Reverberations: Teachers Teaching Teachers is a weekly, online publication available to members that publishes models of best practice from Orff Schulwerk classrooms in the form of lesson ideas, student-tested teaching strategies, articles related to classroom applications, and more.
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List of Reverberations Articles
Editorial – Creativity: It’s Essential
AOSA members found creative ways to engage children in learning throughout a pandemic. But even more important, teachers pivoted from creative lessons to creative outcomes and modeled that creativity is essential for OS and for our mental and physical well being.
We Belong Together! 2021 Professional Development Conference
Plan now to come to North Charleston, South Carolina, November 3-6, 2021 to celebrate TOGETHER with colleagues from across the country and around the world.
Moving Forward to a New Normal: Reflections on Pandemic Teaching
The author reflects on the challenges (and successes) of teaching through a pandemic, lessons learned along the way, and how all of this will shape her future teaching.
2020-21: A Space Odyssey
When schools plan for a return to “normal” after more than a year of pandemic teaching, it is important to understand the role of dedicated teaching space for the success of students in Orff Schulwerk programs.
Easy Virtual Choir: Singing Through a Pandemic
Easy-to-use technology allowed children to sing in community even while learning apart. There is potential in this new application for children to create virtual performances based on shared experiences in the classroom after they are able to resume full, in-person learning.
A Spring Song for Creative Movement
American Sign Language and Laban’s Basic Effort Action Words help children explore meaning in a springtime song. Shared as students and teachers face restrictions on singing due to COVID-19, the lesson offers in-person and virtual options.
My Garden
This lesson idea, based on a picture book, is a great way to jump into spring and summer and encourage primary aged students to engage in creative play.
Regrouping Year
A happy surprise of pandemic teaching was that some things actually worked better in a virtual format.
Recorders and the Joy of Bird Song
The bird songs of spring and a new recorder in the hands of a child create a perfect pairing and an accessible challenge for recorder players of all ages. This lesson idea includes an extensive resource list of materials: books and CDs on bird songs, literature about birds, and music featuring birds.
Mining for Recorder Gems
Some of AOSA’s master recorder instructors and teacher educators share teaching strategies in this set of articles from past issues of The Orff Echo.
The Song of Six Birds
This lesson idea for beginning recorder students combines imitation and composition to help children explore the sounds of birds that are found in a picture book about a South African girl, a flute, and…six birds.
Echoes From the Past
Old does not mean out of date. These articles from old issues of The Orff Echo address topics as current today as in past decades: sea shanteys…that “new” internet phenomenon; Black American culture bearers share music from their childhood; movement in limited space when your classroom is unavailable; healing the body and spirit…so needed after a national pandemic; teaching the skill of learning in community after a time of isolation; OS as a vehicle for helping children become responsible members of a democratic society.