Four Seasons Project (part 2)

Here is the result of the 5th grade composition project I previously wrote about. (the "Four Seasons" Composition Project) I am not sure if all of the season are represented in the compositions I posted, but the students chose the seasons themselves.

These pieces are entirely created by the students.

Composition 1

Composition 2

Composition 3

Composition 4

Composition 5

Composition 6

After performing the compositions for the class (4 groups per class), the class shared which season they thought they heard. The performing group then shared which season they created and talked about the choices they made to create the season.

Most students reported a positive feelings about the experience. Some students were not happy with their composition, but they provided an opportunities to describe what they would have done differently if they could make all of the decisions for their group. Some students found it challenging to work with their group, but they were eventually able to compromise in order to create their composition.

Music in Our Schools Month

Each year during "Music in Our Schools Month", we not only celebrate the music in the school, but ways that music is in our lives outside of school. I usually ask the students to listen for music outside of music class and music lessons and to report back to me. The students typically mention that they hear music in the car, in the mall, in movies, and in commercials. 

Here are the various ways we recognize music in my school:

1. Mystery song-  I put the notes for a well known song on large staff paper and hang it up by the front entrance of the school with a box  and answer sheets nearby. The students enter the guesses for a chance to win a MIOSM button. I love seeing a crowd of students standing around the song in the morning or at the end of the day. Some students actually write down the notes and play the song at home. Since there are so many guesses, I typically announce all of the correct guesses in class and then do a drawing if there are more than three students in a class that guesses correctly.  The students were getting so good at figuring out the songs that I have tried to make the songs more challenging. 

2. Musical Visitors-  Parents, teachers, and relatives of the students who have a musical skill (or interest) to share may visit a class and perform for the students. Many visitors give a short presentation about how music has been part of their life, whether they are an amateur or professional musician. Because there were not as many parent visitors participating over the years, I starting inviting the fifth graders (the oldest students in the school) to visit the younger classes. Many of the students actually voluntarily make PowerPoint presentations about the benefits of music or talk about how they started playing an instrument or singing. Some students have actually reported that they became interested in learning an instrument after a fifth grader came to visit their class. I feel very proud watching my students in a teacher role for a little while. If the student visitor does not have a presentation prepared, I ask them questions and ask them to demonstrate some things for the class.

3. What Music Means to Me- The students fill out a paper describing what music means to them. I often use the current MIOSM logo on the paper. (Ex. "Music makes me_________!")  The kindergarten students may draw pictures of their favorite musical activities or instruments.  Some of the younger students write a sentence or draw pictures. I encourage the older students to express their feelings about music in a few sentences. If they are unsure of what to write, they can list their favorite songs from school or outside of school. I also encourage teachers to write about music or use a music related quote.The papers are then hung all over the building.    

When I was in graduate school, we discussed ways to encourage our students to see a connection between music in school and outside of school. The students should not think that "school music" is not real music. I hope that by having student role models visit the younger classes and looking at the words and pictures their peers and teachers wrote about music, they will see that music is something meaningful in everyone's lives and find ways to enjoy music on their own.

Musical Apartment Story (Introducing the solfege syllables and ear training)

This story was created after I heard a similar story at a workshop. While the other story was used with reading solfege syllables on the music staff, my story is focused on ear training and learning where each pitch "lives" on the scale.

The story is told using a resonator bell step ladder and resonator bells. If you are about to sing a song that has mi, so, and la you can use E, G, and A  (for the key of C major).  However, I usually use the bells in the same key as the song. The story works best if you first tell it with two or three bells. Otherwise, the story will be a bit too long. If the students already know the story, you can quickly review the characters and start adding bells.

 I first explain that the step ladder is an apartment building.  We count the floors together to determine that there are eight floors. Then I introduce Mi, the first character in the story.

Mi was walking down the street one day and he saw a tall building with a big sign announcing that there were apartments available. Mi had been looking for a new place to live so he went inside and asked if he could see an apartment.  He walked into an apartment on the first floor and he really liked what he saw. There was a lot of closet space and the large window let a lot of light inside.  When he walked over to the window to see the view, he didn't see anything special. He saw the street, the sidewalk, and the parking lot.  He preferred living a bit higher so he'd have a nicer view.

