Lessons Learned: A Dozen Plans for Orff Process and Improvisation
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2025
Pages: 70
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2025
Pages: 60
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This book represents the work from the first cohort of students in the Graduate Certificate Program in Orff-Schulwerk at UNC-Wilmington. The first program of its kind in the history of the UNCW Music Department, the Graduate Certificate connects intensive, two-week summer levels courses with practical field experiences in K-12 schools. In this way, students translate the AOSA-approved curriculum into their authentic classroom contexts for both teacher and student learning. These dozen lesson plans exemplify the ways that these dedicated teachers apply pedagogical knowledge and concepts to their actual music classrooms.
By their very nature, lesson plans tend to fix the flow of learning and ideas into prescribed, sequential steps. The Orff process, however, is much more organic and creative. It moves more freely as students observe, imitate, explore, improvise, and create…often but not necessarily in that order. As such, writing Orff-based lesson plans is somewhat challenging. These lessons for Orff Improvisations and Process guide the teacher and their students with a framework for learning. While including details and specifics, these plans also leave essential room for improvisation and creativity – two ideas at the heart of the Schulwerk.
Each lesson plan includes recommended grade level, learning objectives, materials, an Orff process, assessments, and extensions. All lessons are “kid-tested,” and teacher-educator approved; music teachers can trust that they not only represent the Orff process but also effectively engage students.
We hope you enjoy these lessons and use them as starting points for improvisation to creatively make music with your students.
1. Recorder Technique and Improvisation with Old Black Fly
Joan Eckroth-Riley
2. Layered Ostinati with the Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything
Jason Glashauser
3. Musical Expression and Cultural Context with “Chocolate Molinillo”
Shanna Collins
4. Adventures in Canon with “Scotland’s Burning”
Kaleb Branner
5. Improvisation, Ostinato, and Musical Form with “Funga Alafia”
Mary C. Sumner
6. Melodic Improvisation with “Five Little Pumpkins”
Meredith Sumner
7. Improvisation and Self-Regulation with “Big Feelings”
Amber Faulhaber
8. Rhythmic Subdivision and Melodic Improvisation with “Vamos a la Mar”
Martin Pruitt
9. Creative Movement and Musical Form with “We Are Dancing in the Forest”
Michelle Poeppelmeier
10. Scale Ladders with Pentatonic Improvisation and Recorder Technique
Jared Miller
11. Creative and Expressive Movement with “Aikendrum”
Sarah Rogers
12. An Introduction to the Blues for Beginning Band
Jordan C. Jones
Daniel Johnson is Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina Wilmington where he coordinates the Music Education program and Graduate Studies in Music. His research and teaching focuses on classroom music instruction, teachers’ professional development, cross-cultural studies, and creative music listening. His scholarship includes research journal publications on integrated arts education and rural music education, as well as book chapters for the Oxford Handbook of Assessment Policy and Practice in Music Education, Model Cornerstone Assessments for the National Music Education Standards, and The Handbook of Listening. His text on Holistic Music Thinking is published by Routledge, and the seventh edition of his textbook, Musical Explorations: Fundamentals Through Experience, is published by Kendall-Hunt. An international authority on Orff-Schulwerk pedagogy and a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Johnson has presented teacher education workshops through the world, including at the prestigious Orff Institute in Salzburg, Austria. Endorsed as a teacher-educator by the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, he has presented professional development courses throughout the United States since 2004, influencing hundreds of teachers and thousands of their students.
For over forty years Joan Eckroth-Riley has been sharing her passion for music education with students ranging in age from kindergarten through adults. She currently shares the joy of making music with students at Murray State University in Kentucky as Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Music Education. Joan is the author of “Everyday Improvisation; Interactive Lessons for the General Music Classroom” & “Everyday Composition; Interactive Lessons for the General Music Classroom'' published by Alfred, and a contributing author to “Kaleidoscope,” lessons on the new Core Music Standards sponsored by NAfME. In addition to her teaching duties, Joan is a certified recorder and movement instructor for Orff Schulwerk Levels Courses and is a frequent presenter on Standards and assessments for elementary music. Joan holds an MA in Music Education with an emphasis in Orff Schulwerk from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, is a Past-President of the North Dakota Music Educators Association and was honored to be named the 2016 ND Music Educator of the Year.
"No matter where you are in your music teaching journey, this set of lessons is sure to inspire the creativity in you and your students! These lessons offer practical applications of the Orff process across all facets of K-12 music, while leaving room for you to make them work in your own teaching scenario. A must-have for all music teachers who are looking to apply the Orff process more deeply in their classrooms!"
Dr. Erika J. Knapp, Assistant Professor of Music Education
Texas Woman's University, and AOSA Teacher Educator
"Lessons Learned is a valuable and practical resource that teachers can readily adapt and extend to meet their specific pedagogical needs. These twelve clear and well-thought-out model Orff lessons offer a wealth of ideas with direct applications to the music classroom. Either as written or as inspiration, they support teachers with a new set of materials likely to become one of their favorites."
Dr. Robert Amchin, Professor Emeritus of Music Education
University of Louisville (KY), and AOSA Teacher Educator
"Using familiar children's literature, songs, poems, fingerplays, and instrument activities as inspiration points, this delightful resource offers creative, multimodal lessons that support both musical and cultural development for students from first grade through high school. Highlights include an improvisation activity for managing emotions and an accessible blues lesson for beginning band students. Clear, thorough lesson plans come with practical teaching tips, rubrics for assessment, and ideas for differentiated instruction. Overall, this resource is a gem for music educators seeking depth, diversity, and joy in their teaching."
