Songbird Studio

 Hey! Check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store for a seasonally appropriate, but also non-religious, FREE resource ! This will only be free through the end of 2022. Read more about it below. This resource includes seven content pages based on a piggyback song of "One Little, Two Little, Three Little..." . Your students can practice counting, matching words, numbers, or colors with velcro or dry erase marker, and tracing and cutting . Sky's the limit, I've tried to create it to be very flexible because I know teachers like to get as many different uses out of our resources as possible! I would appreciate a follow on TPT if you do download it, and a review would be the cherry on top. Happy December! ⭐

Today I'm sharing a quick and easy idea using this foam puzzle from Dollar Tree. Just glancing at it, I see at least 3 of the most obvious ways we can use this in a session: 1) Identifying transportation icons 2) Identifying colors 3) Fine motor manipulation With a little more thinking, I can also see 2 additional ways to use this puzzle: 4) Counting the pieces 5) Requesting And of course, practically anything can be... 6) A fun choice activity! I'm going to focus on the first idea from the above list, identifying transportation icons. It's true, this puzzle isn't going to win any awards for detail, but the general shape of each icon is recognizable.  Especially for students who have complex voice devices with lots of submenus, this puzzle will provide a fun way to practice accessing menus specific to transportation and/or vehicles. If you'd like, you could use a black sharpie to add some general details, like windows and wheels. (If you make a mistake, no worries, ...

 Today I'm just sharing a quick little Dollar Tree haul--I like to take a spin through once a semester or so and see if anything catches my eye, and this is what caught my eye last week! I'll share specific interventions in the future, but in general, here is what went through my brain with each of these... *bubbles-sensory calm down tool *Elmo rattle/teether toy-shaker instrument *scrunchie-adapted movement prop *foam puzzle-language identification *foam die-counting *not pictured, a pool noodle-cut 'em up for drumsticks What about you, got anything good lately at the DT?

 Hi! It's me again, two weeks in a row (kinda) that's good, right? Today I'm sharing a visual schedule I use. I use this in two ways.        1) On Google Slides, set up with each icon as its own individual icon, and then move each icon to the "Done" section after we complete it.       2) I have another set printed, laminated, and velcro-ed, and I move each icon from the "To Do" to the "Done" section in a similar, but more concrete, fashion, for the students that benefit from that.   Do you do anything similar? I'll talk about what my general session schedule is in more detail later.  If you are interested in downloading your own copy, click here !

 Hi, there. It's been awhile! My job has changed--a lot--and everywhere I go, trying to find ideas or inspiration to re-energize my practice as a school-based music therapist...I'm not finding it!  So I thought I'd share what I do, because that usually motivates me, too, and maybe it will spark something for someone else.  I think sometimes there is a true dearth of resources for music therapists--we tend to feel we have to monetize them--but truly, none of us are rolling in the dough.  So--I just want to share.  Here we go! What is your first big to-do for your school year? For me, there's a few things: *create a schedule *complete assigned trainings *attend start-up meetings *update data sheets *complete transfer reports *prep August cart So far, I've gotten my meetings and trainings all scheduled, updated my data sheets, and have put a couple of feelers out for scheduling, but the rest of the nitty gritty will kick in soon!  What are you doing this time ...

At my previous placement, I never got to teach summer school, but I would prepare a few "substitute" music sessions that teachers could easily do in their classrooms so students still got some music time!  I created PowerPoints, using YouTube videos and self-recorded videos, as well.  Then I boxed up all their needed supplies and sent them the PowerPoints on Google drive.  It worked so well!  Here is one, simple, very straightforward example. :)  (BTW, I've never had luck viewing the videos in Google Slides, you will probably have to download, then watch.  LMK!) Click here to check it out!

