Volume 26, Issue 2
Newsletter of PAOSA Chapter 5
Issue Highlights Workshop Schedule Presenter Bios Announcements
2014-2015 Workshops
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January 24 Orff in Action
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Excerpts from the Archives
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Workshop Reviews
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President’s Letter
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Member Spotlight
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Grants & Scholarships
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Workshop Information
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Membership Information 12 Board Members
Winter 2015
February 28 Tim Gregory Kenya Sing and Dance April 18 Peter and Mary Alice Amidon Singing, Dancing, and Storytelling May 16 Chapter Sharing and Potluck Exploring Locomotor and Non-Locomotor Movement in the Classroom
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Upcoming Workshops January 24, 2015 9:00 - 1:30 Orff In Action Join us for this annual exciting workshop, as we incorporate local students in the creative process. Our own wonderful local chapter members will lead the children through activities, giving the adult participants the opportunity to observe “Orff in Action�. During the second half of the workshop, adults and children work together. The workshop will include a final presentation for families and teachers. Look in your email in the near future for an invitation for student participants and encourage your students to join us and be a part of extraordinary opportunity. Spread the word!
February 28, 2015 9:00 - 1:30 Co-sponsored with Kodaly Educators of Eastern Pennsylvania Tim Gregory
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Kenya Sing and D ance Join Tim Gregory on an exciting musical safari of his collections of folk tunes of East Africa. The material that he has gathered comes from villages where children do not have music as a regular part of their school curriculum. Songs are passed down from older students to the younger ones, after school on their own time, as well as in their homesteads. Tim feels that this is one of the purest forms of folk music that he has experienced in his many world travels. Folk dances will also be introduced and as with the songs, Tim shows how to make age-appropriate adaptions. Tim Gregory is the founder and director of Nada Brahma Productions - World Music and Dance Explorations and Integrations, and has been serving educational institutions with cultural arts programs since 1991. He is an Artist-in-Residence and a Teaching Artist Institute graduate with the Maryland State Arts Council. Tim also works nationally with ACDA and Kodaly organizations offering seminars and collaborations with youth choirs. Tim regularly brings new material through ongoing field research and travel. Since 1998, he has been working as an ethnomusicologist among the Kamba people of Kenya. He shares his research through his self-published DVD package "Kenya Sing & Dance," and the "Kenya Sing & Dance Choral Series," published by Hal Leonard. Tim is also the co-founder of "Kenya Connect," a nonprofit organization connecting children globally through correspondence and service learning programs.
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Announcements New Board Members Needed! Please consider donating your time and voice to the board of PAOSA. No experience is necessary. Training will be provided. The only requirement is a desire to help keep our wonderful organization alive and well and providing resources and collegial comradery to our fellow Orff Schulwerk members.
The following position needs to be filled for 2014-2015 Membership Co-Chair For more information, contact Dawn Pratson
The following positions are looking for people to train to take over their positions: Act 48 Administrator For more information, contact John Bednar Program Chair For more information, contact Michelle Przybylowski
Silent Auction Ending January 25th!
Plan ahead for the 2016 AOSA National Conference in Atlantic City PAOSA will be hosting.
At the January 25th workshop, the silent auction for the bass metallophone, two alto xylophones, and soprano xylophone will be ending. Don't forget to write down your bid! The money from this auction helps pay for presenters and keeps our membership fees low. At the end of the workshop, the highest bidders will get to take those instruments to their new home! If you would like to bid, but cannot attend, please contact Kate Bright at bright184@yahoo.com.
Volunteers needed! More information will be coming soon.
