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
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.
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Old does not mean out of date.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.
Making Bridges from Sound to Symbol
The realization that a mark on a page can represent a musical sound can be a magical discovery. It also can be a confusing and frustrating experience for some of our students when introducing standard musical notation. This article shares a playful teaching process to introduce young children to musical literacy.
Learning Through the Experience (…and preparing for whatever comes next)
An experienced teacher shares how she navigated the many changes that came with teaching through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Silence
Using a picture book as a starting point, these lesson ideas explore movement, sound, and instruments. Modal melodies invite improvisation and the author includes a packet of materials to support the teaching ideas.
Ako Ay May Lobo (I Have a Balloon)
This Filipino song in the Tagalog language includes a singing game that helps children experience triple meter. The article includes a video of the author modeling the game and pronunciation.
Speech Play
Members of the Reverberations Editorial Board share texts that they use as entry points for pieces from Rhythmische Übung by Gunild Keetman.
Planning for Pluralism
Literate pluralism (advocacy for a broad view of the ways in which people musick) has been addressed over the years in The Orff Echo. This article includes a partial list of articles and links to help you plan for pluralism in your classroom.
Playing With the Seasons
This lesson idea invites exploration through multiple media: movement, singing, found sound, instruments, and more. Also included are a demonstration of American Sign Language, video models, and many extensions for further experiential learning based on the concept of the four seasons.
Teaching Vocal Jazz Scatting With Elemental Intention Part 2
Vocal improvisation is a fun and exciting extension of elementary music making. Beginning with exploratory vocal improvisation prepares students to develop vocal improvisation in many ways. In part 2, Alswager adds pitch play to the rhythmic and speech activities explored in part 1.
Picture Books for Black History Month
An annotated list of picture books that have been reviewed in The Orff Echo by or about significant Black American artists and/or stories about historical events from the Black experience in America.