Welcome
Brookhaven Elementary School offers students a variety of activities in the music classroom and several performance opportunities in their time here. Each student in Kindergarten through grade three attends one, 40-minute music class each week. Students in grades two and three also have the opportunity to perform for an audience in the second grade informance and the third grade chorus. General music class and chorus are aligned with the New York State Learning Standards, specifically the Standards for the Arts. A majority of our experiences follow the music teaching method called the Orff-Schulwerk.
Mr. Finnegan's Music Room
The Orff-Schulwerk
Orff-Schulwerk is a way to teach and learn music. Developed by composer Carl Orff, it is based on things children like to do: sing, chant rhymes, clap, dance, and keep a beat on anything near at hand. These instincts are directed into learning music by hearing and making music first, then reading and writing it later. This is the same way we all learned our language.
Orff-Schulwerk is designed for all children. It uses traditional or original rhymes, games, songs, and dances. These may be spoken or sung, accompanied by body percussion (snapping, clapping, patting or stomping) or by a variety of instruments. Each child contributes according to his or her ability.
The special Orff melody instruments include xylophones, metallophones and glockenspiels that offer good sound immediately. Played together as in a small orchestra, their use helps children become sensitive listeners and considerate participants.
With Orff-Schulwerk, improvisation and composition start students on a lifetime of knowledge and pleasure through personal musical experience. Learning is meaningful only if it brings satisfaction to the learner, and satisfaction arises from the ability to use acquired knowledge for the purpose of creating. For both teacher and student, Orff Schulwerk is a theme with endless variation.
This definition was taken from the American Orff-Schulwerk Association.
Orff-Schulwerk is designed for all children. It uses traditional or original rhymes, games, songs, and dances. These may be spoken or sung, accompanied by body percussion (snapping, clapping, patting or stomping) or by a variety of instruments. Each child contributes according to his or her ability.
The special Orff melody instruments include xylophones, metallophones and glockenspiels that offer good sound immediately. Played together as in a small orchestra, their use helps children become sensitive listeners and considerate participants.
With Orff-Schulwerk, improvisation and composition start students on a lifetime of knowledge and pleasure through personal musical experience. Learning is meaningful only if it brings satisfaction to the learner, and satisfaction arises from the ability to use acquired knowledge for the purpose of creating. For both teacher and student, Orff Schulwerk is a theme with endless variation.
This definition was taken from the American Orff-Schulwerk Association.
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