Book List - Books By John M. Feierabend

It's time to get back to my first love at Melodysoup and Melodysoup LOVES books! 

These book lists are intended as a resource as you seek to stock your music classroom library.  Share the link to a list you like with your librarian or principal.  Or print one out and put it in your purse so you'll have it the next time you are at a book store.    Include one of the lists in your yearly supply request, or give a copy of the list to your PTA.  On the Book List for Music Teachers Page you can either download the PDF, OR if you are looking for an individual title, you can click on the picture and it will take you directly to the book of your choice on Amazon.com. 

To quote from his website,

"Dr. John Feierabend is considered one of the leading authorities on music and movement development in early childhood. He is a Professor of Music and the Director of the Music Education Division at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford and is a past President of the Organization of American Kodály Educators. Dr. Feierabend makes frequent presentations both in the United States and abroad and is the author of over 70 publications."

 

If you are a music teacher, the opportunity to  attend a workshop or lecture by Dr. Feieraband is one that I hope you'll take advantage of.   His website also has a variety of useful resources.  I hope that you will check it out! FeierabendMusic.org

 

 

I haven't had as much time as I would like to study the methods he has developed, so I am in no way claiming to be an expert in his work.  However, I have attended a couple of quick classes at TMEA and I have been able to incorporate several of his children's books into my teaching because they are grounded in American folk music. 

 

As it turns out several of the songs that he has created books for are songs that are part of the song collection we use as part of Education Through Music called Let's Do it Again! .  In fact, one of the things that I like best about Feierabend and my understanding of his methods is that they seem to be in line with what I have been studying for years with the Richards Institute. 

He is probably most well know for his development of his various music curriculums including First Steps in Music for Infants and Toddlers, First Steps in Music for Preschool and Beyond and Conversational Solfege. 

The books that I am listing today were developed by him as part of his First Steps in Music curriculum. 

I own a few of these titles and use them regularly.  However, this book list is one of which several of the titles are still on my wish list.  You may find that there are books on this list that you are unfamiliar with, but that isn't a problem because each book has a link to a digital recording that can be found online for your reference. 

Download Book List 6 - Books Adapted By John M. Feierabend





 

Super Sized Post-it Notes! Orff Instruments and a 4th grade "informance" that is finally taking shape.

I like to learn new things.  I am primarily a singer and as a result, I am generally more comfortable with performances that deal with singing.  Using instruments for performance is something I've been working up to..... Although my Orff training is limited to the classes I took in college (which I only sort of paid attention to) and a workshop here and there AND although I don't claim to have any kind of deep understanding of the work, what I HAVE learned of the Orff approach is fitting in nicely with the way that I already practice my teaching as part of my study with the Richards Institute of Language and Research....Many of my ETM friends from around the country are also great Orff educators, so I'm sure they will let me know if I misunderstand, but as far as I can tell, these philosophies dovetail in their belief that a formal label is only as valid as the experience it represents. Basically, LOTS of experience first, then when labeling is necessary it becomes a simpler matter because the quality of the experience is rich. 

This year as I was developing the idea of our 4th grade "informance" I wanted to use as many folk songs as I could that are a part of the ETM song experience game collection.... But I wanted to stretch my students as well as myself by trying to take the song experience games that we already know and love and adding accompaniment. 

So when I went to TMEA I was on the hunt for good Orff resources.  I wanted resources that would help me find success without a lot of fuss despite my lack of formal Orff training.

Here are some of the resources that I found that I have really enjoyed.   This is probably my favorite... because for me, as someone who doesn't quite think "Orff" ..... it provided a systematic support as we moved through each slide AND because the instructions are on each slide I didn't have to refer back to the teaching manual..... it's all right there. 

Interactive Folksongs by Christi Cary Miller

 

Orff Source Collection This link takes you to the Music in Motion Website.  Volume 2 and Volume 3 are easily available from several sources.... Volume 1 is harder to find online.