My littlest kiddos came in after a rambunctious round of PE outside that had been punctuated by a lot of larger students also outside--who were out of control and interfering with their group.  As a result, my littles were escalated and upset and out of sorts when they came to me.  So my emergency calming protocol kicked in. Every class includes our hello song, a movement activity, an instrumental play activity, and a boo k , capped by a goodbye song.  Today we still included all those components, but changed them up a little. First we dimmed the lights.  I have 3 rows of lights, and I turned off 2. Next, I began fingerpicking on guitar, using the chords for our hello song. Once everyone was seated and settled, we began our hello song intervention, but I shortened our greeting practice, decreasing demands but increasing support in order to improve emotional regulation. We did some gentle movement imitation, using scarves to this relaxing AniMusic video ....

There is a wonderful resource called SingPlayCreate , who has many free and paid resources available for music teachers.  I have found that I can frequently adapt her resources for use with my kiddos, too, in more of a music therapy setting.  Today I'll share one such adapted activity. She recently posted a free rhythm buiding activity.  It uses quarter and eighth notes, and includes a set of cards (I STRONGLY encourage you to go get a [free] membership so you can access her  amazing resource library !).  She has great ideas for centers and individual work included--I just simplified a little for my students. Using the included cards, first I: *cropped and saved individual cards in Paint *imported into my Smart Notebook *projected on my Smart Board so students could manipulate them in view of the whole small group *using only quarter note, or "beat" cards, I modeled how to create a four beat rhythm on the Smart Board *students played the rhythm ba...

I have been using a formula for our color review with my littles in their music groups the past couple of weeks.  It has been fun and easy, and very straightforward, so I thought I'd share!  (Plus the pictures just make me happy 🌈)  We have gone in rainbow order (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple), devoting one class to each color.  Right after our hello song, we usually do a movement activity.  For our color review, we've had free movement to a song about that day's color, using that day's colored movement props.  Next, we usually play instruments, so during our review, we've had free play using instruments in that color with a song about that color!  Finally, we always end with a book, so we have read a book devoted to each color each day.  The books I've been using primarily are from Cantata Learning .  They include CDs and we've used the music for the movement or instrument activities sometimes. You can...

Long time no see. :)  Crazy year!!!  But guess what?  I finally got my bulletin boards finished AND my room clean!!!  Ish.  :)  It's not super polished, but I did a quick classroom tour video to show off my flexible seating in the Rockin' Robins' Cafe. Classroom Tour Thanks for visiting!

My mallet covers tend to slide off, as the thread or rubber banding that holds them on breaks with wear and tear.  So I've discovered a quick trick that fixes the problem easily--tie that sucker on with a zip tie!  When done, I just snip the end, and no more slipping and sliding.  Sometimes I'll cut colorful fabric and take the opportunity to dress up my mallets, too. :)

This back to school get-to-know-you activity is a lot of fun--and tells you a lot more about your students or clients than just their pizza preferences. In this activity, students first fill out a worksheet, answering a handful of questions about themselves, like whether or not they like pizza, what season they were born in, and what some of their hobbies are.  Next, they translate those answers into pizza code--every question they answered is represented in the way they build their pizza and what they put onto it.  Finally, you can display the pizzas, and host a guessing game based on their answers--who can decode the pizzas more quickly?  Even staff get in on this. :)  For all materials, details, and adaptive art suggestions, click here to visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store and get this resource for yourself!

This month in my music groups, we are exploring the element of rhythm.  One of the easiest and most fun ways to do this is by playing in a drum circle.  For my drum circles, we always play through a round or two of my basic commands, which you can see here . A simple exercise we start with early in the month is composing our own rhythm patterns!  We begin with basic choices, such as: |               BEAT—one sound on one beat    (AKA—“ta” or quarter note) | ˉ |          DOU-BLE—two sounds on one beat (AKA—“ti-ti” or beamed eighth notes) Z               (REST)—no sound on one beat    (AKA—“(no sound)” or quarter rest) Each student is asked to choose FOUR of any combination of those options.  They may choose four BEATs, or BEAT BEAT DOUBLE BEAT, or some smart alecks l...

