Click here for 2019 Conference Schedule

THURSDAY Session 1: 

Orff, But of Course! Anita Edwards Do you want to include Orff in your recorder program but aren’t sure where to begin? Come learn the basics from Orff Clinician, Anita Edwards. Topics discussed include movement, pedagogy, obstinate and rhythmic and melodic training. Anita will present the use of handheld rhythm instruments for those teachers who do not have barred instruments. Ideal for college students, new teachers and veterans who are looking to add another dimension to their current program. Complimentary recorder, neck strap and review copy of the Be A Recorder Star student method book will be provided. A classroom set of student method books with the accompanying Recorder Rhythm Orchestration Series will be raffled. 

Shadow Play Shirley Van Papaeghem and Teresa Finch All teaching levels can explore this creative tool for music, emotion and self expression. Shadows can add a unique twist to a concert or a classroom. 

Tips on Teaching Folk Dancing Fearlessly Falane Gerritsen Many teachers do not include folk dancing in their classrooms because of time constraints or fear of chaos. Movement is so important in children’s lives, and dance is such a fun way for them to move and learn to work together. Come learn a few tips on how to teach folk dancing in a way that is clear, organized, and fun! Learn techniques that lead to learning steps faster and with less confusion. Become braver and more confident at teaching dance. 

Session 2: 

Interactive Recorder Instruction. It’s fun and it works! Anita Edwards Young students have grown up in a digital world and positively respond to materials that are in the format to which they have grown accustomed. They are more motivated if the materials are presented in an engaging and fun way. As teachers introducing recorder, you are concerned that the materials you use develop musicianship, teach music reading skills and rhythmic independence and serve as a foundation for students’ continued musical involvement. You can now have the best of both worlds. Please bring a device (laptop or ipad) to the session. A digital access demo code, complimentary recorder and neck strap supplied. Sets of codes will be raffled! 

Teaching Children to Appreciate Sound – Meet Richard Alan Hannon from Evocative Sound and Photography. Through high-quality recording, he strives to invoke memories and emotions of time and place, reveal hidden sounds not heard with thenaked ear, and connect on the intimate level that only sounds can convey. 

Tap Dance in the Classroom Lori Conlon Khan and Taggart Lewis This interactive session will have you tapping your toes..and heels! Come find out about the origins of tap in the United States and enjoy learning the traditional Shim Sham Shimmy!! Tap shoes are not required. 

Session 3: 

Preschool Becky Cook This session will be an overview of who the preschool program is for, and how do you adjust your teaching to teach these active little people 

Orff Schulwerk 101 – Lori Conlon Khan Where did this thing called Orff come from? What are the theories and philosophical perspectives upon which the approach is based? Is it all about the instruments, because I don’t have any! This introduction to the Orff approach is for those participants who are new to Orff Schulwerk, or those who are interested in the historical roots of this active way of making music with children. 

Outdoor Music – Tony Bradshaw The time will be spent discussing when/how/why to have music outside. This discussion will start/end in the room assigned, and we will go outside during the discussion (please, dress accordingly). The objective is to have a conversation about the power/inspiration of outdoor learning.sa 

Session 4: 

Songs for Your Recorder Concert Lenna Harris This session presents playable songs guaranteed to delight students and parents. These pieces are ideal for young students for concert performance or classroom use. Repertoire from diverse cultures will be explored and themes for concerts will be discussed. Teachers will play duet, trio and jazz selections. The duets and trios feature an alto part in both transposed and non transposed format. The incorporation of rhythm instruments will be covered. Get ready to play along! Complimentary recorders, neck straps and catalog will be supplied. Awesome raffle prizes will be given away at the end of the session! 

Assessment – Lori Gray/Amy Wickstrom/Serena Hicks This presentation will address useful assessment tools and strategies for K-12 music classrooms, with a focus on standards-based feedback. The presenters will share ideas for creative and engaging assessments that seamlessly connect to learning rather than detract from the musical experience. Suggestions will include summative and formative assessments, connecting assessments to standards and lesson objectives, and ways to pre-assess, assess throughout lesson delivery, and post-assess to allow for reflection on lesson effectiveness while also allowing for clear ways to measure student understanding. 

Conversational Solfege John Crever Building on Zoltan Kodaly’s idea of teaching music reading using authentic repertoire, solfege and traditional notation and planning out the preparation, presentation and cumulative practice of each notation element to be experienced over time, John Feierabend’s life’s work, Conversational Solfege, utilizes new research to firm up and validate Kodaly’s earlier framework. This session will unpack Feierabend’s 12-step approach to teaching music reading in duple and triple meters. Using accessible traditional repertoire to set up an easy to use, informed sequence of musical experiences to model… 

…conversational language acquisition through listening and responding, rhythmic reading, dictation, composition and improvisation by an “ear-first” approach. 

