July – August 2015

News & Notes
July-­August 2015
From the President
IN THIS ISSUE
From the President
Samantha Smith
p. 1-2
2016 MEI Conference
Denver, April 7-9
p. 2
NEW on MEI Website
Sturdy Songs
p. 3
What is SongWorks?
Mary Stockum,
Danielle Solan
p. 4
SongWorks Certification
Class of 2015
Class photo, names
Photos from the course
p. 5
p. 6-10
2015 Emerging Pioneers
Max Mellman, MJ
Kristin Harney, MT
p. 11
p. 12-13
2015 MEI Leadership
p. 14
MEI Information
p. 15
p. 15
SAVE THE DATE
2016 MEI CONFERENCE
APRIL 7-9
DENVER, CO
As I slowly sink back into reality after nearly two
weeks of being away, I cannot help but feel completely
and utterly grateful to have been a part of the 2015
SongWorks Certification Course. It’s hard to believe
that just one year ago the Certification Committee was
meeting in a rented house in Bozeman, Montana to
discuss the details of this course. What topics would
the course include? How long would it be? Where
would it be? Who would teach it? After leaving
Bozeman, Terolle Turnham (SWC Executive Director),
Samantha Smith
Dale Turnham (SWC Business Manager), Dr. Peggy
Rocky River, OH
Bennett and Dr. Anna Langness (both SWC Faculty)
sprung into action to make our ideas a reality. In one
short year, Terolle and Dale worked diligently to ensure that the finances
were in order and that our stay at St. Catherine University was enjoyable
in every way. They secured graduate credits for those who wanted them,
and even arranged to personally transport registrants to and from the
airport. Peggy and Anna worked to make sure that our classes covered a
vast and varied amount of material. They created plans that were
engaging and that included opportunities for discussion and collaboration.
Because of these four, the SongWorks Certification Course was a great
success.
When I ventured to Minnesota after an already-busy summer, I thought I
knew what the course had in store for me. I knew that I would learn a lot
about the SongWorks Principles and Practices, and that I would gain
more of an understanding of the origins of Music EdVentures. I also knew
that I would be able to start the school year with a binder full of new
resources including new song games and activities. If I had completed the
course having accomplished just those things I would have been
completely satisfied.
I didn’t know, however, that I would finish the course with many strong
friendships. I didn’t realize how much fun I would have, and how much
great food I would get to eat! I learned more about myself than I had ever
expected to through discussions in the Principles course. The interactions
I had while working on my Sound Skills proficiency assignment helped me
analyze songs differently than I had before: I began to notice sol-fa
patterns and rhythm chunks in songs that I had never used for study, and
was able to discuss possible activities and applications for study with
others. While planning my paper for Principles class, I had many deep
conversations with classmates that helped me to flesh out some of my
own beliefs about music education, and about what type of teacher I want
to be. We even met in the lounge some evenings to share and play song
games with one another, which really beefed up my repertoire for the beginning of the year! These intangible
benefits have changed me for the better, and I am overjoyed with how much I gained from the 2015
SongWorks Certification Course.
So, from the bottom of my heart…THANK YOU to those who were instrumental in planning the course, and
thank you to everyone who registered. If you were not able to attend the course this year, please know that
many of us who did are energized and ready to talk about the SongWorks Principles and Practices, to share
descriptions or videos (with permission) of song games, or to chat about planning for the first day of school.
Please don’t hesitate to email me, to ask questions on the MEI Facebook page, or to post your own ideas for
the start of the school year. As we near the end of summer and prepare to begin school once again, remember
to stay connected! We have a built-in support group within this organization.
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Sammi
2016 MEI Conference
SongWorks: Basics and Beyond!
April 7, 8, 9
Denver, Colorado
The Conference Registation Form will appear in the September News Issue.
Attention MEI members!
August 15 is the deadline for Conference Presentation Propsals.
