Artful * Playful * Mindful: A New Orff-Schulwerk Curriculum for Music Making and Music Thinking

I am a third year music teacher and this book is a fantastic guide. Frazee lays out an outline of curriculum goals for pitch and rhythm for grades 2-6 and includes examples of how she would carry out her plan, options for other teachers, and a nifty database of songs that teach each goal. The goals and lessons are quite flexible, and she includes explanations of how and why she has chosen what she has, so that you can supplement and change the lessons as you see fit for your students. It is a great "meat and potatoes" resource, allowing you time to add other fun things into your lessons.

A very valuable book for primary school teachers who want to design or review their own music curriculum. It provides sample lessons and projects which are musically meaningful and student centred and encourage students to explore and create their own music. An engaging book which is easy to read and follow.

I absolutely love this book. I totally revamped my planning in the middle of the year because of it! I started teaching three week long units that let the students first experience high quality music, then play and create using the new concept, and finally discuss and analyze it. Simple and genius. She gives a lot of great strategies for varying the games and keeping your kids on their toes. Highly recommend to any elementary general music teacher, especially someone who's Orff-focused.

Artful Playful Mindful is a valuable resource for music educators. Grounded in the Orff Schulwerk approach, this book outlines a new model for music curriculum that places emphasis upon musical (artful) and creative (playful) objectives in addition to thinking skills (mindful).Frazee has a deep understanding of contemporary educational theory and practice and its connection to Orff Schulwerk. Artful Playful Mindful makes strong connections to the new national standards.Artful Playful Mindful is a wonderful book and is highly recommended!