Books SongWorks Recommends

189songworks1  189songworks2  189classics  189classics2

189mothergoose  189songplay   189EdVenturesRecorder  

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189songworks1SongWorks I: Singing in the Education of Children

by Dr. Peggy D. Bennett (Oberlin Conservatory of Music)
& Dr. Douglas Bartholomew (Montana State University)

© 1997 SongWorks Press • 378 pages

$40 (+$5 Shipping and Handling) / $70 (+$8) with SongWorks II

To order visit: SongWorks Press

Much more than collections of suggested song activities, SongWorks I captures the essence of singing in the education of children. Based on the premise that singing is the most natural and effective way to teach music at the elementary level, this text shows pre- and in-service teachers how to create engaging, purposeful music experiences for children.

Through the examples of real classroom teaching experiences laced throughout the text, Bennett and Bartholomew, both former elementary school music teachers, show teachers how to lead and interact with children during music activities. These examples inspire instructors with a “can-do” attitude toward music.

SongWorks I includes:

  • Over 80 scenarios of elementary classroom experiences that illustrate teaching practices and prepare teachers for singing with their students
  • More than 40 folk songs and 95 accompanying games that have been classroom- and time-tested throughout the country
  • Activities that provide real-life illustrations of how to interact, play, think, and develop listening skills within the context of singing
  • A principles approach that encourages teachers to structure curricula and classroom choices around their own teaching principles and experience
  • Reflective questions and scenarios that draw the reader into classroom contexts in which pedagogical issues and dilemmas can be examined

SongWorks II: Singing from Sound to Symbol

by Dr. Peggy D. Bennett (Oberlin Conservatory of Music)
& Dr. Douglas Bartholomew (Montana State University)

© 1999 SongWorks Press • 400 pages

$40 (+$5 Shipping and Handling) / $70 (+$8) with SongWorks I

To order visit: SongWorks Press

This methods text for the music specialist focuses on teaching children the sounds of music (singing) and the symbols of music (reading and writing music notation.) With over 75 mini-lessons, this text offers general principles and specific ways to teach elements of rhythm, melody, and structure and help children learn to read, write, and enjoy music. The text addresses the four major challenges of teaching music:

  1. How to translate the aural sense of music into visual and kinesthetic experiences for young children
  2. How to organize musical sounds
  3. How to explore the patterns of music in temporal rather than static contexts
  4. How to engage the students as performers of the music studied through singing, moving, and playing classroom instruments.

Songworks II Includes:

  • Over 70 study songs selected for the richness of their musical content and their folksong traditions.
  • CD available covering all the songs used in the text.
  • Central chapters on rhythm, melody, and structure include information on theory and notation; terminology; challenges and scenarios; mini-lessons and key strategies.
  • Over 75 mini-lessons offer specific and general ways that teachers can lead students through a flexible sequence of song study. These lessons can be combined with additional musical materials and activities for complete lesson plans.
  • Complete song scores of all the songs used in the mini-lessons or as the subject of a particular technique. Each song is accompanied by suggested study patterns for song analysis.
  • Over 75 illustrations of fundamentals and techniques, many of them reproducible for the teacher’s convenience.

Playing with the Classics 1: Music Masterworks for Children

by Dr. Peggy D. Bennett (Oberlin Conservatory of Music)

© 2011 Alfred Music • 75 pages
ISBN-10: 0-7390-8168-3 / ISBN-13: 978-0-7390-8168-6

$26.99

To order visit: Alfred Music | Amazon.com

Peggy D. Bennett presents her classroom-tested creative ideas for movement, stories, and listening activities as she delights preschool through primary-age children with orchestral favorites. Fully Reproducible and designed to be used by experienced music teachers and novices alike, the simple, charming and playful lessons in Playing With the Classics give children a chance to sing, move, and act while they listen to the music of great composers. The CD contains 30 tracks, including selections from Gershwin’s An American in Paris, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Bizet’s Carmen, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, Haydn’s Surprise Symphony, and many more. Playing With the Classics will help make these great works a part of your students’ beloved repertoire of music and capture their interest in orchestral music for a lifetime.

Playing with the Classics 2: Music Masterworks for Children

by Dr. Peggy D. Bennett (Oberlin Conservatory of Music)

© 2012 Alfred Music • 88 pages
ISBN 0-7390-8825-4

$19.99

To order visit: Alfred Music | Amazon.com

Peggy D. Bennett presents her classroom-tested creative ideas for movement, stories, and listening activities to delight preschool through primary-age children with orchestral favorites. Fully reproducible and designed to be used by experienced music teachers and novices alike, the simple, charming, and playful lessons in Playing with the Classics Volume 2 give children a chance to sing, move, and act while they listen to the music of great composers. The Listening List contains 15 tracks, all of which can be downloaded from iTunes, Amazon, or GoogleMusic as needed. The musical selections include Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Stravinsky’s The Firebird, Gershwin’s “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Vivaldi’s “Winter” from The Four Seasons, and many more. This book will help make these great works a part of your students’ beloved repertoire of music and spark their interest in orchestral music for a lifetime.