Tomorrow I teach Leisure Skills.  In that class, we work on a lot of different "hobby" areas, finding areas that our kids enjoy, and exploring ways that they can be successful.  For our youngest group, who are around a toddler developmental level, we have four centers.  At the beginning of the school year, we have a rotation schedule, so the kids go to each station and take turns, but as the school year progresses, we begin to let them have free exploration time. We always have four centers, based in the following areas:  building, fine motor, sensory, art, dramatic play, and gross motor.  For example, one month we'll have building with alphabet blocks, a seasonal sensory bin, a collage art area, and mini golf.  Another month, we may  have building with mega bloks, a dress up area, paper dolls, and a cardio drumming area.  We generally always have building and gross motor centers, the rest flux depending on what else we decide to try.  In...

Today we started our drum circle experiences for the year at my school!  First up were my students in our public school day treatment program.  I began by showing a video from Kalani Music , as he demonstrated a Groove Pass technique he uses.  Here it is in case you haven't seen it: Before we watched, I told the students I wanted to know a) what the group was doing, and b) how they were doing it.  As we watched, we discussed how they were passing the groove on to each other in smaller groups--the groove traveled around the circle--some people played while some people did not, and the music never stopped.  Then we discussed how that was happening--they were using their eyes and ears as a player and leader to communicate and know what to do. After the video, I asked the students what body parts they would need today--a lot of them said, "Hands!" to play the drums--but I reminded them I needed them to use their eyes and ears, too, so that they knew when and ...

I teach art, music, and leisure, so my classes are almost 35-minute-long brain breaks in themselves! However, my students have either incredibly short attention spans, or incredibly short fuses--or both!--and need frequent breaks. Over the years I've developed an arsenal of ways for them to have meaningful break time whenever needed.  1) My Cozy Corner is new this year and a big hit. It is in an area behind my student bookcases, and is outfitted with all sorts of cozy features, including twinkle lights, fidgets, and pillows. Even my middle school boys love this area! 2) This was my first 'early finisher' station in art. It holds a variety of paper-based activities. I freshen it up seasonally, and throw in any leftover spark work (beginning of class activity), too.  3) I added my sensory boxes when I noticed how much some of my kiddos with severe autism enjoyed sifting through my button bin. Now we have rainbow rice, rainbow noodles, buttons, pom poms, you name it...

Well, a whole lot of life just happened.  I am just now catching my breath.  And when I came back and looked over the topics I thought I was going to be blogging about around now, I lost interest.  ;)  So instead I'll blog about what I *am* interested in right now!  March Music Madness! A lot of what I do in my job involves current events and seasonal themes.  Reality orientation is important for my most cognitively challenged students, and current events are most engaging for my teenagers with mental health issues.  So what's going on  in March?  NCAA's March Madness!  Brackets and basketballs are flying, and everyone catches the fever.  My school is no different. So this year, I decided we'd have a tournament of our own.  I've mentioned before I use music videos as part of my routine in my music groups.  So, first, I selected our Sweet 16 music videos --some are old favorites, and some are new to us. Currently...

Hi, everyone!  Sorry this took so long to get posted!  I had some unexpected health issues last week, and, so, here we are.  Oh, well, I had a chance to make the video today and I'm excited to share SEVERAL variations on the simple greeting song I shared last week.  Enjoy!  (And here is the original post, in case you missed it!) Coming up in the next few weeks: Belated V-Day and Olympics adaptive art projects Cardio drumming with a troll-y twist Self-care in the workplace Combo motivation for behavior management Video lessons for when I am absent from work Mindfulness and stress management

Hi, everyone, another quick video sharing my current hello song and some tips for guitar use with students and clients with fine motor difficulties.  Plus, I talk about how I use my hello song as an environmental cue, to build rapport, and to increase conversational greeting skills.  Enjoy!  I'll be back later this week with a whole new use for it!

My first video is nothing special, truly, but I had to record it for a class that I was going to miss, so decided I'd go ahead and share it here.  It's a simple and fun project that can be completed in one class, which is always nice.  Enjoy!