Resources for School Leaders
Principals and school leaders approach arts education from a wide variety of backgrounds and understandings. Some may have actual professional or amateur experience as musicians, painters, or dancers. They may take an active role in shaping and supervising arts learning in their classrooms, or they may prefer to leave it in the hands of their staff.
In elementary schools, generally speaking, the visual arts are taught by a full-time staff, while music, dance and drama may be taught either by in-school staff or else through a series of visits by a “teaching artist,” who comes through a contracted vendor or partner organization. Decisions about scheduling of classes, purchase of materials, field trips to concert halls, or in-school performances by visiting artists are all made by the school leader.
As part of its effort to support arts education in New York City public schools — including music — the Department of Education recently put together a set of resources to educate school leaders about what kinds of arts education should be happening in their schools. The Arts Tool Kit for School Leaders includes a several components that can be downloaded from the OASP site, and examined. While these resources are not specifically intended for teachers, they provide a lot of valuable information that can help teachers advocate effectively for the arts within their school communities.
The main documents included are copies of each of the Arts Blueprints and their various accompanying wall-charts.
The Learning Walk-Through for the Arts describes what a supervisor should look for as they evaluate the facilities and activities in place for arts learning at a particular site. For music, this might include the kinds of space available for lessons or activities, as well as equipment, instruments, etc.
The Arts Education Manual for School Leaders is the administrators’ complement to the arts Blueprints. It describes all the programs and resources in place to support effective arts instruction.
Finally, the kit includes DVD of a short film called “Quality Arts Education in New York City” that’s meant to assist school leaders in implementing and enriching arts programs in their schools. You can watch it on YouTube.
The ArtsCount Guide for Principals (not included) summarizes the various accountability measures included in the ArtsCount program. Included are the various categories of expenditures for the arts: arts staff, partnerships, professional performances, field trips, transportation, professional development, equipment and/or repairs, per-session activities, and supplies.
Music Websites for Students
Following are selected music sites that are great for children who just want to explore music, symphonies, jazz . . . and have fun.
- Kidzone courtesy of The New York Philharmonic
- Classics for Kids has games, courtesy of Cincinnati Public Radio
- Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra courtesy of Carnegie Hall
- Jazz for Young People courtesy of Jazz at Lincoln Center (Note: requires users to fill out a very elaborate on-line form, before they can access the site.)
- JazzKids courtesy of PBS
- Musicroom courtesy of The Dallas Symphony Orchestra
- Playmusic courtesy of American Symphony Orchestras
- Creating Music courtesy of Dr. Morton Subotnick
- World Music Playground courtesy of Putumayo Music
- Arts Alive Music courtesy of National Arts Centre of Canada
- Sphinxkids courtesy of Sphinx Organization (Building Diversity in Classical Music)
- Music Flashcards (not games) for drilling in concepts of theory, courtesy of Dr. Floyd Richmond, at West Chester Univ., PA.
- SFSKids courtesy of The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
Music Technology
Music technology applications in elementary school can include notation software, software for learning, and the hardware and software used to record and reproduce children’s musical performances.
Notation Software
Various companies make software for music composition and notation, that allow users to print and share professional-looking charts or song sheets.
Finale
Recording
Recording children’s singing or musical performance can be a powerful teaching tool. There are basically three ways to do this:
- use an old-fashioned cassette player/recorder with a microphone.
- use a digital recorder such as a mini-disk or hard-drive audio recorder, with an external microphone or one that’s built in.
- use a classroom computer or laptop with appropriate software, such as an i-Mac with Garageband.
Garageband is Apple’s software that allows users to record and produce a song, using either live instruments and voices or by combining pre-recorded “loops” of various instrumental sounds in a layered composition. Quality is good, ease of use is not-so-good.
