Friday, March 11, 2011

How to teach music with a minimum of supplies

My first position bought a whole new set of textbooks and all the trappings my third year there.  So it was pretty uncomfortable when I got to my current position and had...nothing.  Ideally I would have a certification which would inform my curriculum (I really want to take the Gordon classes, but they all seem to be on the East Coast and we haven't had a lot of extra money lately).  I'm hoping to hear back from a new school which also has a bare minimum of materials.  So I'm going to share in this post what I've asked for and what I have, and hope that in the comments people can leave some suggestions.

My position right now I teach classes from K-5, plus a self-contained moderate-to-severe primary grades SPED class.  I started off the year with 0 supplies provided by the school.  I luckily had
  • 30-some-year-old teacher's editions and CD sets meant for grades 4-6 which my previous position had discarded
  • a set of 123 Favorite Kids songs CDs which I bought from Target in a panic the night before I started.  The singing is pretty cheesy on a lot of them, but in a pinch some of the songs have educational value
  • 30 sets of chopsticks I bought at the Japanese market to use as rhythm sticks
  • http://kodaly.hnu.edu/search.cfm is an amazing website which every general music education should use
I sent my principal an extensive list of what I would like to use.  What I received was:
  • First Steps in Music: for Preschool and Beyond, which I use extensively with my K-2 and SPED classes and borrow from for parts of my 3rd grade lessons, as well.
  • 150 American Folk Songs to Sing, Read, and Play, which has some good material.  I have to say I'm surprised by how many repeats they have (how many versions of "I have lost my closet key" does one music teacher need?!).  It is organized by tones used, which can be helpful.  It also has a game, in which the teacher holds a student over his/her lap in "spanking position" and sings a song with the words "horny cup" in it, which I think would get someone instantly fired!
  • 150 Rounds for Singing and Teaching, which I have used a lot with my 3rd graders.
Finally, just last week, I received
  • a recorder for almost every 4th and 5th grader I have.  They were one short in the order, and I guess I should have explained that usually the teacher needs one on which to demonstrate.
  • 4 sets of Remo Sound Shapes, which all the kids are enthusiastic about playing!  Unfortunately I have no bag or cart in which to carry them, so I need to figure out a solution to that.
  • a generic set of rhythm instruments we ordered from the school district.  They're kinda crappy, but usable.
  • Get America Singing...Again! Volumes 1 and 2, plus CD 3 for Volume 2.
If you were teaching general music, on an extremely limited budget, what would be the first things you would buy?  Are there any other websites you would use as a resource?

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