"An American Methodology" by Eisen and Robertson
This resource is a GREAT introduction to the Kodaly philosophy. It includes processes for using preparation, presentation, and practice strategies, specific ideas for each stage, and tons of songs and singing games! It also includes art music examples, which are great for expanding students' listening and literacy skills!
"Lesson Planning in a Kodaly Setting" by Rita Klinger
This is such a great resource for lesson planning, written by the late Rita Klinger. Even if you haven't been Kodaly trained, it has lots of great suggestions for writing lessons, creating transitions, and more! I've used it as a required resource when I've taught Kodaly Level I because it is truly so helpful.
"150 Rounds" by Bolkovac and Johnson
This is my go-to book for finding rounds! I love to use a couple rounds on each concert with my choir, and with 150 in one book, there is a lot from which to choose!
"150 American Folk Songs" by Erdei and Komlos
This was a required text for my Kodaly Level I training, and it's clear why: there are so many folk songs in this resource, with each song indexed by tone set. The book starts with simple songs with only two or three pitches, and expands from there.
"Educating Young Singers" by Goetze, Broeker, and Boshkoff
This book is an absolute blessing for any choir director, but especially those with little choral experience! It includes many different warm ups and vocal exercises, thoughts about choosing literature, video examples of directing a choir, conducting suggestions, and SO much more!
"Kenya Sing and Dance" by Tim Gregory
If you are hoping to expand the multicultural music in your curriculum, this is a really wonderful resource. The book includes written notation of all the songs, as well as dance directions. The DVD is my favorite part, though, as it includes field videos/ recordings of students in Kenya singing the songs in the book, as well as performance videos of each song. I love using it to have students talk about what they notice and wonder, but the videos are also really wonderful for teaching the music, as Tim gives the lyrics meaning and context as he teaches.
"Teaching Movement and Dance"/ "Rhythmically Moving" by Phyllis Weikart
This is an expensive purchase, but so worth it! The book includes directions to tons of different folk dances from around the world, as well as an index by country (which is great if you create your own programs and are looking for something specific!) The CD's can be purchased separately, and include recordings for all of the dances in the book.
"Chimes of Dunkirk" by New England Dancing Masters
This is another great folk dancing resource! The New England Dancing Masters have several other dance resources like this, which are also wonderful, but I started with this one and have loved it. The
"Chimes of Dunkirk" dance is a wonderful dance for 1st and 2nd graders, and I recently tried "Alabama Gal" from this book and my students really enjoyed it.
"Over the Garden Wall" by Susan Brumfield
Susan Brumfield has many great resources that are worth checking out. The first that I added to my collection with this book of folk songs from England. I love how she included field recordings of many of the songs, and the teaching notes are also really helpful! There are many songs in here that I had never seen before, so it's definitely worth a look!
"As American as Apple Pie" by Kriske and DeLelles
This is the newest book I've added to my resource collection, and I'm so glad I bought it! I heard about it through my friend David Row, who mentioned it when I was interviewing him for a podcast about Orff Schulwerk. It includes tons of accessible Orff arrangements for well known folk songs. I'm excited to dig into it!
I hope this list is helpful as you are planning your purchases for next school year! If you're looking for more resources, check out this helpful post by Lindsay Jervis.
What are your favorite print resources for the music room? Feel free to comment below. Happy singing and teaching!
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