it is good to have the ability to see things differently. 16

17 Great Plains Orff Chapter Board Members President Vice President Past-President Rachel Stevens Laura Malcolm Nicole Chapman Patriot Elementary K-6 Disney Elementary prek-5 Holling Heights Elementar K-5 Secretary Treasurer Program Chair Kate Konrad Kelly Whisinnand Kristine Wolfe Trumble Park Elementary K-6 Reeder Elementary K-5 Portal Elementary K-6 Webmaster Newsletter Editor Membership Coordinator Sara Alswager David Woods Brittany McCleery Montclair Elementary 2-5 Kooser Elementary K-5 Cather Elementary K-5 Member-at-Large MENC Liaison/Historian Member-at-Large Holly Campbell Carolyn Stuwe Melissa Berke Minne Lusa Elementary K-6 Pine Creek Elementary K-6 University Of Nebraska at Omaha The GPOC Board is here to serve YOU, its members Please contact any of us at any time 17