Assessment. It’s part of every learning and teaching experience, and as committee member Amy Hall writes, is often misunderstood as the final destination—a grade at the end of a term, a performance polished to perfection. However, for those of us...
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Why should I bother to teach recorder in my class? It’s a waste of time! It relates to nothing….’ WAOSA LIfe member, and ANCOS Levels Presenter Jackie Ewers, considers the benefits of including recorder in the music classroom. Read on to explore...
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It’s hard to believe it’s been over a month since we hosted Pinnacle! So much work went into this National Conference, which was enjoyed by over 150 participants in person and online. We invite you to join us as we take a trip down...
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When you are in the last week of school and you have a music class with the Year 2 or 3 and in the last period of the day, its time to bring out that old chestnut….Jingle Bells! Process: Sing through the song Jingle Bells. The...
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On Saturday, 12th October, the WAOSA family gathered to celebrate 30 years of Orff Schulwerk in Western Australia. The evening kicked off with the rhythmic beats of taiko drumming, thanks to Simon from Taiko-on, filling the Rossmoyne Bowling Club...
Read moreEvery year, in the lead up to ANZAC Day, we remember the brave, the fallen and the courageous as well as those who are still protecting our freedom and sacrificing time with their families for our country. This year, WAOSA would like to share the...
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After hearing of the recent passing of Denise Gagne, a truly wonderful leader in Music Education, we share our condolences and gratitude for everything that Denise shared in her leadership and teaching. Thank you, Denise, for all you have done to...
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Welcome back to School for 2024…. The Year of the Dragon! 🐲🐉 As we head into the Lunar New Year this Saturday 10th February, here is some wonderful inspiration for an Orff-style inspired chant that you can use in many wonderful ways in your...
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In early Term Three, Jane Nicholas – a passionate Orff-Schulwerk music educator and advocate for sharing culture, diversity and knowledge of our First Nations peoples in Music Education – was invited to share her experiences and...
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In the July holidays, while many teachers were exploring the beauty of our WA coastlines, 46 music educators chose to spend 5 days together expanding their musical minds and repertoire to learn more about their Orff-Schulwerk pedagogy...
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As we reflect on NAIDOC Week, 2023 and think about the theme “FOR OUR ELDERS,” let’s take some time to honour, remember, thank and respect the knowledge, music, stories, language and work passed down from our Elders, past and...
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Eboney Yapp ASME SS 2023 Orff Presentation
Asme Summer School 23 ANDY STEWART NOTES
https://www.waosa.org.au/events/
At the beginning of this year, Katherine Anson flew across to Glenelg, Adelaide with a ‘Orffully’ good bunch of musical colleagues, all keen to sink their teeth into a week-long conference of singing, saying, moving, dancing and...
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At our last network meeting in 2022, we explored the whackiness and fun of Boomwhackers with Amanda Johnston and Ash Bisdee. We sang, played, tapped, banged, moved, explored, laughed and chanted our hearts out with the immense and colourful fun...
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Recently, four of our WAOSA members have flown interstate to complete their next ANCOS level with other Orff state associations. The following excerpts describe their experiences interstate...
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The theme for NAIDOC 2022 is ‘Get up, stand up, show up!’ This year, the music specialists (along with their LOTE specialist) at Aubin Grove Primary have choreographed a simple scarf dance to share with their whole school community to...
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It is an absolute honour to acknowledge and thank Eboney Yapp for her dedication and the generosity that she has shown to WAOSA over the past four years as President of WAOSA. She has volunteered countless hours of her time to this role...
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Happy Harmony Day to all of our WAOSA Members! We hope you are enjoying celebrating Harmony Day with some amazing music from all around the world. This year, as a tribute to honouring the beauty of the Eastern European cultures that we are all...
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Sourced fromTeachingwithorff.com Written by Manju Durairaj Diwali for the year 2021 is celebrated/ observed on Thursday, November 4. Diwali is held on 15th day of the month of Kartika in the Hindu calendar and celebrates the festival...
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HAPPY BOOK WEEK 2021! How do you celebrate book week in your music rooms? This year’s Book Week theme of “Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds” is perfect for exploring sound and making music. An easy and fun project for...
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The Melbourne Music Summit is the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s annual conference designed to support and inspire generalist and specialist music teachers. MSO’s Creative Chair for Learning and Engagement and neuro-musical educator, Dr Anita...