For the Proposal Guidelines and Form, contact Conference Chair:
Ruthanne Fisher Parker, MEI President-Elect at ruthanne.fisher@gmail.com
STURDY SONGS FOR STUDY
Fifteen Posted and Fifteen Coming Soon
by Marilyn Winter
Did you read the article, Goin’ Down the Railroad to Watch Sally Go Round,
in the June 2015 Newsletter? Kate Smith (BC) wins the prize for being the
first person to determine which songs were included in that article.
Here they are:
A Hunting We Will Go
Darby Town
Goin’ Down the Railroad
Hop Old Squirrel
I’m Going Down Town
I Wrote a Letter
Oat, Peas, Beans
Pass the Witch’s Broomstick
Rain, Rain
Rig-a-Jig-Jig
Sally Go Round the Sun
Scotland’s Burning
Three Blind Mice
Uncle Joe
Willum
Marilyn Winter
Sun City, AZ
These 15 Sturdy Songs are now posted on the MEI website. Under each song title you will find
the score, an mp3 of the song, and descriptions for the game or activity. Take a look now to
see what might be helpful for your students as the new school year approaches.
During our recent time at the SongWorks Certification Course in Minnesota, I began collecting
recordings for the next group of the Sturdy Songs. This set will include:
Bluebird
Button & Key
Chicken on a Fencepost
Circle Left
Come and Follow Me
Drunken Sailor
Great Big House in New Orleans
High Stepping Horses
I Caught a Rabbit
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Let’s Catch a Rooster
Our Old Sow
Sailing Down the River
Tideo
Windy Weather
Keep checking the Secure Members Area of the MEI website. We plan to post songs as they
are completed rather than wait for all to be finished.
If you have additional ideas for any of the songs and activities, please send them to me. Also,
please let me know if you have songs that you would like to see included as Sturdy Songs.
mfw406@gmail.com. §
Not a current member of Music EdVentures, Inc.?
JOIN or RENEW
It’s quick and easy! Go to www.musicedventures.com
My response to a friend’s question, “What is SongWorks?”
I'm in an education network called Music EdVentures and SongWorks is an orientation
toward teaching, learning, musicality, and language. It has helped me learn “how to teach”
not just “what to teach.” Songs are used to develop awareness in social interactions,
listening, imagination, music literacy as students process and produce the sounds they are
hearing. Check it out: musicedventures.com
Meredith (Mary) Stockum
How I explained SongWorks to a nonteacher, nonmusician friend.
SongWorks is an engaging way of teaching music that invites deeper thinking about the art of
interacting with children and helping them thrive as learners. How we converse with children is
important, and we work on ways of teaching that honor their choices, value their ideas and
conversational contributions, and prompt their imaginations. It's a way of teaching that really
nurtures children and keeps their spirit of musicality alive.
This is my extended version:
As SongWorks teachers, we also facilitate opportunities for lively play and playful study that keep
the spirit of musicality alive and promote vibrant learning. Our teaching is responsive to the “whole
child” and their need for multifaceted engagement, and our choices about curriculum and
instructional strategies are mindful of the many ways that children develop in relation to their self
and their environment. To explain the breadth and depth of possibilities, Dr. Fleurette Sweeney
created a star that represents the balanced learning that music education should stimulate (musical,
cognitive-symbolic, cognitive-imaginative, cognitive-linguistic, sensory-motor, and social-emotional.)
Danielle Solan
The 2015 SongWorks Certification Foundations Course
St. Catherine University, St. Paul, MN
July 13-23
Top row: Melody Epperson, Danielle Solan, Jacquie Undem, Susan Kenney, Esther Campbell
Row 5: Sammi Smith, Jeanette Potvin, Lisa Schoen, Alice Nordquist, Ethan Updike,
Namie Yokoo, Taryn Raschdorf
Row 4: Emilee Knell, Jake Harkins, Judy Fjell, Marty Stover, Vicky Suarez
Row 3: Kimie Honda, Karalyn Koskela, Molly Feigal, Kate Smith, Anna Langness, Peggy Bennett
Row 2: Max Mellman, Leah Steffen, Pam Vellutini, Deb Graf
Row 1: Terolle Turnham, Betty Phillips, Denae Olsen, Mary Stockum, Emma Shukle,
Kathy Cartwright, Marilyn Winter
Not pictured: Fleurette Sweeney
Instructors: Peggy Bennett and Anna Langness
SongWorks Executive Director: Terolle Turnham
photographed by Nathan Daniels
Photography in this issue submitted by Mary Stockum, Vicky Suarez, Judy Fjell,
Pam Vellutini, Marilyn Winter, Lisa Schoen, Molly Feigal, and Anna Langness.