Darla Meek, Lecturer and Coordinator of Music Education
East Texas A&M University, and AOSA Teacher Educator
This book represents the work from the first cohort of students in the Graduate Certificate Program in Orff-Schulwerk at UNC-Wilmington. The first program of its kind in the history of the UNCW Music Department, the Graduate Certificate connects intensive, two-week summer levels courses with practical field experiences in K-12 schools. In this way, students translate the AOSA-approved curriculum into their authentic classroom contexts for both teacher and student learning. These dozen lesson plans exemplify the ways that these dedicated teachers apply pedagogical knowledge and concepts to their actual music classrooms.
By their very nature, lesson plans tend to fix the flow of learning and ideas into prescribed, sequential steps. The Orff process, however, is much more organic and creative. It moves more freely as students observe, imitate, explore, improvise, and create…often but not necessarily in that order. As such, writing Orff-based lesson plans is somewhat challenging. These lessons for Orff Improvisations and Process guide the teacher and their students with a framework for learning. While including details and specifics, these plans also leave essential room for improvisation and creativity – two ideas at the heart of the Schulwerk.
Each lesson plan includes recommended grade level, learning objectives, materials, an Orff process, assessments, and extensions. All lessons are “kid-tested,” and teacher-educator approved; music teachers can trust that they not only represent the Orff process but also effectively engage students.
We hope you enjoy these lessons and use them as starting points for improvisation to creatively make music with your students.
1. Recorder Technique and Improvisation with Old Black Fly
Joan Eckroth-Riley
2. Layered Ostinati with the Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything
Jason Glashauser
3. Musical Expression and Cultural Context with “Chocolate Molinillo”
Shanna Collins
4. Adventures in Canon with “Scotland’s Burning”
Kaleb Branner
5. Improvisation, Ostinato, and Musical Form with “Funga Alafia”
Mary C. Sumner
6. Melodic Improvisation with “Five Little Pumpkins”
Meredith Sumner
7. Improvisation and Self-Regulation with “Big Feelings”
Amber Faulhaber
8. Rhythmic Subdivision and Melodic Improvisation with “Vamos a la Mar”
Martin Pruitt
9. Creative Movement and Musical Form with “We Are Dancing in the Forest”
Michelle Poeppelmeier
10. Scale Ladders with Pentatonic Improvisation and Recorder Technique
Jared Miller
11. Creative and Expressive Movement with “Aikendrum”
Sarah Rogers
12. An Introduction to the Blues for Beginning Band
Jordan C. Jones
Daniel Johnson is Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina Wilmington where he coordinates the Music Education program and Graduate Studies in Music. His research and teaching focuses on classroom music instruction, teachers’ professional development, cross-cultural studies, and creative music listening. His scholarship includes research journal publications on integrated arts education and rural music education, as well as book chapters for the Oxford Handbook of Assessment Policy and Practice in Music Education, Model Cornerstone Assessments for the National Music Education Standards, and The Handbook of Listening. His text on Holistic Music Thinking is published by Routledge, and the seventh edition of his textbook, Musical Explorations: Fundamentals Through Experience, is published by Kendall-Hunt. An international authority on Orff-Schulwerk pedagogy and a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Johnson has presented teacher education workshops through the world, including at the prestigious Orff Institute in Salzburg, Austria. Endorsed as a teacher-educator by the American Orff-Schulwerk Association, he has presented professional development courses throughout the United States since 2004, influencing hundreds of teachers and thousands of their students.
For over forty years Joan Eckroth-Riley has been sharing her passion for music education with students ranging in age from kindergarten through adults. She currently shares the joy of making music with students at Murray State University in Kentucky as Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Music Education. Joan is the author of “Everyday Improvisation; Interactive Lessons for the General Music Classroom” & “Everyday Composition; Interactive Lessons for the General Music Classroom'' published by Alfred, and a contributing author to “Kaleidoscope,” lessons on the new Core Music Standards sponsored by NAfME. In addition to her teaching duties, Joan is a certified recorder and movement instructor for Orff Schulwerk Levels Courses and is a frequent presenter on Standards and assessments for elementary music. Joan holds an MA in Music Education with an emphasis in Orff Schulwerk from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, is a Past-President of the North Dakota Music Educators Association and was honored to be named the 2016 ND Music Educator of the Year.
"No matter where you are in your music teaching journey, this set of lessons is sure to inspire the creativity in you and your students! These lessons offer practical applications of the Orff process across all facets of K-12 music, while leaving room for you to make them work in your own teaching scenario. A must-have for all music teachers who are looking to apply the Orff process more deeply in their classrooms!"
Dr. Erika J. Knapp, Assistant Professor of Music Education
Texas Woman's University, and AOSA Teacher Educator
"Lessons Learned is a valuable and practical resource that teachers can readily adapt and extend to meet their specific pedagogical needs. These twelve clear and well-thought-out model Orff lessons offer a wealth of ideas with direct applications to the music classroom. Either as written or as inspiration, they support teachers with a new set of materials likely to become one of their favorites."
Dr. Robert Amchin, Professor Emeritus of Music Education
University of Louisville (KY), and AOSA Teacher Educator
"Using familiar children's literature, songs, poems, fingerplays, and instrument activities as inspiration points, this delightful resource offers creative, multimodal lessons that support both musical and cultural development for students from first grade through high school. Highlights include an improvisation activity for managing emotions and an accessible blues lesson for beginning band students. Clear, thorough lesson plans come with practical teaching tips, rubrics for assessment, and ideas for differentiated instruction. Overall, this resource is a gem for music educators seeking depth, diversity, and joy in their teaching."
Darla Meek, Lecturer and Coordinator of Music Education
East Texas A&M University, and AOSA Teacher Educator