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Our WAOSA Committee recently hosted our North Metro Network Meeting on the 12th May, kindly hosted by Laura Walker at Wembley Downs Primary School. Thank you to everyone who attended this fun afternoon of ukulele and song. Presented by Liz, Laura...
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Thank you, Jane Nicholas, for sharing this wonderful movement-based music game with us to celebrate NAIDOC week. We also acknowledge and thank Sharron Mirli Bell for sharing her beautiful voice and language. Click on image below “Walking on...
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Congratulations to one of our WAOSA committee members, Jane Nicholas, for being part of this amazing project for NAIDOC week. This year’s NAIDOC theme for celebration is…“Always was, always will be.” Jane was involved...
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We hope you have all survived this crazy term leading into Winter 2020. To help you with your planning for the upcoming winter months in music, here are some “orff-ily” gorgeous chants and songs as inspiration. Click on the song...
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As Term 2 is about to commence, we understand that a lot of music specialists may be feeling overwhelmed, frustrated or confused. The committee members would like to share a special message with you all. Please make sure you are taking time...
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Thanks Kailee for sharing these great podcasts for students and teachers! You can listen to podcasts for free via the a podcast app on your device (some examples are shown below) or you can even go to some of the website links and listen online...
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What better way to get children looking for musical things at home than to set up a Scavenger Hunt for them! Thanks Ash Bisdee for starting us off with her worksheet below: Sound Scavenger Hunt by Ash Bisdee JPEG version: Right click image...
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Thanks Ash Bisdee for sourcing the following worksheets/pictures and thank you to the Professional Development Services for Teachers (Ireland) for giving us permission to use them! It’s a great little resource and gives teachers a quick...
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With a huge demand for teachers to prepare for distance/digital/online education, many amazing resources have been shared. We’ve tried to compile some great websites here. We’d like to acknowledge that some of these are websites we...
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A Hands Off Activity – By Elizabeth Campbell Watch Kalani’s ‘Pieces of 8’ video 2. Everybody chooses a number between 1-8 and plays on that beat. Keep going until the group gets the ‘groove’...
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With some schools asking music teachers to reduce or stop singing, here are some non-singing activities! Thanks Kailee Marshall for writing and providing these. Body Percussion Activity Acknowledgment to Keith Terry (USA) and Helen Wilson...
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For something a little bit different, here’s a video review of Kaboom Percussions digital resource: Pop Song Play-Alongs. You can purchase it for $30 here: https://www.kaboompercussion.com/product-page/pop-song-play-alongs Don’t forget...
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Editor’s Message: Thank you so much Jane Nicholas for sharing and elaborating on the workshop you presented at this year’s ASME WA Summer School. We hope you find her ideas useful! Exploration of the Orff Schulwerk Approach Jane...
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Editor’s Notes: Thanks so much Kailee for sharing this excerpt from her ASME SS 2020 Presentation. ASME Summer School 2020 – EXCERPT Experiences in Music and Movement with Orff by Kailee Marshall Welcome Song: Wanjoo My Friend...
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Need to find some new repertoire for your classroom without breaking the bank? Have you tried Beth’s Notes? This amazing website includes a huge amount of repertoire and gives suggestions on how you can go about teaching these songs. You can...
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The Glad Tomorrow The title of Katie Noonans recent tour ‘The Glad Tomorrow’ is taken from the final line of a poem ‘A Song Of Hope’ by acclaimed Aboriginal writer Oodgeroo Noonuccal. This poem and nine others by Oodgeroo were the inspiration of a...
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Looking for a new dance to teach to your class? The Circle Waltz Mixer is great for teaching sequences, formations, moving to the beat and is different to the typical line or circle dances you may have already taught. For the original...
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Music and Place Belong Together By: Dr. Kumara Ward Lecturer in Curriculum and Pedagogy University of Western Sydney Music is part of every society. The seemingly infinite genres of music are testament to the societal, cultural and geographical...
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The Singing Game by Barry Hart Reviewed by Helen Wilson Review featured in June 2016 Orff West. This review is in the format of an image. You can zoom in by clicking the image above to access the PDF version.
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So there’s Kodaly, there’s Dalcroze, but you’re on the Orff page right now, so what is Orff? The best way to understand what Orff is, is to attend one of our PD’s. From one of these, you’ll notice that Orff is a hands...
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