by Melissa Stouffer | Apr 22, 2025 | AAPI, All, Folk Songs, Musical Cultures
Recently Michigan Kodaly Educators invited my friend Dr. Miriam Factora to come present for us for a full day workshop. Let me just say how much of an absolute BOSS this woman is and you need to learn from her. This amazing educator wanted to incorporate more...
by Melissa Stouffer | Oct 26, 2021 | AAPI, All, Folk Songs, Musical Cultures
Finding authentic folk songs can be difficult. Sometimes anthologies don’t tell you if lyrics have been changed or verses have been omitted, and sometimes you can’t find if it is authentic online? These are three books of authentic Filipino folk songs for...
by Melissa Stouffer | Oct 19, 2021 | AAPI, All, Literature, Music History, Musical Cultures
In my hunt for Filipino folk songs, I came across these five illustrated folk song books. I thought they would be wonderful to share with you! Each book also has some info on the song and sometimes more such as the region or music (Kaisa-Isa Niyan). All five books...
by Melissa Stouffer | Oct 5, 2021 | AAPI, All, Literature, Musical Cultures
October is Filipino American History Month. If you read my blog regularly or follow me on Instagram, you know I am half Filipino/Chinese, and that earlier this year I found my grandma’s huge family by chance thanks to a cousin who responded to a random Facebook...
by Melissa Stouffer | Apr 28, 2026 | AAPI, All, Literature, Music History, Musical Cultures
May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. If you have been following me for a while, you know that I have been doing a book a day for AAPI Heritage Month for a few years. Here all of the books now here so you can reference them easily throughout the year...
by Melissa Stouffer | Apr 7, 2026 | All, Literature, Musical Cultures
With all the book posts I have, I thought I’d start a new series. Musical Books will take one awesome book and look at it, break it down to use in the classroom, and give you some teaching ideas. The first book in my Musical Books Series is Pan de Sal Saves the...
by Melissa Stouffer | Aug 4, 2025 | All, Back to School
Once August hits, we all know it’s coming. Some of our Southern friends are already back, and if you are in the North like me, it starts becoming a reality even though school supplies have been in stores since before some of us were actually OUT for summer. So...
by Melissa Stouffer | Jul 10, 2025 | All, Literature, Musical Cultures
This list is for the Creating Cultural Connections post for The Music Crew’s 2025 conference. You can find out more about this FREE conference here. Willie Nelson & Bobbie Nelson: Sister, Brother Family (Depression Era Texas) Benny Goodman & Teddy Wilson...
by Melissa Stouffer | May 13, 2025 | All, General Music Lessons
I always see a lot of posts asking what to teach. What to teach when, for what grade, when you run out of stuff, etc. But I think there are a few things that are REALLY important in a music classroom. These are things you can come back to, include again, and approach...
by Melissa Stouffer | Apr 29, 2025 | AAPI, All, Literature, Music History, Musical Cultures
May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. If you have been following me for a while, you know that I always been doing a book a day for AAPI Heritage Month for a few years. Here all of the books now here so you can reference them easily throughout the...