Garageband is part of the standard “i-Life” package of software on Mac computers found in many schools. Since these classroom desktops and laptops have built-in microphones, teachers willing to spend some time exploring and learning have the ability to record student performances and even burn a CD or post the performance on a school website. However, the basic functions require a little patient study. The Apple store in Manhattan offers free classes in using Garageband.
Learning Software
The choices for software that supports music learning are extensive. There is some question whether time spent interacting with a computer is as valuable as time spent singing or playing music or listening to recordings or live performances. One exception may be the Clearvue line of music appreciation DVDs, CDs and videos.
MusicAce by Harmonic Vision.
Juilliard Music Adventure (Rhythm & Melody) by Tom Snyder.
Essentials of Music Theory by Alfred Publishing.
GNU Solfege is a free software program written to help people do ear training: it includes exercises to train chords, intervals, scales, rhythms and harmonic progressions.
Using a SmartBoard
If you have a music classroom and your school can afford around $1,800 for the equipment, it can be a powerful tool. There are loads of solutions for teaching music on an interactive whiteboard (orSmartBoard) at the “MusTech” Wiki
File-sharing
Downloading audio files from the so-called “peer-to-peer” networks such as Limewire and similar sites is illegal and represents an infringement of the rights of the artist whose song is acquired. ASCAP, the professional body that protects the rights of composers and publishers, has a strong position on the issue. With the Music Educators National Conference, ASCAP has developed a curriculum program (Creativity in the Classroom) to teach children about their own place in a creative community that includes creators, consumers and legal copyright.
According to ASCAP’s definition of fair use, there is no allowance for a teacher to download a file of a copyrighted song or reproduce lyric sheets for use in a classroom setting.
Resources
Music Education Technology is a magazine that offers free resources and lesson plans.
Technology Institute for Music Educators (TI:ME) has extensive web resources.
The NYC Department of Education has extensive resources to support instructional uses of technology. Contact your regional Office of Instructional Technology to learn about after-school technology professional development (some with per-session).
From Heartbeat to Steady Beat
From Heartbeat to Steady Beat is a summary of research in early childhood music education provided on-line at the MENC website.
It includes articles in such categories as Music & the Unborn Child, Music & the Infant, Music & Young Children, and offers a list of search terms for seeking further studies or looking for specific subjects within the studies listed in the summary. Most of the studies are from the 1980s and 1990s.
Professional Development
Organizations or schools in the NYC area which offer professional development: clinics, workshops, or certification training of relevance to elementary-level music teachers.
Office of Arts and Special Projects (NYC-DOE) sometimes plans day-long clinics during the school year, focusing on the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts.
Music Educators Association of New York City (MEANYC) has short (2-hour) clinics on Saturdays at locations all over NYC.
UFT Music Teachers Committee was dormant for several years, but recently resumed offering a program of full-day Saturday clinics for music teachers, during the year.
Orff and Kodály chapters in NYC sponsor day-long Saturday events in Manhattan, with L.I. Orff workshops at Hofstra University.
Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, has a full program of music education courses on Saturdays.
New Jersey City University has Orff certification classes in July.
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has a certification for early and middle childhood music teachers. NBPTS certification is a rigorous process through which accomplished teachers earn a distinction after completing a course of assessments and portfolio submission. Information about the Music Educators certification and the NBPTS standards for early and middle childhood music can be downloaded as a PDF file.
Books for Music Teachers
The following lists are not at all complete. Most of the following titles are either song collections or texts written for teachers of music. In addition there are trade books that illustrate a traditional song.
Check the on-line catalogs of the NY Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library for availability of these books and others. Typical call numbers for Music Education begin with 372. or 780.
To purchase books, see the mail order companies listed at the bottom of the Purchasing for Schools page. In many cases, clean used copies of texts can be found at very low prices on-line by checking at amazon or another online bookseller.
Song Collections:
Bradford, Louise Larkins. Sing It Yourself: 220 Pentatonic American Folksongs (Alfred Publ., 1978) ISBN: 0882840622.
