Kooroli - Aboriginal music and movement... this month's free activity

We are so excited about Music Room Book 7 that we are giving you another comprehensive activity to try.
The lesson is song called Koolori (meaning Coroboree)
and we have

Lyrics chart

The vocal audio track

A video clip from the DVD discussing the gumleaf and didge to introduce the song

A video clip of the song presenting the lyrics to help sing along

A video clip on Movement, Beat and Rhythm with the song

Links to a goldmine of background information including more video clips. (Check out the gumleaf competition from the 70s)

Here is Wayne Thorpe's intro ...



You will find the rest by following the links from our facebook page (don't forget to like us ;) or from our website if you are blocked out of facebook.

Look out for more news and activities soon. Enjoy this one - it's also great for history and social studies lessons!

You can order your copy of Musicroom Book 7 here.


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Bumper Activity from Musicroom 7 - rap and hip hop

Music Room Book 7 is now available - and to celebrate, we are offering the first lesson IN FULL for you to try.
The lesson is Rap Rhythm
and we have

Full lesson plan

2 audio tracks - vocals and backing

6 video clips

2 charts
Mal Webb shows you how to Beat Box
Jacqui Yuan shows you how to dance Hip Hop
Rob and Mark demonstrate Rap Rhythms.

This is exciting stuff and and your students will love it!
And it's all there ready for you at ...
www.bushfirepress.com/musicroom

You can order your copy of Musicroom Book 7 here.


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Music Room 7 is ready!

Music Room 7 has just come back from the printers and is ready to send out to you!

We are really pleased that it has all come together so well. A massive amount of work but all well worth it.

If you know and love Music Room we are sure you will get straight in and order. You can do that here.

If you are new to Music Room and want to find out what all the fuss is about, order a perusal copy today. You will see what fantastic value it is for a full year's upper primary music course!

Check out the videos we have already posted in this blog and look out for a free sample activity from Unit 1 Lesson 1. This will be posted in a couple of days.

Intro to Music Room 7 DVD

MUSIC ROOM - Book 7

Not long now!
We just can't wait.

We have posted the introduction to the MR7 DVD. This will give you an idea what you'll be getting with Music Room Book 7 - Upper Primary.

We will also be sending out your free activity later in the week - so look out for it. It is from Unit 1 Lesson 1. You can get a sneak preview in an earlier post in this blog.

You can also pre-order your copy of Musicroom Book 7, or find out more about it, here.




You can order your copy of Musicroom Book 7 here.


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Like our page to keep up to date with news from Bushfire Press.

www.bushfirepress.com

Putin' it Out There from Musicroom Book 7

MUSIC ROOM - Book 7

Just getting the next free activity together.
It will be from the new Music Room Book 7. Unit 1 Lesson 1 - "Puttin' it Out There"

We have a Youtube version of the song from the lesson here for you. When we release the activity, it will include vocal and backing tracks, the lesson, and charts for the activity as well as a bonus classroom version of this video with lyrics projected over the backing track. So look out for it. Like us in facebook so that we can let you know as soon as it is available.



You can pre-order your copy of Musicroom Book 7 here.


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Like our page to keep up to date with news from Bushfire Press.

www.bushfirepress.com

Making the video for MR7

MUSIC ROOM - Book 7

We have had fun making the video tracks for Music Room 7. Just a few little "moments" captured.

It won't be long now - looks like mid June for the launch. The final proof of the book has been passed and it is in the hands of the printers. Post production of the audio and video tracks is coming on well.





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The New Cover for MR7

MUSIC ROOM - Book 7
And here is the finished cover art!

What do you think?
Click on the image to get a better view.

Login with your Google account and leave a comment!
or let us know on facebook.


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MR7 Cover Design

From the crowded desk of Mark Leehy, Publisher at Bushfire Press

Music Room book 7 (upper primary) is in the last stages of post-production and on track for a mid-year release. Among other things, we have been finalising the cover. This is pretty important because, apart from needing to be fun and inviting, it needs to tell the user what to expect inside!

Over the years, the covers of Music Room have been a music room door with a window showing a group of students in their music lesson. The students get older as the years progress. They also progress in their musical explorations – from simple circle work to making music on classroom instruments and found & made objects, to exploring genres & styles. We also had a note pinned to the door on each cover: EVERYONE WELCOME! COME ON EVERYBODY! LET’S GO! LET’S GET THE FEELING! LET’S MAKE A NOISE! LET’S PUT IT TOGETHER! These slogans addressed the general ‘feel’ of each level.

What to do for book 7 … ?
Our artist, Bradfield Dumpleton, was keen to ‘open the classroom door’ and let the kids out. Which is pretty much how all of us had been thinking. And – as the slogan for this level was LET’S PUT IT OUT THERE! it seemed the perfect idea. Now all we had to do was get the actual look right – to give a hint as to the contents.

