Have you ever wanted to try more singing games but are stuck in the questions that arise about which ones work well and how to manage students in the midst of games?  And why do we even do these?   Well... here you go!!  Victoria Boler and I sat down for a lengthy conversation around the what, when, where, why, and how of singing games.  Go have a listen to the podcast or watch the video HERE!  Need more?  HERE are all 23 tagged and labeled posts on the blog with singing games - scroll all the way to the bottom and click "Older Posts" when you hav ..read more

Spring is one of my favorite times of year - each morning on my walk I hear birds singing and see rabbits hopping on fresh sprigs of green grass.  And the flowers! Well, if you know me at all, you know how much I love flowers and especially irises.  I have so many flowers planted around my house and particularly love the 20-something varieties of iris I currently have!   This is a perfect rhyme and fingerplay for spring.   Fingerplays are so underrated! Teach them to younger students as a fingerplay but bring them back to teach or reinforce rhythmic elements i ..read more

 See the Dragon Come has long been a favorite song and I finally got around to making two different sets of simple 2-beat building bricks for young students- one cartoon version, one traditional Chinese papercut version.   Click here for the link and note this will force a copy.  Enjoy ..read more

 Most of you know my family is Chinese American- my daughter was born in China and adopted into our family when she was 18 months.  We celebrate Lunar New Year and love this special and festive time of year.   This year is the year of the dragon!  My amazing friend, Melanie Kang, recently published her book, Lions, Lanterns, and Ribbons with Beatin' Path Publications.  It is a delightful book and makes Chinese and Mandarin-language songs accessible, playful, and purposeful.  I was honored to be her editor on the project.  Click on the picture to check ou ..read more

 This is one of those games that is played many ways and has a myriad of concepts to focus on.  I love using this in Kindergarten as a beat game, then later in the year as a rhythm game, and then spiraling it up into first grade as an introduction into La.   For the full slides, please click here and note this will force a copy.  ..read more

 On Wednesdays we have a special schedule and with my first and second graders I have been doing a lot of centers and rotations.  As explained by a classroom teacher, a Center is an activity or station where students choose to go and choose how long they spend at that place.  A Rotation is where all students experience the same things for the same amount of time and rotate through the various activities.  Once introduced, these games and activities are perfect to leave for a sub!  If you are on a mobile device, scroll all the way to the bottom and click, "View Web Vers ..read more

 Crystal Briley is a wonderful friend who also happens to be a gifted music teacher.  Today she shares a lesson for upper elementary to go with the book, Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. At my school in Charlotte, NC we value the motto “arts+academics=success.” We are firm believers that the arts enhance and can totally integrate with the core content. The main theme of the book is that “there is no rose without thorns.”  Over the course of the 9 weeks of study, students used that theme to build upon the following arrangement I wrote with the same title. Because thi ..read more

I have always loved this silly song and my students do, too! This is to the tune of the Dutch spinning song, Sarasponda. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Aimee Pfitzner ? (@aimee_ofortunaorff ..read more

This is part of a series I am doing on TikTok and Instagram - Favorite Canons! The Fruit Canon is one of my absolute favorites - students LOVE this earworm! If you aren't already following on insta and TT check it out - more to come over the next week or two. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Aimee Pfitzner ? (@aimee_ofortunaorff ..read more

I love fingerplays, do you? There are so many different ones and the text is typically rhythmic and short, perfect for working on steady beat, rhythmic division, and expressive elements like dynamics and the four voices. They are also perfect to use with older students to develop ostinato (short, repeating patterns that create harmonic texture) and for improvisation. For the full slide set, click here. Here are some of the slides in the set: Hope you enjoy ..read more