NYC DOE Resources
Teaching of music in NYC schools is supported and directed citywide by the The Office of the Arts and Special Projects, in the Department of Education’s headquarters in Tweed Courthouse on Chambers Street. Dr. Barbara Murray is the Director of Music Education.
The Office of the Arts and Special Projects is set up to support and enhance instructional programs in art, music, dance and theater, in grades preK-12. Each school receives a budget line for arts education based on pupil enrollment. How these funds are spent is determined by the school’s principal, in accordance with established guidelines. During the reorganization of the Department of Education, budgeting is a far more transparent process than it was in the past, and a great deal of information about how schools spend money is available publicly, on-line.
The OASP site is an on-line source for several critically-important documents:
the curriculum guide Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts (it’s a PDF file, heavy in color and graphics: not practical for downloading and printing). Note: The Blueprint “strands” on Music Education are also available in a more practical poster format (both are available for purchase; see below).
Getting the Blueprint:
Your school’s principal can order it through FAMIS: E-Catalog, search under the category “Internal Services” with the following item numbers:
TLAR10032- Music Blueprint Book- $7
TLAR10033- Music Blueprint Poster- $3
Include specific contact information on the purchase order for the delivery of materials. The necessary funds should be scheduled in Object Code 0998. For a free download of the Blueprint in a PDF file, click here.
The DOE’s brief Benchmarks for Music Learning can be examined online — a series of general statements that summarize expectations for children’s learning and abilities in grades 2, 5, 8 and 12.
In addition, the OASP page offers much valuable information on ArtsCount. This is the Department of Education’s program to ensure that arts education is not overlooked in the drive toward accountability in city schools (see post below). Components of this program include the Annual Arts in Schools Report, the Learning Environment Surveys, and Annual Compliance Review. Some of this information can be accessed on each school’s DOE-hosted website, if you click on the link to “Statistics” on the left column.
The OASP site offers links to many other valuable resources including grant sources and activities for students. The Keys to Achievement Grant offers 85% of the cost of an elaborate keyboard lab for elementary schools (click on the word “grant” to see the guidelines).
Learning Support Organizations
Each school is associated with one of the Learning Support Organizations (LSO). Music teachers should seek to contact the arts coordinator for their school’s LSO, and to be aware of any workshops or other LSO initiatives to promote arts education.
Children’s Songs and Games from Ecuador, Mexico, and Puerto Rico
Here’s a 1970 Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage CD (or download) that collects field recordings of children in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Ecuador playing and singing various games and songs. Some of the material will be familiar.
The music was collected and annotated by the late ethnomusicologist Henrietta Yurchenko, a “song-catcher,” scholar, and author of the biography Woody Guthrie: A Mighty Hard Road.
The Folkways collection costs $17 on CD or cassette but just $9 as a download. Click on the cover art for more information.
Purchasing for Schools
Public schools and principals have widely-varying budgets and priorities for spending on arts education. Children’s own voices, hands, and feet are the primary materials in early childhood music. If the school has no space devoted to music learning, it may not make sense to purchase a fleet of keyboards or a full collection of Orff instruments.
But if space and funds are available from year to year, each teacher needs to make choices between spending on a permanent collection of band or percussion instruments, or on concert tickets or visiting artists, or on instruments that the children can take home to learn on, such as soprano recorders.
FAMIS
FAMIS is the online purchasing system used by NYC Department of Education staff to purchase goods and services for their schools. It replaces an older, more awkward system called Fastrack and like Fastrack, it was designed mainly to provide streamlining and greater accountability. Choices are somewhat limited, and sometimes the
prices are actually higher than what you would pay for the same product from a mail-order supply catalog, or on a web-site.
The FAMIS system is not for teachers’ out-of-pocket spending, or for using Teachers Choice funds. However, FAMIS is useful when the school is the purchaser: a teacher can shop in the “E-Catalog” and then provide his or her supervisor with a list of FAMIS item numbers and quantities. The ordering is then done electronically.