Minnesota participants (back row) Terolle Turnham, Marty Stover, Jeanette Potvin,
Jacquie Undem, Karalyn Koskela, Lisa Schoen, Deb Graf
(front row) Kathy Cartwright, Molly Feigal, Emma Shukle, Denae Olsen
Oberlin Conservatory Music Education Graduates: Max Mellman (NJ), Sammi Smith (OH),
Ethan Updike (FL), Jake Harkins (VA), Anna Langness, Visiting Prof. (CO), Peggy Bennett,
Professor Emerita (MT), Alice Nordquist (MD), Danielle Solan (Hong Kong)
Pacific Rim participants: Namie Yokoo (Japan), Kimie Honda (Japan), Kate Smith (BC),
Danielle Solan (Hong Kong), Betty Phillips (OR), Esther Campbell (WA), Pam Vellutini (OR)
St. Catherine University campus
Rauenhorst Hall (residence), Fontbonne Hall (class)
Sarah Glover’s Song
by Judy Fjell
Emerging Pioneers complete four assignments to fulfill their Fleurette Sweeney Fellowship award. 2015
Emerging Pioneer, Max Mellman, shares his #2 assignment.
Reflections on the 2015 Conference
When everyone else had left the hospitality room to get some sleep before
flying home the morning after the April MEI Conference, seven of us stayed up
and talked. All of us were Emerging Pioneers (EP) or had interest in becoming
an EP. As our time together drew to a close, we talked about what it meant to
be the early-career cohort of SongWorks educators. We wondered about the
history of Music EdVentures. How was it that all these incredible people
gravitated together to develop such a rich and musical framework for teaching
music to children? The Emerging Pioneer program is relatively nascent
(having begun in 2010), but in what year did the first Music EdVentures
conference take place? Why did Music EdVentures form an identity separate
from its predecessor Education Through Music (ETM), and is there any
connection with the ETM organization in New York City? So many questions…
Max Mellman is about to
begin his second year
teaching elementary general
and instrumental music at a
public Montessori School
(the same district where he
attended school as a child) in
Montclair, New Jersey. Max
holds bachelors and masters
degrees from Oberlin
College and Conservatory
and is a multi-instrumentalist
who loves technology and
design. Max also has a
special bond with the Czech
Republic.
During our late-night conversation, we were reminded that there are several
mid-career EP teachers who have been studying and teaching SongWorks for
a long time, who found and adopted SongWorks years after they began
teaching. Their process of becoming EPs has been years in the making, and
they have been instrumental in sustaining and sharing the SongWorks
philosophies during that time. They have also become friends and mentors to
us, the early-career cohort, as our relationships with SongWorks mature and
develop.
I am in the fortunate and unique place of having been raised (in college) on the
SongWorks principles. I consult my SongWorks books, web resources, and
MEI newsletters religiously. In my first year of teaching, as I plan my lessons
song by song, I have not yet investigated Kodály, Orff, and other
methodologies. I am familiar with their foundations, of course, but what stands
out to me the most is how well-known they are. Today, SongWorks is not of
that scale. While becoming an organization of that size may not be our
collective goal, I want SongWorks to be a name that is recognized in job
interviews and at state music education conferences.
Sitting there in the conference hospitality room, as we finished the last of the boxed wine and macaroons, I
came to understand that I am joining the Music EdVentures community at an emergent stage, just when our
work is poised to grow in major ways. Not growth all at once—but steadily and certainly. This summer, we
take one of the critical steps in raising our profile by offering the first SongWorks certification course. Next
December, I will be proud to share with other educators that I am “SongWorks-Certified,” and what that
means.