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Excerpts From the Archives Part V This is an ongoing series about the history of our chapter as presented by our historian, Rose Grelis 1985-86 In August 1985, a flyer was sent out to prospective members with a definite increase in dues to $30 for four Saturday workshops “to invite the best available Orff Specialists…since Master Teachers often come from great distances and require travel expenses.” The organization had arranged to meet at the Rosemont School of the Holy Child with the following “Master Teachers” Rida Davis, Tossi Aaron, Lillian Yaross and Beth Miller. For those interested in individual workshops, the cost was $10 per workshop and student members were welcome at $5 per workshop. We were determined to continue as usual while awaiting the response from National regarding our status in the organization. By October 1985, it seems that a ‘fix’ regarding the dissolution of the chapter was underway. Twenty members of the chapter, including 17 National members petitioned National to have the chapter retain its status as one of the earliest founded. In addition, the regional representative offered to give a workshop to the chapter and the chapter president reiterated the fact that the chapter had never really been inactive, since they had held sharing sessions during the ‘inactive’ year. The officers for the year were Karen Markey, President, Sue Davis, 1st Vice President, Martha Crowell, 2nd Vice President; Betty Benner and Debbi Pizzi, Secretaries, Carol Davis, Treasurer and Louise Bradford and Tossi Aaron, Advisors. During this year, the chapter was reinstated. During this period, personal computers were beginning to be used and we fashioned and printed a letterhead for the chapter, with Karen Markey’s information as President. Copies of this letterhead are to be included in a scrapbook that will be available for perusal at workshops. 1986-87 In the fall of 1986, many changes were underway. There were two styles of a printed contract sent to presenters, to be signed by both the Clinician and the President; workshops moved around the Philadelphia Area and there was a published newsletter: § October – Abington Friends School – Judy Thomas, Presenter § November – Abington Friends School – Louise Bradford, Presenter § February – Rosemont School of the Holy Child – Dr. Kenneth Goldstein, Presenter § April – Elsie O. Bull Bldg. West Chester University – Danai Gagne, Presenter Membership information was to be sent to Debbie Pizzi. We also have attendance lists for this year - October (20); November (13); February (17) and April (24). Looks like we were on our way! Sometime in this period, there are sketches of a banner that would eventually be made and displayed at the National Conferences. These sketches are undated and will be included in the scrapbook. 5
Workshop Reviews Creative Pathways Workshop with Janie Vance Review by Nancy Pontius The presenter, Janie Vance, started the workshop with a movement activity based on your favorite sport. She incorporated elemental form that matched the song, “149 Dalston Airline” by Debruit. Another activity was “The Great Nursery Rhyme Disaster” by David Conway. We split into groups and each nursery rhyme group came up with their own composition to match the rhyme. The compositions were based on the pentatonic modes. This was a really fun aural experience. Janie concluded the workshop with an activity focused on the design process. We used “The Story of Jumping Mouse,” by John Steptoe. Through discovery, interpretation, ideation, experimentation, and evolution (and the paraphrased story from Janie’s own students) we created a powerful performance piece. This was one of the highest attended workshops I’ve been to. Janie is a very dynamic presenter and the wide variety of activities was great fun. If you haven’t taken your levels yet, come learn with her at Villanova!
Beyond Singing Stories: Story Telling in the Orff Classroom Workshop with Jennifer Dennett Review by Joyce Scheyhing Unfortunately, I missed the first activity of the workshop. I came in during the “Thumbtacks on a Chair” activity and fit right in. Chapters three and four stood out the most for me, between the drama and speech elements and story elements of “The Lobster and the Crab” and the listening and retelling of “The Carrot Seed”. As a special education teacher in a 5th grade inclusion class, these are two activities that I can take back with me to incorporate in the classroom. Jennifer concluded the workshop with “The Hippopotamus at Dinner”, a speech cannon ostinato transferred to percussion and barred instruments with drama. We wrapped up all of the elements in one performance. I really appreciated the way Jennifer incorporated the Volumes so naturally throughout the workshop. Any way I can integrate the arts in my classroom is wonderful and this workshop gave me several activities to take back with me.