Here’s Bradfield’s first pencil rough. You can click on it to see it in more detail. Not quite there. Let’s see … hip hop and rhyming techniques are covered in this book … and students are encouraged to bring guitars and keyboards into their work … and the program ends with a musical party …

Here’s the second pencil rough.

Much better. Again, click on the image to see it in more detail.

Stay tuned for the final pic – we’ll blog it as soon as it’s got the green light.



Mark Leehy
Publisher, Bushfire Press

The Last Music Room

From the crowded desk of Mark Leehy, Publisher at Bushfire Press

Hi All

It sure has been a busy term 1 for us here at Bushfire Press. We have been recording and filming material for Music Room book 7 – upper primary. This is the final instalment in the series and has been the hardest but most rewarding level of the program. It was so important to keep up the standard and to keep up the level of student engagement – which, as you know, is trickier with senior primary students. So we retained the services of some wonderful and outstanding experts. The result is a fabulous set of units:

Rhythm & Rhyme - rap & hip hop rhythms & rhyming loops, turnarounds, chords,

Body & Beat - rhythm, movement & choreography, body percussion, found objects

Words & Music - generating lyrics, making melodies, using tempo, creating songs, grooves & colours

Fun ‘n’ Games - a cracker of an ending to the program, with musical puzzles, musical art, listening & singing games, moving games, musical parlour games, battle of the bands … and a class party!

As usual there are 4 audio CDs of music (one per unit) and over an hour of DVD footage – including a premier hip hop crew, an introduction to gumleaf and didgeridu from Gunnai Man (and recent ‘Spicks & Specks’ guest) Wayne Thorpe, the art of beatboxing demystified by vocal gymnast Mal Webb … and a host of dance steps, theory and playing techniques.

We'll keep you posted as we get into production.

See you next time

Mark Leehy
Publisher, Bushfire Press

An easier way to peruse school musicals

Bushfire Press began 20 years ago with the publication of Kids in Space and school musicals are still one of our great passions. We take great pride in providing quality shows that have been worked and reworked to make them as appealing and involving as possible to the students and as easy to use as possible for the production team.

Here's a bit of good news for teachers who are involved in the task of finding a suitable musical for their school's next production: We now have electronic perusal available for all of our titles.

You can peruse a large slab of the script, read the synopsis & production notes and check cast sizes, staging and costuming requirements etc ... and you can hear a sample (a minute or so) of all the songs. You can do this for all of our school musicals.

Go to www.bushfirepress.com

THE CHOICES
We have a Gilbert & Sullivan section, with Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado and ... coming soon ... HMS Pinafore.

We have a 'Classics' section including adaptations of Shakespeare (A Kidsummer Night's Dream), Mark Twain (Masquerade, Kids in Camelot), Hans Christian Andersen (The Little Mermaid), Carlo Collodi (Pinocchio) and a Sindbad romp (Kids at Sea - our all-time best seller).

We have our 'Old Favourites' section, including Dangerkids, Superkids, Dragon Girl, Kids in Paradise and Kids in Space.

We have a couple of Christmas shows, including a modern re-telling of the Nativity (The Jazz Nativity) and a look at Christmas through the ages and across the lands (A Christmas Pageant).

And we have an 'Australiana' section, including Currawong Creek (an outback station run by bush animals) and The Billabong Prank (a comic look at how the legend of Waltzing Matilda might really have happened).

So jump online and have a look and a listen. www.bushfirepress.com
You can order online ... and you can always still order a perusal copy to be sent by snail mail.

Have a great show
See you next time

From the crowded desk of Mark Leehy,
Publisher at Bushfire Press

Up to 40% off MUSIC ROOM Books 1-4

Purchase Music Room Book 5 @ A$180.00 (+GST) and get up to a 40% discount off Music Room Books 1-4.

Hurry - this offer is only available for Web orders before 30th June

More information here

April 2009 Activity - Space Boogie

THIS MONTH'S FREE ACTIVITY comes from level 4 (upper primary) of our integrated Arts program: COOL CATS CROSS ARTS ADVENTURES
by Mark Leehy & Kevin O'Mara.


This song & activity is from the Space unit of Cool Cats Cross Arts Adventures level 4


We have just re-released the student books for levels 2-4 on CDROM. The CDROMs contain lyrics and student activity pages for music, dance, drama, media and visual art.
They can be used for data projection, enlarging, printing and copying etc. and replace the student books that accompanied the program.

We are giving you part of the level 4 unit 'Space'. We have a CD track and a PDF for a song and dance, 'Space Boogie', great electric guitar, lyrics and movement and dance activities.