Choksy, L. & Brummit, D. 120 Singing Games and Dances for Elementary Schools (Prentice-Hall, 1987) ISBN: 013635038001.
Locke, Eleanor G. Sail Away (Boosey & Hawkes, 1988).
Johnson, Richard. Folk Songs North America Sings (1984), dist. by Hal Leonard.
Jones, Bessie and Bess Lomax Hawes. Step it Down (Univ. of Georgia Press, 1987).
Rao, Doreen. We Will Sing (Boosey & Hawkes, 1993).
Kenney, Maureen. Circle Round the Zero (MMB, 1975) ISBN: 0918812089
Erdei, P. & Komlos, K. 150 American Folk Songs to Sing, Read, and Play (9th printing, (Boosey & Hawkes, 1989) ISBN: 0913932043.
Trinka, J. (1996). The Little Black Bull and Other Folk Songs, Singing Games, and Play Parties for Kids of All Ages, Vol. 4 (CD and book), Folk Music Works. ISBN: 1-888895-41-1.
_______. (1989). John, the Rabbit and Other Folk Songs, Singing Games, and Play Parties for Kids of All Ages, Vol. 3 (CD and book). Folk Music Works.
_______. (1988). Bought Me a Cat and Other Folk Songs, Singing Games and Play Parties for Kids of All Ages, Vol. 2 (CD and Book). Folk Music Works.
_______. (1987). My Little Rooster and Other Folk Songs, Singing Games, and Play Parties for Kids of All Ages, Vol. 1 (CD and Book). Folk Music Works. (ISBN for the 4-volume set is 1-888895-04-7.)
Books About Music Teaching:
Choksy, Lois. The Kodály Method I and II (3rd edition, Prentice-Hall,1999).
_______. Teaching Music Effectively in the Elementary School (Prentice Hall, 1991). ISBN 0138927049
Choksy, Lois, Robert M. Abramson, Avon E. Gillespie, and David Woods, Teaching Music in the Twentieth Century (Prentice Hall, 1986). An overview of Orff, Kodály, and Dalcroze.
Eisen, Ann. & Robertson, Lamar. An American Methodology. (Sneaky Snake Pub.,1996) by two Louisiana-based Kodály master teachers.
Forrai, K. Music in Preschool, 2nd edition, translated and adapted by Jean Sinor. (Brisbane: James Ferguson,1998). ISBN: 0958629706.
Frazee, Jane. Discovering Orff (Schott, 1987)
Houlahan, Michael. & Tacka, Phillip. Sound Thinking: Developing Musical Literacy, Vol. I and II. (Boosey and Hawkes, 1995) ISBN: 0913932531, a teacher’s guide for Kodály-based instruction.
Phillips, Ken. Teaching Kids to Sing (Wadsworth, 1996). ISBN 0028717953. Indispensable.
Rozmajzl, Michon, and Boyer, Rene C. Music Fundamentals, Methods, and Materials for the Elementary Classroom Teacher (with audio CD), 4th edition, Allyn & Bacon, 2005) ISBN: 0205449646.
Rozmajzl, Michon, and Castleberry, Rosalie. Rhythm and Melody Concepts: A Sequential Approach for Children (Pencil Point Press, 1995) ISBN: 1881641139.
Shehan-Campbell, Patricia, Carol Scott-Kassner. Music In Childhood, 2nd (Schirmer, 2001).
Steen, Arvida, Exploring Orff, (Schott, 1992)
Swears, Linda. Teaching the Elementary School Chorus (Parker Publ., 1985) ISBN 0138925143
Valerio, Wendy, H., Alison M. Reynolds, Beth M. Bolton, Cynthia C. Taggart, and Edwin E. Gordon. Music Play. (GIA Publications, 1998) Provides a basic understanding of Edwin Gordon’s ideas.