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President’s Letter Dear PAOSA, Recently I had the privilege of attending the National Professional Development Conference as our chapter representative. The Nashville conference was amazing, as AOSA’s conferences always are, but I found myself looking at the production of the days in a whole new light. As you may know, we are co-hosting the 2016 conference in Atlantic City, so watching the conference unfold in that light made me step back and view all the details in a new way. Watching the many, MANY volunteers come together, talking with people from around the world, and networking with friends (new and old) about what 2016 might look like was invigorating. I am so excited for all of us to have this experience. One common theme I heard with regard to putting on a conference was that the process joined the people involved by creating lifelong bonds, and stretched them to develop their own leadership skills. Another important message was that the challenges are great, but the support is there, and the rewards are greater. On the flight home, I was mulling over my thoughts and jotted them in my notes. Yet, come the Monday morning after the conference, when I looked at my notes, I saw these thoughts not in the light of the conference, but in the reality that follows being out of school for several days. I realized that I need to step back from my teaching and look at all that goes on in my school in a new way. Our children and our fellow staff members are all very much a part of the experience that we create for us to grow as people. How can we challenge and stretch one another in our own buildings to continue this growth in a loving and supportive environment? The challenges are great but the rewards are greater. Let’s be the support for one another! Warmly, Lori Arner
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Member Spotlight Miriam Shingle Each summer, for the past 15+ years, I have been the Orff teacher for music camps located in a piano studio in West Chester. The purpose of these camps is for piano students to create their own music compositions. There are 3 different weeklong camps that I am involved in: lower elementary, upper elementary and middle school. The activities for each camp include theory lessons, music games, composition, keyboard improvisation, and my part – Orff (which also includes improvisation! J). Each day, I present activities to small groups of students, which incorporate the barred instruments as well as unpitched percussion. Our activities range from improvisation, using the above-named instruments (often leading to the creation of group compositions), to dramatization, to large Orff ensembles. The children are very creative, and the final day is a performance for the parents to see the culmination of some of the activities, which is very rewarding for all. Last year, for the first time, I decided to write my own Orff ensembles (one for upper elementary and a more challenging one for middle school), both of which ended up sounding great! This year, the theme of the camp was “Tarantellas.” So, in addition to other creative music activities (not necessarily in 6/8) and preparatory exercises, I decided to have the upper elementary students dramatize the spider-bite scenario and use unpitched percussion and barred instruments for sound/dramatic effect. For the victim’s fast dance, I composed an Orff ensemble piece in the style of a Tarantella. I used #22 from “Rhythmische Übung” to create a melody that conveniently fit. (Thank you, Keetman, for making my task so easy!!) Once the melody was set, it was very easy to add the accompaniments. Before teaching the melody on the bars, I taught the body percussion to the students as written in the book, also using fruit names (and homemade fruit icons* on my homemade felt board**) to help with the rhythm. I used: “strawberry” and “coconut” for the triplets, “apple” and “orange” for the quarter note/eighth note combos, and for the last 2 measures we said “blueberry rolled on the floor,” hitting the floor on just “blue.” Wonderfully, the BP leg alternations go perfectly with the structure and shape of the melody, making it very easy to teach the melody. Once the melody was taught to everyone, I began to teach the accompaniment patterns, and then eventually assigned parts for the end-of-week parent show.
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At the parent show, we played the ensemble piece as part of the “spider bite scenario.” One student was the sneaky spider, and another was the victim who had to dance out the poison of the bite, using a fast traditional Tarantella dance step pattern, which included kicks. The teacher narrated the “story” as the students played percussion chosen for the sound effects. The grand finale of the story was, of course, the ensemble piece. * I created the fruit from clip art, printed out on white cardstock, cut them, and put adhesive (male) Velcro on the back of each. Of course, if you have a magnetic white board at your school, skip the whole felt thing and just put adhesive magnets on the backs of the fruits. ** I made the felt board by hot-gluing the edges of a very large sheet of (my desired color of) felt onto the back of very thick foam board, which you can get at any stationary store. I first had to lengthen the foam board by cutting another one and hot-gluing it to the first one, endto-end. The whole board is 46” x 24”. I have also glued several felt pockets to the back of the board, which hold my felt pieces (notes, etc., which I had cut out of felt, too) and anything else such as the fruit.