At this year’s conference, I was asked to present as an Emerging Pioneer and to preside over the final day of
presentations. These high-visibility positions not only made the conference dearer to me, but revealed to me
the magnitude of my responsibility in keeping our practice and family alive, sharp, and growing. I am a Music
EdVentures sophomore, and I don’t know where my path will lead. But I know that I love what we do—and so
does my principal. Our intimate conference was full of teachers radiating the joy of teaching music to
children. That’s a joy worth spreading. §
Emerging Pioneers complete four assignments to fulfill their Fleurette Sweeney Fellowship award. Kristin
Harney, a 2015 Emerging Pioneer, shares her #3 assignment.
SongWorks Principles in Action
Treating students with respect is an obvious best practice in education. I
believe students can only reach their potential within environments where they
feel safe and respected. This belief relates to the following SongWorks
principles: a) students have the right to be treated with respect and dignity;
and b) students deserve an engaging learning environment in which they feel
safe.
I teach a core arts class that is required for elementary education majors, but
is open to any student on campus. One of the final assignments for the 2015
spring semester was an “arts forum,” a collaborative activity designed to help
students see the value of the arts in their lives. The assignment required
students to work as a team, trusting that each member will “pull their own
weight.” I believe the success of the arts forum directly relates to the climate
that is fostered in my classroom.
When planning for their arts forum projects, students first selected a
debatable discussion topic in the arts and prepared for a 20 minute, round
table discussion. Topics from Spring 2015 included controversies surrounding
nudity, gender discrimination, and drug culture in arts venues.
Next, students identified a “role” and a related “position” for each group
member. Examples of roles include a parent in support of a requirement to
dance in gym class, a student who does not think he should be required to
take music class, or an administrator who does not think a theater program is
the best use of school funds. Students’ roles may or may not represent their
actual position on their chosen topic.
Dr. Kristin Harney, Assistant
Professor of Music
Education at Montana State
University in Bozeman,
teaches undergraduate and
graduate level music
courses. Kristin received her
BA in music education from
Luther College, her MA in
music education from the
University of Minnesota, and
her DMA in music education
from Boston University.
Kristin’s areas of research
interest are music integration
in the elementary curriculum,
student motivation, and
undergraduate research in
music education.
One person served as the moderator and the others in the group took on their
chosen roles. On their own, group members researched their positions and
prepared for the forum. During class, each group presented their topics as a
panel discussion. The moderator introduced the discussion, introduced the
panel forum members, and helped keep the conversation flowing and the
panelists on track. All panelists responded to questions as their characters
would, providing interesting and varied points of view. Students are encouraged to dress up like their
characters, create name tags, and incorporate props to make the forum as realistic as possible.
I was amazed by the forum topics students chose and by the confidence with which students portrayed their
characters. Because of four smaller scale collaborative projects earlier in the semester, students felt safe
and comfortable with this task. The arts forum assignment guidelines clearly stated that each group member
must represent his or her character respectfully with no stereotyping present. Additionally, a climate of
acceptance had been fostered throughout the semester. Together, the scaffolding of skills and the positive
classroom environment led to forum topics that I’m quite sure would not have been chosen otherwise.
One group decided to take on gender inequality and stereotyping in the dance industry. Another group
discussed nudity and sexuality in the arts. A third group talked about the relationship between drug use and
musicians’ perceived popularity. Across the board, topics were portrayed with sensitivity and respect, and
audience members were extremely supportive of their peers.
cont’d
I truly believe there is a connection between respectful teacher-student relationships and students’
willingness to “put themselves out there:” courage is so often necessary for creative projects to be
successful. The arts forum project not only allowed students to creatively meet National Core Arts Standards,
it was also a great tool for encouraging students to dig into complex issues in the arts and reflect about the
importance of the arts in their lives.
For a complete copy of the Arts Forum assignment guidelines and rubric, please email
kristin.harney@montana.edu.