While at TMEA I purchased Volume 1 and Volume 2 and am now using arrangements from both volumes to accompany ETM songs.....

Which leads me to my primary source for the majority of the songs I use in my classroom and in this "informance". 

Often, when students know several of the ETM songs, we will put them all together as a set of partner songs.  It takes time to play the children into this experience, but it is always worth the time and effort.  One of my classes took the partner songs that they have sung and added their own instrumentation made up of yet another partner song......

Register for a Colloquium or Winter Course TODAY!

I have purposefully not included a link directly to a purchase page for this book because the book by itself is not nearly as useful as the classes themselves.  After all, if your only experience with a football game was the coaches playbook, you might not ever be inspired to watch an actual game..... If you are looking for a place of inspiration, information and insight, then a time of study with ETM is exactly what will meet your needs.  The link above will send you to all of the current course offerings.  If you decide to attend, please let me know!!!! 


Organizing it all! 

Because I was putting songs together from so many different sources, I copied the pages I needed, slipped them into page protectors, made notes about which classes had what responsibilities and then used my BIG post-it notes to remind myself of who was playing what.  The post-it notes are my working memory for the informance.....We are presenting our work on Thursday.....I'll be sure and let you know how it goes

MelodySoup YUMMY! Award June 2012 - Froggie Went a Courtin' by Iza Tripani

June 2012

What a fun book to read and sing with students! This book is especially useful when you are already using a version of the original folk song as part of your instruction.  I've used this book with kinder through 5th grade with great success but I find that I use it most often with 3rd grade.  When I read it with students I have them echo the last two words of each stanza on sol-do.  Because this book is an adaptation, in most cases I want my students to be familiar with one or two versions of the original folk song before I read this book.  With that in mind, this book is a nice contrast to the version of the folk song and game used by  Education Through Music as well versions I have heard primarily from my textbook adoption.  Additionally there are several old books that contain great versions of the folk song.  One of my favorite things to do with 3rd grade after we've studied the song for a while is to act it out while we sing it. It's great!  

This book would fit nicely into lessons dealing with the following ideas:

• Songs that emphasis (sol-do)
• Ballads
• Stanza
• Folk song development and change (when compared with older versions of the song and book)
• making predictions - language arts

My list of book lists that I need to create is getting extensive, but I'm hoping that I'll have a "Froggy" book list available for download before too long.... so keep coming back to MelodySoup to check it out. 

MelodySoup YUMMY Award! - The Cheese - by Margie Palatini

I am proud to present the very first MelodySoup "Yummy Award".  I call it the "Yummy Award" because when you read this very musical book with students it is a "Yummy" experience!

     

The first book to receive this award is  "The Cheese" by Margie Palatini.  This book is just AWESOME!  As part of my work with Education Through Music, I play "The Farmer in the Dell" with my students regularly.  In fact, EVERY time my kinder, 1st and 2nd grade students come to class, someone will ask, "Can we play farmer?"  No matter what else I am teaching, I almost always manage to fit in at least one round almost every lesson.  I think that THIS years kindergarten has played it every single day of music.  If you would like more information about how to play "The Farmer in the Dell" well enough that your students ask to play it again and again, please have a look at my ETM page.  


Because the song "The Farmer in the Dell" is near and dear to the hearts of my students, we can use it as a gateway to explore all types of learning in music, math, and language arts.  As we experience the musical elements of the song, because the song is so accessible, we also use it to practice making predictions, using ordinal numbers and patterns and each time we play we retell the story over and over again.  


Imagine the delight of my students when after playing "The Farmer in the Dell" for weeks and weeks, I pull out this book and let them tell me what they see.....  They are tripping over themselves to tell me the story!  This is a perfect book for children who "own" the story of the Farmer because it takes something that the students know and it extends it and re-arranges it into something new and exciting. You see, no one has ever told the story of "The Farmer in the Dell" from the perspective of the Rat before......  