Plan Ahead! 2015 AOSA Professional Development Conference November 11-14, 2015
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Grant and Scholarship Opportunities The following are grants and scholarships available through AOSA. Please visit their website at www.aosa.org for grant and application information. AOSA TAP Fund – The Training and Projects (TAP) Fund provides financial aid to AOSA members who are teachers of elementary and junior high school students of low-income populations. Funds must be used for professional development, instruments, and other creative Orff Schulwerk related projects. Funds must used benefit the music education of students from low-income populations and demonstration of personal financial need is necessary if funds are used for professional development. See website for guidelines to assist applicants who are seeking a TAP Fund grant. Barbara Potter Scholarship Fund – The Barbara Potter Scholarship Fund provides financial aid to AOSA members who are interested in furthering the growth of Orff Schulwerk. These persons must need financial aid to further their education in Orff Schulwerk by attending the Orff Institute in Salzburg, Austria. Gunild Keetman Assistance Fund - Established by the AOSA to honor Gunild Keetman, this fund provides aid to AOSA members who are interested in furthering their growth in Orff Schulwerk. These persons must need financial aid to further their education in Orff Schulwerk or to develop a valid, creative project. It is reserved for uses and benefits associated with Orff Schulwerk. Research Grant - The purpose of this fund is to support and encourage research related to Orff Schulwerk research initiatives as outlined on the AOSA website. Research Partnership Grant – The purpose of this fund is to support and encourage joint research related to Orff Schulwerk by music teachers and experienced researchers. Grant is available to a research team that includes at least one practicing pk-12 music teacher and one faculty member with substantial research experience at a college or university. Shields-Gillespie Scholarship – The Shields-Gillespie Scholarship provides financial aid to AOSA members who are interested in furthering the growth of Orff Schulwerk in early childhood education. These persons must demonstrate financial need in order to further their education in Orff Schulwerk, or they must be educators in early childhood programs with low income populations. Applicants may apply for training, instruments for their institution, or for other valid creative projects. External grants available include: Kids in Need Foundation – Offers K-12 teacher grants to support innovative classroom projects. Lowe’s Toolbox for Education – Provides grant awards up to $5000 to support school improvement projects at K-12 schools in the U.S. Mockingbird Foundation Educational Grants - Mockingbird is particularly interested in projects that encourage and foster creative expression in any musical form (including composition, instrumentation, vocalization, or improvisation), but also recognizes broader and more basic needs within conventional instruction. Mockingbird encourages applications associated with diverse or unusual musical styles, genres, forms, and philosophies. Visit http://www.k12grants4teachers.com/ for information on other education grants. 10
Workshop Information Workshops are held in the music room of the Lower School Building, which is the building all the way to the left of the Abington Friends School campus. Coffee and gathering begins at 8:30 a.m. Workshops run from 9:00-1:30. Bring a bag lunch or bring $5.00 for pizza and a drink. PA Act 48 credits and NJ Professional Development Certificates are available. To qualify: 1. Sign in for the appropriate state with John Bednar before the workshop begins. 2. You must remain for the entire workshop. 3. After the workshop, Act 48 recipients must submit a complete PDE evaluation form. 4. If you have met the above requirements, you may pick up your PA or NJ certificates before you leave.
Directions to Workshops Abington Friends School 575 Washington Lane, Jenkintown, PA 19046 Using Pennsylvania Turnpike - Get off the PA Turnpike at the Willow Grove Exit, Rt. 611, go South on 611 (Old York Rd.) about 4 or 5 miles until you get into the Jenkintown shopping district (small shops right along sidewalk). The first light is Greenwood - turn left. The first light on Greenwood is Washington Lane – turn left, second driveway, turn right into Abington Friends School. - From the North - take the Northeast Extension of the PA Turnpike south to Rt. I-276 East. Follow directions above. From the State of Delaware and Delaware County, PA Take I-95 North to Chester and exit at Rt. I-476 Plymouth Meeting (Blue Route). Stay on I-476 and go onto the PA Turnpike East. Follow PA Turnpike directions above. From Chester County, PA Take Rt. 202 to the PA Turnpike East. Follow PA Turnpike directions above. From New Jersey - From Central Jersey - Take the New Jersey Turnpike to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Follow PA Turnpike directions above. - From Tacony Palmyra Bridge - Cross the Bridge and follow Rt. 73 North through Philadelphia (becomes Cottman Ave.) and into Montgomery County where it is called Township Line Road. Turn right onto Jenkintown Road, which becomes Greenwood Ave. Turn right onto Washington Lane. Abington Friends is on the right. - From Ben Franklin and Walt Whitman Bridges - Take Schuylkill Expressway I-76 West and bear right at Roosevelt Boulevard Extension. Exit at Broad Street Rt. 611 North and follow directions below. From Philadelphia Take Broad Street North (Rt. 611) and bear right onto Old York Road. Turn right at the end of “The Pavilion” shopping center onto Washington Lane. Abington Friends is 1 1/2 blocks on the right. Via Train Get off at the Jenkintown train station. Follow Greenwood Ave. to Washington Ln. School will be across Washington Lane to your left. 11
Membership in AOSA and PAOSA Membership provides opportunities for continual development of the teacher. Active participation in our area workshops will inspire creative musical growth. By associating with other talented music educators, you can share ideas at a professional level. Teachers who are new to the Orff Schulwerk process and don't have access to the barred instruments, will be introduced to many other skills which still nurture the Orff process. *AOSA and PAOSA do not have a unified membership.