Arts Forum Rubric- 50 points total
Individual: Written homework: 30 points
1. Expert panelists:
a. Biography of character (10 Points)
b. Name, relationship to issue, job, some pertinent background information
c. Thoughtful, realistic, respectful representation of this character
d. Response to each discussion question (10 Points)
i. Well-developed 3-5 sentence response to each of the five discussion questions.
ii. Evidence of research to represent this point of view
iii. Spelling/Grammar/Formatting (10 points)
2. Moderator:
a. Introduction of discussion topic & planning (10 points)
i. Background information of the topic, purpose of discussion
ii. Discussion management and time keeping plan
b. Discussion questions (10 points)
i. Identify and rationalize 5 questions (why is the question worth asking?)
ii. One surprise question and rationalization
c. Spelling/Grammar/Formatting (10 points)
Group Work: Art Forum Panel Discussion: 20 points
1. Discussion questions (10 points)
a. Group answers all 5 discussion questions, follow up questions, surprise question, and
audience question.
2. Flow and timing (5 points)
a. Discussion lasts 20 minutes
b. Conversation flows and is engaging for the audience to watch
3. Participation (5 points)
a. Each group member speaks an approximately equal amount of time
b. Each group member represents his or her character respectfully. Stereotyping is not present. §
2015 Music EdVentures Leadership
The Board of Directors
President
Samantha Smith
Rocky River, OH
Treasurer
Anna Langness
Broomfield, CO President-Elect
Ruthanne Parker
Wyncote, PA
Past President
Leah Steffen
Shafer, MN
Secretary
Betty Phillips
Corvallis, OR
Director At Large
Jake Harkins
Falls Church, VA
Director for USA
Vicky Suarez
Richardson, TX
President-Elect Apprentice
Taryn Raschdorf
Virginia Beach, VA
Director for Japan
Eiko Oyoko
Nara City, Japan
Director At Large
Esther Campbell
Olympia, WA
Director for Canada
Kate Smith
Port Coquitlam, BC
The Purpose of Music
EdVentures, Inc. is to search for and
practice ways of making music and
interacting with people that preserve and
celebrate the dignity of both. As a
guiding principle, this purpose will focus
our work on:
1. Practices that foster
interactive, facilitative learning
environments.
2. Strategies that empower the
learner within the context of
music experience and study.
3. Networks that encourage
collaboration between diverse
disciplines, professionals, and
interest groups.
MEI Officers
President
!
Samantha Smith, OH
President-Elect
!
Ruthanne Parker, PA
President-Elect Apprentice
!
Taryn Raschdorf, VA
Past President
!
Leah Steffen, MN
Secretary
!
Betty Phillips, OR
Treasurer
!
Anna Langness, CO
Board of Directors
!
Jake Harkins, VA
!
Esther Campbell, WA
!
Vicky Suarez, TX
!
Eiko Oyoko, Japan
!
Kate Smith, Canada
Website Chair
!
Pam Vellutini, OR
Newsletter Chair
!
Anna Langness, CO
Academic Coordinator
!
Emerging Pioneers Advisor
!
Peggy Bennett, MT
Communications Chair
!
Peggy Bennett, MT
2016 Conference Chair
!
Ruthanne Parker, PA
ATE
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2016
MEI CONFERENCE
April 7, 8, 9
Denver, CO
Any member of Music EdVentures, Inc.
can receive a copy of the MEI Policies
and Procedures Manual by
contacting MEI Past President Leah
Steffen at leahrsteffen@gmail.com.
Support the Mission of MEI
with membership dues or donations!
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or
Make checks payable to MEI in (USD); Include your
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Send to Anna Langness, Treas.
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News and Notes is the monthly communication of Music
EdVentures, Inc. (MEI). Regular features will keep members and
friends up to date on coming events and the latest teaching
techniques, tips and strategies. Submissions are due on the 15th
of the month prior to publication and may be submitted months in
advance, indicating the month in which they are to be published.
The committee reserves the right to select material to be published
according to length and appropriateness. Articles should be
200-325 words. Visuals should be scanned and submitted as pdf
or jpg files. Submissions may be sent to alangness@gmail.com
and may be edited to accommodate space limitations.