He decided to take a look at the apartment on the eighth floor. (moving the bell to the top) The apartment looked just like the other one. However, when he went over to the window to see the view, he was feeling VERY nervous.  Why do you think he was so nervous? (I sometimes prompt the students by saying "Because he was afraid of _____" and the students say "heights." Sometimes I will call on a student who can explain the reason for Mi's nervousness.)

Mi knew that he could not live so high up in the building, so he knew he would be happier living in an apartment in the middle of the building. Which floor did he end of moving to? (If it is their first time hearing the story, I tell them that he moved to the third floor. If they have heard the story, I ask the students which floor he chose.)

Mi was very happy with his apartment. I sometimes mention here that Mi loved music and he started filling the closets with all of his instruments

One day his friend So called him. So said, "Mi, I haven't heard from you in a long time. Where have you been?" Mi told So all about the apartment. So told Mi that he had been looking for a place to live as well. So said, "Are there any other apartments available in your building?" Mi said, "I'm the only one here. It's been pretty lonely here. I'd love to have a neighbor." 

So stopped by Mi's apartment and said, "You're right, it is nice here."  So moved into the fourth floor apartment right above his friend. Soon  after he moved in, he realized that the fourth floor was not working out for So. Mi loved music so much that he would play music all day and all night long. He would play a drum set and then the saxophone (usually name other instruments.) When he was not playing instruments, he would play his radio. (For students who have heard the story before, I ask them if the fourth floor apartment worked out and why not.) So didn't want to complain to Mi and upset his friend, so he decided it would be easier to move to the fifth floor instead.

(Depending on the song we are singing next, I either introduce La or Do.)  When Do or La first finds out about the apartments their friends are living in, he wants to live right between them on the fourth floor, but Mi's loud music is a problem.  La is happy to live near one of his friends, So, on the sixth floor.  Do tries living on the sixth floor, but his extreme fear of heights is a big problem.  He does not need a special view and is happiest on the first floor.  

(Let's say that the story was told with Do, Mi, and So. This is the next part of the story.)

They were all happy with their apartments, when they heard a strange sound one day. (play the bells: So-Mi- Do, or in whatever order works for the song you are introducing)  They didn't know what the sound was at first, but eventually realized that it was the doorbell. The bell rang throughout the entire building. Do came to the door first. Mi had a visitor. Do asked Mi's friend to wait until Mi got to the door.  Mi came down and let his friend inside.  By the time So got downstairs, no one was at the door. He was a little bit annoyed and walked back upstairs.

The next day, they heard the doorbell again. (Play bells)  Do was expecting a package in the mail, so he immediately brought his package in.  Mi was taking a nap and got startled by the doorbell.  When he got downstairs, no one was there. So was reading a book. He dropped his book and lost the page when he heard the doorbell. (I sometimes say that he was watching his favorite tv show...a mystery.  He went to answer the door right before the ending. When he got back upstairs, the show was over.)  

This became a big problem, because they never knew who the visitor was coming to see.  They decided to call an electrician to fix the doorbell.  The electrician said, "I have good news and bad news." The good news was that there were now three doorbells. The bad news was that the electrician was not able to make the bells ring only inside the individual apartments. Since each bell has a different sound (play bells individually), they could decide which bell they each wanted. Do decided to take the bell with the deepest sound or deepest pitch.  He thought he could remember the sound since he lived on the lowest floor. So chose the highest pitch since he was on the highest floor.  Mi said, "That makes sense. I'm in the middle, so I can remember the pitch that's in the middle." 

Now when someone came to the do, they looked for the name of the person they want to visit and rang the bell.  Who was the person visiting? (Students respond with the name of the bell played. This is done for each bell.) 

Many of the visitors were friends with all of them and would ring all three bell. If the visitors rang the bells in a different order, Do, Mi, and So would come to the door in the order of the bells. (Practice this with the students several times. Ask the students to wait until you ring all three bells before answering.)   Do, Mi, and So were not able to see the doorbells like we can, and they sometimes came down at the wrong time until they learned the sound of their doorbell. Let's see if you can recognize the bells by closing your eyes. 

After playing the bells and the students sing the pattern back, ask them to open up their eyes and play the pattern again. "If you got the right answer, give yourself a silent cheer."

I tell the story with Do, Mi, and So before teaching the kindergartners "Ten in a Bed."  After singing the song, I play the pattern "so-mi-do" and ask the students which part of the song I played.

By the time the students reach 2nd grade, I fill in the rest of the scale.  We go through each character pretty quickly.  I do not spend as much time playing the patterns.  