American Orff-Schulwerk Association Member Benefits: • By becoming a member of AOSA, you will form associations with other talented arts educators who continue to seek professional renewal and growth in the same atmosphere of playful spontaneity and musical discovery that your students will experience in the Orff Schulwerk classroom. • Membership provides teachers with unique opportunities for creative musical growth through their own active participation in area workshops and national conferences. • Members receive two quarterly publications: The Orff Echo, which publishes scholarly and research articles that extend understanding of the Schulwerk and related approaches to music education; and Reverberations, an on-line publication containing AOSA news and teaching resources that support classroom applications of the Orff Schulwerk. • You will be eligible for AOSA sponsored grants and scholarships for teacher education, instruments and other special creative projects that are associated with Orff Schulwerk and that will benefit the music education of children. • You gain access to the AOSA video library, which contains hundreds of professionally produced, informational videos. • Members save 50% on registration for the annual AOSA professional development conference held each November. • You will be able to use the Members Only section of the AOSA website which includes teaching resources, on-line videos, access to research related to Orff Schulwerk, and much more.
Philadelphia Area Orff Schulwerk Association Member Benefits: * The PENTATON: Local newsletter issued 3 times a year. * PAOSA workshops: Free admission to all 6 workshops. * Chapter Directory: Provides contact with other PAOSA members. * Complimentary admission to workshops for your administrator. * Members may bring one guest per year for $15 fee. * Individual workshops are $40. Membership fee pays for itself after 2 workshops * Access to “Members Only” section on our website at www.paosa.org. 12
2014-2015 PAOSA Board Members
540-742-2704
Program Chair Michelle Fella Przybylowski Musarch@aol.com 215-938-7483
Past President Dawn Pratson dpratson@aol.com 267-971-0926
PENTATON Editor (Interim) Fran Surkin f.surkin@gmail.com 978-771-4590
Vice President Kate Bright Bright184@yahoo.com 717-761-1010
Act 48 Administrator John F. Bednar Jr. Jbednar1@verizon.net 610-539-6295
Membership Chair Dawn Pratson dpratson@aol.com 267-738-1382
Historian Rose Grelis rgrelis@verizon.net 610-328-9784
Website Editor Linda Wardell lwardell@comcast.net 302-988-7020
Hospitality Chair Sharon Steward svsteward@verizon.net 215-355-0934
Member at Large Martha Glaze Zook mglazeook@verizon.net 215-925-8948
Member at Large Terri Cocci terrypiano@dejazzd.com 610-582-7448
Secretary Alaena Silva alaena.leigh@gmail.com
Treasurer Jennifer Sheridan Jennifer.Sheridan@mac.com 610 526-9189
President Lori Arner LArner@crsd.org
Members are encouraged contribute articles to the “PENTATON�! This includes member highlights, workshop reviews, lesson ideas, technology tips, workshop photos, or any other information you would like to share.
Publicize your business in The PENTATON Business card size ads are $10 per issue $25 per publication year
Please email submissions to Fran Surkin f.surkin@gmail.com
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