Since FAMIS is designed for on-line purchasing, the web-site or “portal” is accessed by a user-ID and a password. Teachers (who will not be approving purchases or actually placing orders) can request access for Inquiry Only, which lets you research items and prices without actually completing a purchase order. To do so, fill out and submit a request for a FAMIS User-ID, signed by your supervisor.
You can also do limited searches in the FAMIS E-Catalog by clicking the icon on the left and then simply entering your Board of Education e-mail address (no User-ID or password).
Using FAMIS
At first, the E-Catalog is a little tricky to navigate. The best way to use it is if you already know what you need. Armed with a product description or brand name, a user can search among the several commodity categories: Textbooks, Computer Software, AudioVisual Media, or General Supplies.
Users can search through the items in the commodity by selecting among the options in a “dropdown” list that includes:
- Item number
- Description
- Vendor number
- Vendor name
- ISBN number (for books)
- Vendor Catalog number
- Manufacturer Name
- Manufacturer’s item number
- Brand / Model,
- Contract number.
After choosing one these descriptors, you type in the specification, and click on the Search button. For some examples see the post about “Finding Things on FAMIS.”
The DOE Office of Purchasing webpage hosts a well-made training module for first time FAMIS users.
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.
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.
Voice: a New York City K-8 charter school
Voice is a new charter school being opened in September 2008 in District 30 in Queens, with the motto “Every child will learn, every child will sing.” The school day runs from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The first year will open with kindergarten and first grade, and then expand each year following.The website includes application instructions for students and for prospective teachers and lots of descriptive material. Click the link below.
About E.S.M.
Elementary School Music: This site is just a means of compiling and sharing some information and web resources for the convenience of people who teach music in New York City’s elementary schools. Clicking on one of the “categories” listed on the right will take you to the links and information.
Technically-speaking, what you’re looking at is a “blog.” However, this isn’t someone’s personal diary about teaching. Elementary School Music is primarily a collection point for information and resources — which is open to inquiries and exchange of ideas by music teachers.
Some visitors may take a moment to submit material or seek advice by “posting” a comment on one of the pages or by sending an e-mail.
- encounter dead links
- see something that needs correcting
- wish to submit content
- you found something useful
please post a comment on the relevant page.
About the compiler: “Since 2000, I’ve taught general music pre-K to 5th grade, at a small school in Region 8 near the Gowanus Expressway in Park Slope. Students come to school with extensive experience as consumers of entertainment — music, video and digital games. In teaching I try to develop their abilities and awareness as producers of music, meaning the sounds should come from them. We don’t listen to CDs of Mozart or Ellington (or Ella Jenkins) as often as I think we should. But we have a lot of singing, playing, moving, and basic music literacy.”
— Pablo Conrad
Lyrics
Yo Quiero music and lyrics by Leonardo Croatto
Yo quiero que a mi me quieran, yo quiero tener un nombre
Yo quiero que a mi me cuiden si me enfermo o estoy triste
Porque yo quiero crecer.
(I want everyone to love me; I want to have a name. I want to be taken care of, if I´m sick or if I´m sad, because I want to grow.)
Yo quiero saberlo todo, yo quiero que a mi me enseñen
Mi familia y mi maestra, a contar y a hacer las letras, y me quiero divertir!
(I want to know everything; I want them to teach me, my family and my teacher, to count and to spell, and I want to have fun!)
A jugar, a cantar, que me enseñen a ser libre y me digan la verdad.
A jugar, a cantar, que me escuchen cuando hablo y que no me hagan llorar.
(To play, to sing… let them teach me to be free, and tell me the truth. To play, to sing… let them listen when I talk, and not make me cry.)
Pero quiero que también todos los niños del mundo
tengan todo lo que quiero pues lo quiero compartir.
(But I also wish for all the kids of the world to have everything I wish for, ‘cause I also want to share it.)
A jugar, a cantar, que tengan todos los niños en el mundo su lugar
Vamos todos a cantar: pa’ que los niños del mundo tengan todos un lugar.
Vamos todos a ayudar todos los niños del mundo merecemos un lugar.
(To play, to sing… let all the kids in the world have their own place
Let´s all sing… for all the kids in the world to have a place.
Let´s all help all the kids in the world: we all deserve a place.)
(source information here)
