Starting a 5th Grader

Here at AP when Fifth Graders get ready to start band - the students are brought in a large group to view a couple videos and get a primer to instrumental music. The second stop is to have the individual 5th grade classes come in and take a musical survey. This survey is accompanied by a video that asks students whether pitches are higher or lower, or the same than the previous one played, the same for rhythm and other related topics. I graded the surveys and now smaller groups have come in to test instrument mouth pieces. There is definitely some excitement - and definitely there is some dislike. We had students that were asked if they were going to get braces, have any other sorts of dental work, and what they ultimately would like to try. Students received information packets for their parents. The information given out gave the 2 parent days that instruments can be purchased. One night will be Reimans and another West - both music stores. Mr. Winkey has 10 minutes time lots set up so he can meet with the parents and discuss options. It is stressed that students (families) rent instruments before making a full investment of a brand new instrument.

More to come about those nights - in 2 weeks.

Brazil

My 5th graders and getting a unique experience! We are doing a Passport Unit - or we are traveling the world through music. This past week we went to Brazil. In my General Music Methods class I along with a friend were told to come up with a unit related to a country/culture. So I recycled a lesson on Brazil Carnaval. Attached you will find the link I used. I found that you have to give a primer with this video. Students will see women clad in almost swimsuit like outfits and sometime the immature students will giggle and snicker. I addressed that right away, sharing that it was a culture and we are not to make fun. Anyway the video was showed and questions were asked at the end. "What did you see, why is Carnaval so important to the culture, what makes up Carnaval?". The students were then told to get up and I taught them how to samba - like many of the performers in the video. If you would like the specific ways I taught them just ask. At the end of the dance I had everyone sit down. The students received an assignment... They were asked to create a float for our Carnaval and they will be posted in our classroom - pictures to follow.

Here's the link for the Carnaval Documentary - I showed about the first 6 to 7 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3mYDwRTALo

Interdependence

I have found for success of a music department everyone needs to realize that we depend on each other for participants and audience members. Mr. Winkey and Ms. Weichers stress that their students should check out the opposite ensemble for interest at the least. I have seen this in other departments - instrumentalists tend to have better grasps on rhythms and singers have a hold on the pitches and intonation that way. I've also found that individuals may have a preference on an instrument type, but no one instrument is more important. At the collegiate level we often seen a divide between strings, voice, winds, and keyboard - definitely not the case at AP. These teachers build the camaraderie with their students across that board and that is so very important.

The teachers support each other in endeavors and ask where they are able to assist. That is crucial to retaining students and building on their program. What are you thoughts?

What kind of parent?

I've been having some trouble with behavior in my middle school choirs - especially boys and especially 6th grade. Today I had two students who are friends in the period following chorus. One boy had been singing wonderfully - doing his solfege signs and using his falsetto voice. The other was screwing around and not following directions at all. In the following class they were sitting next to each other and I commented that the one student was singing beautifully and doing the hand signs. I then asked the other student what was going on. He was friends with a guy who liked chorus and everyone around him was doing their work. He responded that his mom made him join chorus.

That's my round about way of asking - Which kind of parent do we want to be? To have on our side? I look at the situation. If the student doesn't want to be in something he/she probably won't give it their all if being forced to. These students seem to create an atmosphere that doesn't facilitate good learning for anyone. Who is truly suffering here? Students that are forced to do an activity actually seem to lose respect for it. I struck up a deal with the student - give me what you can without disrupting and I will make it as fun as possible. I feel this will improve the messing around and will keep the others focused. More to follow halfway through the semester.