ginning of each school year for the stu- dents in grades kindergarten through five and it is a great success. I sing and play piano, while my good friend accompanies me on the drums. However, if you pre- fer not to play live, make a playlist of the songs and have the audience sing along with the recordings. In addition, make a
Bring Your Parent to Music Class:
Every winter, I invite the parents (or relatives) of my students in grades PreK through one to come to music class and experience the class with their child. Dur- ing this class, we sing, perform movement activities, perform on classroom instru- ments, read music, and experience cross- curricular connections. I have been doing this since 2007 and the parents look for- ward to this event every year.
School’s Sound System: Play mu-
sic over the school’s sound system every morning during MIOSM.
Prizes: Through the school’s com- munication system, whether it be a web- site, email, or placing a display by the front door of the school, create a musical trivia game where the students, teachers, and parents can answer questions to win small prizes.
Cross-Curricular Connections To MI- OSM
Reading: One of my favorite activi-
simple powerpoint for the lyrics so that they all can see them and sing along with them.
Performances: If you cannot invite
your community or parents into your classroom for an informance, then record your class performing a musical activ- ity. This could vary from performing an Orff arrangement on Orff instruments, to performing a recorder piece, to perform- ing a movement activity, to the students singing as they accompany themselves on ukuleles. If it is possible, post the re- cording (audio or video) on the school’s website or email or text the parents a link where they can view the video or audio recording.
Community: Along with the sing- along listed above, survey the teachers and community to research their musical backgrounds. Invite them to join in on a musical activity by singing along with the students or accompanying/playing along with their instruments.
MARCH 2016
Writing: Have your students write a poem about music and use GarageBand, SoundTrap, Soundation4Education, or
Incredibox.com to create and accompa- niment for the poem. Give the students guidelines so the poem stays more on the serious side, and video the students creat- ing and performing the musical poem.
Art: Create a coloring sheet about MIOSM and music advocacy for young students to color and take home.
What About Spring Break Or Testing? For many private schools, spring
break occurs during the month of March. For many public schools, standardized tests occur during this month as well. Though March is the official MIOSM, truly any month can be dedicated to mu-
41 & TEMPO
ties from one of the Orff workshops I at- tended, was reading, moving to, acting out, and performing on instruments to Robert Munsch’s book, Mortimer.
sic in our schools. Therefore, pick the month that best works for your curricu- lum and promote it.
Where Can We Get More Ideas?
There are numerous places to find ideas for MIOSM. Here are a few: NAfME website:
http://www.nafme. org/programs/miosm/music-in- our-schools-month-miosm/miosm- activity-ideas/
Facebook Music Teachers Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ musicpln
Facebook I’m a General Music Teacher Group:
https://www.facebook.com/ groups/generalmusic/
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/ Publishers have given out free resources during MIOSM
Teachers Pay Teachers: https://www.
teacherspayteachers.com/
it is
Though every month is MIOSM, wonderful
to see our national
organization promote this month and to bring awareness to music advocacy. To learn more about MIOSM, please check out NAfME’s official website: http://
www.nafme.org/programs/miosm
Amy M. Burns is an elementary music
educator, clinician, author, and musician. She currently works at Far Hills Country Day School (
http://www.fhcds.org) in Far Hills, NJ teaching PreK through Grade 3 general music, grade 5 instrumental music, and grades 4-8 instrumental band.
Resources
Music In Our Schools Month® (MIOSM). (n.d.). Retrieved January 14, 2016, from
http://www.nafme.org/pro- grams/miosm/
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