RhymePlay: Playing with Children and Mother Goose

by Dr. Peggy D. Bennett (Oberlin Conservatory of Music)

© 2010 Alfred Music • 94 pages
ISBN 0-7390-6146-1

$24.95

To order visit: Alfred Music | Amazon.com

Charming the senses of young children is key to the spirit of RhymePlay. The simplicity and musical lilt of Mother Goose rhymes engages and enchants children as they play with language, dexterity and imagination. Accompanying the delightful rhymes are wonderfully photographed fingerplay movements, ready for immediate use. Reproducible Picture Cards enhance the lessons, making it easy to prepare and have students actively engaged in the lesson.

Designed for the early childhood classroom, RhymePlay includes a wealth of energizing and imaginative activities, focusing on building children’s organizational, expressive, and memory skills. “Storymaking” and “Playlets” allow children to develop expressiveness and understanding as they actively explore the imaginary world of the rhymes “ReadingPlay” exercises lead children toward literacy.

Each of the charming finger plays and activities in RhymePlay will captivate and enchant children while developing their senses, minds, and social skills.

SongPlay: A Collection of Playful Songs for Children

Compiled and edited by Dr. Peggy D. Bennett (Oberlin Conservatory of Music)

© 1999 SongWorks Press •  84 pages

Singing and playing provide a wonderful environment in which children can grow and develop. The songplays in this creative music resource will engage children ages 4-7 in playful, nurturing experiences as they sing simple folksongs, while learning to:

  • Respond to each other
  • Focus on attention and listening skills
  • Use their imagination to describe ideas and actions

This book includes a “coaching” CD with helpful musical prompts, song demonstrations in various keys by an adult solo voice for use in preparing each lesson. The songs included are A-Hunting We Will Go, Come and Follow Me, Farmer in the Dell, The More We Get Together, Hot Cross Buns, London Bridge, Mary’s Wearing Her Red Dress, Shake Those Fingers Down, and more.

This book is ideal for all teachers of young children, both classroom teachers and music specialists. Each songplay section includes a detailed step-by-step teaching process, opportunities for cross-curricular connections and a listing of recommended literature readings. The well-designed layout makes lesson planning a breeze!

Teaching with Vitality: Pathways to Health & Wellness for Teachers and Schools

by Dr. Peggy D. Bennett

© 2017 Oxford University Press • 232 pages
ISBN 0-1906-7398-2 / ISBN-13: 978-0190673987

$21.95

To order visit: Oxford University Press | Amazon.com

Perhaps more than any other experience as educators, conflict in schools and workplaces can zap our energy and steal our vigor. If we knew ways to minimize conflict and maximize vitality, would we use them? For junior and seasoned teachers, Teaching with Vitality offers insights into specific attitudes and behaviors that can dilute and dissolve conflicts. Organized into brief topics for busy educators, Teaching with Vanity describes common experiences with practical options for lessening the turmoil that is inevitable in schools.

Recorder EdVentures: Teaching Recorder in the Classroom

by Marilyn Winter

© 1999 Marilyn Winter • 244 pages

$35 (+$5 Shipping & Handling)

To order: Currently Unavailable

For some music teachers, recorders are little more than a required activity for fourth grade students and a primary recruitment setting for junior high school band. As you absorb the ideas in Recorder EdVentures, however, you begin to see new possibilities: recorder-playing can be an integral part of music study process; recorders can be instruments for beautiful music-making; recorders can be the “making music their own.”

“In Recorder EdVentures, Marilyn has crafted a book that is unique, pioneering, and substantive. For those who teach recorders, let me warm you: this book may forever change our attitudes about the role and importance of recorders in your classroom… and in the musical lives of your students.”

– Dr. Peggy D. Bennett (Oberlin Conservatory of Music)

Recorder EdVentures features:

  • Student friendly approach to reading music notation
  • Ways to achieve aesthetically pleasing tone production
  • “Sure fire” approaches to tonguing
  • “Ringing-in”/playing in tune activities
  • Ideas for Native American Studies
  • Seat assignment activities
  • 35 song scores
  • 11 form books
  • Assessment tools
  • Arranging songs
  • Improvising

Good Dog Ukulele School: Judy Fjell’s Ukulele Beginner Book 1

by Judy Fjell

© 2010 Judy Fjell

$15 / $25 with CD

To order visit: www.judyfjell.com

With Judy’s special colored stickers on the fretboard, and her logical progression of teaching chords, anyone can learn to play. This book is truly suitable for Ages 4 – Adult. Twenty songs, nine chords, and the beginnings of note reading and music theory. The songs are all in singable keys for children. Each lesson also contains enrichment material for older students.