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Oct 8, 2019
1 min

Step Up - KMEIA's new DVD

KMEIA DVD review - Step Up (for Primary years 2 - 4) As part of the Step Up Qld mini conference I recently attended, I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of the new DVD from Kodaly Queensland, similarly titled "Step Up". This new DVD pack from KMEIA is absolutely jam-packed with resources. It features song sheets and analyses of 28 different songs which can be used for a variety of teaching strategies. There are over 300 printable pages (though let's be environmenta

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Jenny Ferris

Aug 5, 2019
1 min

Kodaly for all seasons

I am very lucky to be in Sarawak for the 2019 International Kodaly Symposium just as the Rafflesia flower in Gunung Gading National Park is coming into bloom. This is a rare occurance as this flower takes 9 months to mature and then only flowers for around 4 or 5 days. This got me thinking about the importance of timing and seasonality in music teaching and of making the learning in the classroom relevant to the day-to-day occurances in the lives of our students. Some of the

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Jenny Ferris

Apr 12, 2018
4 min

Planning in the Kodaly classroom

Planning is, as any teacher will tell you, one of the biggest parts of our job so it's important to do it well! Knowing where to begin when planning can be tough and I often find that just getting started is the hardest part! Now, since every teacher is working in a different school environment with different students and a different curriculum, not to mention a unique brain that handles organisation in a different way to any other teacher, there is no hard and fast rule when

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Jenny Ferris

Mar 12, 2018
3 min

Top 5 Teacher Resources

I remember, once upon a time, when I was in the deepest, darkest depths of my teaching degree, I would walk past a bookshop and freeze; my bloodhound-like Kodaly senses tingling, searching for the scent of possibility. Could this be the place? Could this be the shop? The one that contains that magical goldmine of a resource that will answer all my teaching questions and provide me with enough knowledge, secrets and lesson plans to last my entire career? As I am beginning to

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Jenny Ferris

Jan 14, 2018
4 min

Bee yourself

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received in my Kodaly training was about the importance of transitions between activities. When working with primary aged students (ESPECIALLY preps!) their attention spans work best with activities that only go for a few minutes, which of course means that if you're teaching a 50 minute lesson, you better have a lot of activities up your sleeve! Now, generally speaking, if a lesson segment is going well, the kids are engaged and there

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