Weikart, Phyllis. Teaching Movement and Dance: A Sequential Approach to Rhythmic Understanding. (5th ed., High Scope, 2003) ISBN 1573791326
Wiggins, Jackie. Teaching for Musical Understanding. (McGraw-Hill, 2001).
Trade Books:
Basal Series (textbooks):
Major textbook publishers have their own graded textbook series for music education, and some teachers find these very useful. Each of the following series has a publisher’s website packed with learning materials, and teachers resources that anyone can access. Click on the title of any of the series listed below, to visit those sites.
Spotlight on Music (Macmillan, 2005).
Share the Music (Macmillan, 2003).
Making Music (Silver Burdett Ginn) SBG’s website is especially rich in resources and links of value for music teachers.
Student Performances
The TimeOut/MakeMusicNY festival of public music performances is held each year throughout the city, and offers an opportunity for young performers to appear before an real audience. A participating school could arrange to have a stage set-up outdoors near the school where a chorus or music ensemble could perform in a regular program. Obviously, it takes a great deal of planning to bring your students and their families together at a particular hour on a praticular day, but the pay-off in terms of real-world experience is huge. To register or inquire about the Sunday June 21, 2009 Festival visit the MakeMusicNY site: 
Lesson Planning
Components of an elementary music curriculum or planbook:
- Single lessons
- “Units” or sequences of lessons
- Expected outcomes for the year (by age group or grade)
- Repertoire (performance, listening)
- Resources (available space, materials, time)
- Standards (The Blueprint)
- Assessments (rubrics, assessment formats)
In New York City schools, the first four components are typically determined by the teacher, working alone or with a mentor. Resources depend to a great extent on the physical plant, the budget, and above all on the awareness and commitment of the principal; these can vary widely from one school to another. The standards in place for music teachers in the Department of Education are represented by the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the Blueprint reflects an ideal. The Benchmarks it proposes are a practical guide only if the administration in a particular school can ensure continuity of resources from one school year to the next. In other words: the Blueprint and its benchmarks function at the mercy of decisions about scheduling, staffing, and classroom space (if any).
Another factor that complicates effective teaching and learning in city schools is the rate of “student mobility” (admissions and discharges during the school year) and “stability” (student longevity in the school). For obvious reasons, lesson planning for a highly unstable community requires a certain amount of flexibility.
Skilled planning for teaching elementary-grades music is similar to planning for math or emergent literacy: it involves an on-going sequential process that keeps children continually moving from the known to the unknown.
You can see excellent examples of how this process might unfold in practice by looking at one of the Kodály methodology introductions, in particular Lois Choksy’s The Kodály Method I and II (3rd edition, Prentice-Hall, 1999). Whether the Kodály approach is best-suited for conditions in NYC’s public schools may be debated. Basically, a Kodály program continually prepares children for explicit learning about each melodic or rhythmic concept with lots of experience in singing and playing musical games, so that the new concept has already been internalized, when it is presented. As a result, each lesson in a grade sequence has to include repertoire that can provide that preparation, as well as lots of opportunities for practice, in reading, writing and performing.
General Music Curriculum Framework Document
an interesting guide to planning by Prof. Debra Hadden, University of Kansas (MENC)
Into Music 4 is the music curriculum in the New Zealand Schools. A lot of interesting material can be found and downloaded from their website. Be prepared to explore and be prepared to “translate” into American terms.
Assessment of Music Learning
In 2008-09 the NYCDOE Office of the Arts & Special Projects chose assessment as the focus for its year-long series of professional development events for music teachers. Following the most recent meeting in the series, participants received copies of a 42-page booklet published by Hal Leonard, The Ultimate Music Assessment and Evaluation Kit. The book isn’t an academic discussion of issues in assessing music learning, but provides a lot of examples for teachers who want to explore formal tools for assessing and evaluating their students’ work. There are a lot of examples of rubrics and grade cards, and there’s a fairly up-to-date bibliography of articles from MENC publications, and some things by Howard Gardner.