Don't hold back!  Read this hilarious book with your older students also.... IF they know "The Farmer in the Dell"   Although not nearly as often, even my older students play "The Farmer in the Dell" so they are ready to compare and contrast this book not only to the game that they play but other books they have read. 

Did I mention that this is an incredibly funny book?  It's just hilarious and it's one of those books that adults can appreciate just as well as the children they read to.  This is one of the best books ever! 

Author/Composer Study meets Valentine's Day

It's Valentine's Day, so I thought I'd tell you about something I LOVE!

It was during my second year of teaching that I discovered what was going to become my very favorite set of books to use in my music classroom.  I love these books so much that I've given these books to other music teachers as gifts AND I've bought replacement copies for myself because my original copies have literally disintegrated in my hands.

The books I am speaking of are a set of 3 books that are illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky and composed by none other than Woody Guthrie!  I LOVE using Woody Guthrie music in my classroom because it's just really fun stuff.

Howdi Do is PERFECT for the beginning of the year -
Some copies of Howdi Do have CDs which contain recordings for ALL 3 books

The chorus of this book invites the use of ostinato on un-pitched or body percussion .
ta  ta  ta  ta    ti-ti   ti-ti   ti-ti   ti-ti
It's also a great springboard for writing. 

This is a great prompt for early writing. 

I take my time introducing these books in kindergarten.  My students always notice the similarities in the books and they request these books often. Over the course of several weeks we play with these books/songs.  We sing them, we draw pictures, we create comparison charts and Venn diagrams just like you would if you were using these books for a Language Arts lesson.   Some of the recordings are in keys too low for children to sing in, so I typically sing them myself.  A lead sheet with melody and chords is included in the book jacket.  I've made notes in mine so that I can play the books in a singable key once I've got someone who is able to hold the book up for the students to see.  

When I figured out that I was going to NOT be at TMEA this year, I realized that I'd get to teach on Valentine's Day.  Immediately "Mail Myself To You" came to mind.  I was excited because guess what?  There is ANOTHER book!  

THIS book is intended for students to read themselves, so it is not very long and it is not nearly as imaginative, but today after I reminded kinder and first about the songs by Woody Guthrie that they ALREADY knew, they weren't bothered by the small size or short length.  This book is just enough prompt to jump into singing the song.  If I had one of those document cameras then I'd be able to project this book and the size of the pictures wouldn't matter at all......  

Also, if you need it, because it is intended to be used as a leveled text, THIS book has a Spanish translation..... it's a little hard to imagine if it is a good translation, but then...... I'm not the expert on the quality of any given translation..... I just know that this exists.  One of the folks that I follow on Pinterest directed me toward a YouTube Video that is a cartoon for Mail Myself to You.... After we learned the song we watched the video as a quick 4 minute Valentine's Day treat.

 

Looking ahead
When I was gathering all that I needed to write this blog I came across a Youtube video for the book Bling Blang......I don't know if I'll use it or not, but it's nice to have.

 

Also, In a few weeks I am going to introduce Patriotic music to several grade levels..... The actual plan is still forming in my head, but I intend to include "This Land is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie...The book contains all of the verses/pages, may be a little "too real" for some of my younger students, but since Woody Guthrie is a song writer they are all familiar with, I think it would make an excellent starting point.  

Finally, on a note about Valentine's Day that is totally unrelated to Woody Guthrie - I shared "I Love You" with several grade levels today, just because it's fun..... This book can start a lively discussion about units of measurement. YAY for Music and every day integration into other subjects!

I looked it up!  They started talking about cubic inches and I got confused....I'm dreadful at math so I'm not sure what a cubic inch is....these are approximate measures for dry produce....my best guess anyway.....
4 quarts = 1 gallon
8 quarts (2 gallons) = 1 peck
4 pecks = 1 bushel
heap = a whole bunch
barrel = even more