High Do - is Low Do's little sister.  I play them together to show the students how their sounds blend.  High Do is not afraid of heights.

Re and Fa obviously love music and do not mind Mi's loud music habits. 

You can come up with your reasons for why they each chose their floor. Please share your ideas in the comments. Since I only tell the story and have not written it out before, let me know if anything needs to be clarified or if you have any other questions.  

If you start telling the story in kindergarten and repeat the story two or three times a year, they students really look forward to hearing the story.  They also enjoy helping to tell the story. I do not know if fourth or fifth graders will respond as well if they are hearing it for the first time.  However, if they remember hearing this story from when they were younger, they will probably enjoy if you quickly review the story to introduce something new. Let me know if you use this story and how the students respond.

The Four Seasons Project

Now that my students have spent some time reviewing rhythms and listening to each other when playing as an ensemble, we are now ready for my favorite class project of the year…..The Four Seasons Project! Although my fifth graders are just starting on their projects this year, I will try to add some of examples that I recorded from other years once I figure out how to get mp3 files on here. Please check back.

After listening to excerpts of each season, they eventually create their own version of a season of their choice. Each week, they add another layer to their composition. After about six weeks, each group performs their piece for the class. Everyone has to guess which season they think it is and why.  The performing group explains what they did to create the mood of their season.

Lesson 1:  Two short excerpts of instrumental (karaoke) versions of very current songs are played for the students. Usually I choose something that has a very repetitive instrumental part. I ask the students what songs they heard and how they recognized the songs. We discuss what the songs are about or if they can describe the mood of the songs. Although a few students might actually know the lyrics, most of the students may determine that the song is happy because one of the examples may be upbeat, but we also agree that we really do not know what the song is about  Then we listen to short excerpts of the same songs with the lyrics. We talk about the meaning of the songs and discuss that the lyrics are necessary to determine the real meaning of the song since the background music is very repetitive.

(When choosing the songs, I spend a lot of time looking up songs that have lyrics that are appropriate for school. I use Audacity (you can download this for free) to edit the music to create short excerpts of the songs, and then they are embedded into a PowerPoint slide show. )

I explain to the students that we will listen to instrumental pieces that have so much detail, they will tell a story without using lyrics. In this lesson, I am not trying to say anything negative about the popular music, the students should be aware of how they are different and to try to appreciate each style for different reasons.  (My opinion of the popular music today is a whole other blog post. My goal for the students is to be open-minded when they hear various musical styles of music.)

I then give a short introduction to Antonio Vivaldi and the Four Seasons. We talk about how life was different during Vivaldi’s lifetime. When I play each except from one of the seasons, I ask them to pay attention to how much detail was put into the music. They should draw a picture or write down what comes to mind when they hear each piece. After listening to all of the seasons, the students discuss their reasons for choosing each season. Before revealing the title of the piece, I remind them that music tells a different story to each person. Even if Vivaldi may have had a particular season in mind, I do not want the students to mark their answers wrong.  I want them to be able to try to see things from point of view of the other students as well as the composer’s point of view.  For example, summers in Italy in Vivaldi’s lifetime would not involve the same kinds of activities the students may think  of. (ex. summer camp, going in the pool, and going inside in the air conditioning when it gets too hot)

Lesson 2: We review what an ostinato is by demonstrating many examples. The class is divided into 4 groups (usually 5 or 6 students per group).  Each group is given one Orff instrument to work with since they are encouraged to take turns and listen to each other. Their goal is to come up with one or two ostinato. They are given a worksheet where they write down the season they have chosen and a description of the season. (sound effects they may include)  Before cleaning up, I may ask the students to share their progress by performing their ostinato for the class or by discussing the progress they made. We sometimes use this time to talk about positive ways they problem solved with their group.  As often as possible, I try to have  the students share or discuss their progress.

Lesson 3:  We review the definition of “melody” and many examples are given. The melody should have phrases and a variety of pitches but have some direction or pattern.  A melody should be about 4 or more measures long. I choose a student to play a simple ostinato while I improvise a melody on a pentatonic scale. This helps the students distinguish between the melody and ostinato accompaniment.

Each group is now given two Orff instruments. They work on this during the rest of the class. I rotate between the groups to make sure the group members are listening to each other and not just doing something off on their own.