Session 5: 

Elementary Choral Reading Session-Bev Schumacher JW Pepper is providing a booklet of 2- pt choral music. Come, sing along, and hear the joy! 

Rhythm: Easy as Pie! – Lenna Harris Students can easily repeat rhythms that you clap, tap or sing for them. Have you ever noticed how many children seem to understand and clap rhythms independently but then cannot play or sing those same rhythms in a song? With her fun and colorful rhythm pie charts, Lenna will present a tried and proven method for teaching rhythm which will help young students become great rhythm readers. Come prepared to tap, move, jingle and jangle. This session is appropriate for teachers of K-3 students. Awesome raffle prizes will be given away at the end of the session! 

Growing Tuneful, Beatful, Artful Children the Feierabend Way, Part 1 John Crever All people are born with the potential to become musical. With limited music experiences in the early years, children consistently lose their intuitions for thinking tunes and responding to the expressiveness in music. For more than 40 years Dr. John Feierabend has been working to bring research into practice naturally, with a rich repertoire of traditional children's songs, rhymes, games and dances intended to develop a child’s musical intuition and artfulness through regular musical workouts. This session will highlight building tuneful independence by focusing on pitch exploration, responding to song fragments, singing simple solo songs and arioso vocal improvisation. 

Session 6: 

Let’s Explore a Story and More! Miranda Rupp We will use the Schulwerk to explore a storybook with little learners. Be prepared to move, sing and play! 

Are We Movin’ Yet? Kalena Fleming Getting students moving can be a challenge. In this session you will get some tools to start creating a movement norm in your classroom, explore creative movement through various activities, listening examples, and good ‘ol fashion movement songs and dances. 

Growing Tuneful, Beatful, Artful Children the Feierabend Way, Part 2 John Crever (ends early, Part 1 recommended) In the curriculum First Steps in Music©, Dr. John Feierabend lays out what skills are essential for a child to master before music reading can be meaningful. Based on an extensive survey of research on beat development in infants through adolescents, Feierabend offers pathways to beatfulness and musical expressivity for every learner in the classroom with regular use of movement exploration warm-ups, movement for form and expression and keeping the beat activities. This will be an informative and experiential… 

…overview of the Feierabend way to teach early elementary movement in the classroom for children ages three to nine, and beyond. 

FRIDAY Session 1: 

Musical Pathways Teri Wallis (open to all, participants will be featured on Saturday concert!) A way to explore music and composition using different philosophies such as Orff, Kodaly, and Delcroze. Music is experienced through singing, movement, speaking, playing games, and instrumental performance. 

Sculpting Voices with a Chainsaw Instead of an Ice Pick – Ryan Olsen As a professional woodcarver, Ryan has learned to remove the big chunks of wood first and save details for very last. Can you imagine what your singers and choirs could sound like if you taught the most important fundamentals first and learned to save the details until the proper time? Explore fun ways to teach your choirs to sing beautifully. 

Running the Circus (You want me to do how many things at once?) Shirley Van Paepeghem Strategies for multitasking in the Orff classroom while you keep your students singing well! 

Composers and Commissions: How and Why? A panel discussion Award-winning composer, Paul Aitken leads a discussion on rich experiences to be gained by commissioning new works for your choirs. Commissioning consortiums will also be discussed. Hear from composers and the directors who support commissions. 

Friday Session 2: 

Folk Dances – Tony Bradshaw Dance. Play. Sing. Which skill do you bring? 

Vocal Jazz Reading Session Quinn Van Paepeghem Explore the latest titles in Vocal Jazz. Sponsored by Sound Music Publications 

What to Expect Your First Year Panel from Idaho ACDA and Idaho Orff This session is for developing music educators in college or emerging music educators in their first through fifth year of teaching. Hear from veterans in our field give insight to their lessons learned in the classroom and rehearsal room. 

SATURDAY Session 1 

I Have Ukuleles, Now What? Doug Mains Ukuleles have become a pretty popular instrument in the music room these days, but how do you teach your students how to play it if the music teacher has had little experience with them? This session will explore some ways to help your students as well as the teacher become familiar with the ukulele as well as introduce them to some easy 2-3 chord songs. 

Vocal Jazz: What’s the Same, and What’s Different, you CAN do this! Quinn Van Paepeghem For many of us, the inclusion of vocal jazz in our curriculum is often avoided because we feel unprepared for it, and, let’s admit, a little scared of it. In this session, through examination of traditional choral music and common vocal jazz music, I will show the similarities and differences in the two general genres. Many of us received little or no training in the jazz idiom in our undergraduate preparation. But you will find, as I did, that the similarities between traditional choral music and jazz are vast, and the differences, subtle. 

High Expectations in Elementary Choir Brenda Winkle This session is designed to answer three questions many directors working with children’s choirs have are: 1. How do I most effectively introduce part singing at the elementary level? 2. What can I expect in their voices by age? How can I use this information to select music? 3. What are some great resources for literature suggestions for children?