This one's great fun and will have the kids really moving!

You will find the activity here

March 2009 Activity - Beautiful Soup

THIS MONTH'S FREE ACTIVITY comes our level 3 (middle primary) of our integrated Arts program: COOL CATS CROSS ARTS ADVENTURES
by Mark Leehy & Kevin O'Mara.


This song & activity is from the Nutrition unit of Cool Cats Cross Arts Adventures level 3


We have just re-released the student books for levels 2-4 on CDROM. The CDROMs contain lyrics and student activity pages for music, dance, drama, media and visual art.
They can be used for data projection, enlarging, printing and copying etc. and replace the student books that accompanied the program.

We are giving you part of the level 3 unit 'Nutrition'. We have CD tracks and PDFs for a great song, 'Beautiful Soup', a percussion arrangement, lyrics and movement and dance activities.

Another great activity to have fun with!

You will find the activity here

February 2009 Activity - The Lollipop Lady

THIS MONTH'S FREE ACTIVITY comes our level 2 (lower primary) of our integrated Arts program: COOL CATS CROSS ARTS ADVENTURES
by Mark Leehy & Kevin O'Mara.

AND IT'S A WHOPPER!

This song & activity is from the Our Local Community unit of Cool Cats Cross Arts Adventures level 2


We have just re-released the student books for levels 2-4 on CDROM. The CDROMs contain lyrics and student activity pages for music, dance, drama, media and visual art.
They can be used for data projection, enlarging, printing and copying etc. and replace the student books that accompanied the program.

To celebrate, we are giving you part of the level 2 unit 'Our Local Community'.
We have CD tracks and PDFs for a great song, 'The Lollipop Lady', a percussion arrangement and movement & dance activities.

We know your students will have loads of fun with these activities - enjoy!

You will find the activity here

November 2007 Activity - 12 Aussie Days of Christmas

The 12 Aussie Days of Christmas
from A Christmas Pageant
(then and now)
A Musical by Lynne Bartlett, Mark Leehy and Kevin O'Mara
Duration: 60 minutes.

The activity is a new, Aussie version of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'.

The setting is Bondi Beach (or any other Australian beach) at Christmas time.

It's a lot of fun, and, since there is a backing track, why not use it as a springboard to get your kids writing their own version?

This is an ideal item to perform at your end-of-year concert or your 'Carols by Candlelight' evening, or even your class party or graduation ceremony

... and ... the whole thing can be performed to the backing track we've provided.

AND - IT'S IN A SINGABLE KEY FOR KIDS!
Click here for more.

October 2007 Activity - O Tannenbaum

O Tannenbaum
from A Christmas Pageant
(then and now)
A Musical by Lynne Bartlett, Mark Leehy and Kevin O'Mara
Duration: 60 minutes.

We have the well-known carol sung firstly in German (O Tannenbaum) and then in English (O Christmas Tree).
There is a narration that explains the origins of the song and the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree,
as well as staging ideas for presenting the piece at your end-of-year concert or your 'Carols by Candlelight' evening ...
and ... the whole thing can be performed to the backing track we've provided.

AND - IT'S IN A SINGABLE KEY FOR KIDS!
Click here for more.

August 2007 Activity

August 2007
The August activity comes from

Music Room Book 4.



The activity is the Rhymers' Waltz - Working in Threes
* Students learn a ¾ body percussion rhythm pattern to use with a simple song.
* Students learn how to rhyme - using only 2 words - and use their own rhymes in the song.
There is also a simple tuned and untuned percussion arrangement for them to add to the song. and vocal and backing tracks.

You will find the free activity by clicking here.

May 2007 Free Activity - Heard it Before (recorder)

May 2007
The May activity comes from

COOL CATS RED HOT RECORDER COURSE, LEVEL 1


It’s a fun little piece called 'Heard it Before'.

It’s really a rock n roll version of a song the students will all recognise!
It uses the notes B, A, G and is perfect for beginners (and a little fun for the more advanced). There is a mystery question and a creative exercise also included – and there is downloadable music and downloadable audio demo & backing tracks.

Have fun!
You will find the free activity by clicking here.
- and there are other free recorder activities if you follow the links to the other recorder resources we have on offer.

March 2007 free Activity - Waltzing A Bulldog

March 2007
The March activities comes from our new publication
Start Singing Aussie Kids Songs

It's a song called Waltzing a Bulldog, a hilarious parody of Waltzing Matilda that the students will just love.
The recording is live before an audience of children and it sparkles with fun.
You will find the free activity by clicking here.

- and there are other free singing activities if you follow the links to the other singing resources we have on offer.