Lesson 4: We spend the beginning of class reviewing A B and ABA form.   I give the students various examples from songs they have sung over the years. I also show the students how to create an introduction and coda.  The students may want to add one instrument at a time or have one group of instruments play before everyone joins in. The students continue working on their melody and ostinato and then start exploring other ideas.

Lesson 5: We review the names of various classroom instruments. When I look at their notes, I want to see the real names of the instruments and not something like the “the shaky thing.”  This week, the students should continue finalizing their main ostinato and add to their melody. The students often need help to make their melody stand out of from the ostinato.  They make add another ostinato or add harmony.  This is the point where they can start exploring the sounds of other instruments around the room to create a rhythmic ostinato or sound effects that will help create the mood of their season. 

The room tends to get very noisy during this lesson. One of the rules I have is that I should not see students walking around the room playing their instrument. I don’t mind if they quietly test out the sound before bringing back to their group, but I often see students walking around on their own playing an instrument very loudly. Although much of this time is spent exploring the sounds of the instruments, it is also important that the students continue talking about what will work with their composition and help each other create rhythms. During this time, students have started to assign each other parts.  Some of the students need help finding an instrument they’d like to play. Students may bring in their band and orchestra instruments in or use the piano in my classroom. Some of the students will notate their part on staff paper while others just memorize their parts.  The pieces are almost ready to perform. Many of the last minute decisions are made during this class, especially when there is a group of students that are still indecisive. I usually suggest that simple is better.  The mini class performances to share progress are usually helpful at this point.

Lesson 6:  Final practice and performance:  The students set up their instruments to practice. Each group takes turns performing. The other students describe what they heard. I may ask them to names which students played an ostinato or melody. We also discuss the form of the piece. Then the students discuss which season they thought it was and why. The performing group then briefly talks about their piece by describing the role of each person and what they did to create the mood of a particular season.  I haven’t done this before, but I think it would also be helpful to have the students write down some of the things we discuss.

There is a wide variety between the level of musicianship between each of the groups.  In the end, all of the students feel that they have contributed to the project. They usually enjoy the experience and feel proud. The students also enjoy listening to the other performances.  Aside from the occasion class where have difficulty working together, this project is usually a very positive experience for the students.

The Music Teacher Island

Somebody mentioned the “music teacher island” recently, so this stuck in my mind as I write this. Since I wrote my first post, I have been trying to figure out the focus of this blog. I plan to use the blog to write about lessons and any topics that other music educators may be interested in.

Although I have some great colleagues in the music department of my district, we are all at different schools and do not meet together as often as we’d like. Over the years, I have attended Orff workshops, NJMEA conferences, looked on the Music K-8 mailing list, and searched online. In the past few years and more recently, I have discovered many more online resources than ever. Many of my internet searches have led me to Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, Youtube, and different social media sites. There are so many great resources out there!

My first teaching job was at a Montessori school, teaching pre-school and kindergarten music classes. I designed my own curriculum based on what I learned in my undergraduate years as a music education major. The lessons were put together using college resources, old music books my mother had (since she’s a music teacher as well), mixed in with a few of my own ideas thrown in.

I eventually landed the position where I am now. Because this was a brand new school when I started here, I have shaped the music program and watched it evolve over the last fifteen years. Many traditions have been started. Some were at my principal’s request, and other ideas were initiated by me. I will share these traditions in future posts.

In addition to covering all of the musical concepts and achieving all of the state standards, my long-term and more important goal is to teach the students to have a love and appreciation for music. I want the students to understand that music is not just limited to what they hear in school, but something that is out there in the real world.

I hope that this blog helps me reflect on my lessons, connect with others that are blogging as well, and take part in many great discussions about music education. 

Hello, and welcome to my blog!

My name is Michelle, and I've been a music teacher for just over 18 years. During my childhood I was surrounded by music, so I guess you could say I was destined to go into the music field.  The funny thing is that I originally went to college for music education, because it seemed like a logical choice. I loved music, but did not have a particular interest in teaching. However, as I went further into my studies and began student teaching, I discovered that teaching and working with choral ensembles was a passion for me.

Each year in my teaching career, I have taken on new challenges.  Not only have I seen changes in my students' passion for music, but I have changed as well. I am so fortunate to be in a career that I enjoy and personally grow from the experience.  With the popularity of technology in the classroom and for professional networking, joining "the club" as a music education blogger is the next step for me!