Saturday, December 20, 2014

ASO Composer Projects!


Click here to see PowerPoint Presentations


Mack's Shostakovich Comic

Connor's painting of Scott Joplin


Project voting begins:






This year's winners!

First Place Winner
Tori's Planetary Poster

Second Place:
Meg's Vivaldi Snow Globe
The buildings in the snow globe are Vivaldi's church where he was a priest, the orphanage where he taught, and a concert hall. :)


Third Place: 
Jack's bust of Mozart


Honorable Mention: 
Duncan's caricature of Gustav Holst

Raveena's Braille and Print Tchaikovsky book

Millan's interactive Vivadi poster

Coming soon:

photos of
Kailani's Board Game
&
Greyson's Comic Book

PLUS
Video projects

Friday, December 5, 2014

Winter Wonderful!

Giant Congratulations to our Music@SPARK Chorus and AC for a fantastic concert at Grady High School on December 4!  I continue to be honored and excited to work with these amazing young musicians!



Things you should know, our Chorus and AC learned and memorized songs in English, Ladino (Spanish/Hebrew), Yoruba, Xhosa, French, and Hebrew representing all of the three major December holidays--Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah. 

They learned unison singing, 2, 3, and sometimes 4 part harmony in canon, parallel, divergent and convergent harmony, and descants. The learned skills on how to watch and respond to a conductors changing tempos, articulation, and dynamics. I am so very proud of these kids, and I am so lucky to be able to work with them here at SPARK, PLUS, Mr. Hill and the Grady High School Choruses were blown away by what our kids can do.
 

Enjoy the show!





Music@SPARK Orchestra!


Music@SPARK Band!


Thursday, November 20, 2014

Music@SPARK December Concerts!

Music@SPARK
Chorus and AC Concert:
WHERE: Grady High School Auditorium with the Grady High School Choruses!
WHEN: Thursday, December 4th at 7:30pm
UNIFORM: Music@SPARK light green polo shirt, black pants/skirt and black shoes (no sparkly blingy, bright colored hair bows or accessories, please)
CALL TIME: 6:00pm at the Grady High School Auditorium (you may drop your child off dressed, fed, and wateredJ) Call time is very important for the singers to get used to standing on risers, entering and exiting the stage. Please be on time! Kids who miss warm up and call time often feel very nervous and unsettled.

Chorus/AC Repertoire:  Playlist linked here on the Chorus/Advanced Chorus Practice files tab on the blog
A Merry Modal Christmas (in English and French)
Mimo O’luwa
S’Vivon
Ocho Kandelikas
Christmas Time is Here
I Vow to You My Country (AC only)
Shumayela 



Music@SPARK 
Band and Orchestra Concert
ORCHESTRA begins at 6:00pm (should finish by ~6:20pm) followed by BAND at ~6:30pm


  • WHERE: In the Springdale Park Elementary Gym
  • WHEN: Monday, December 8th at 6:00pm
  • UNIFORM: Music@SPARK light green polo shirt, black pants/skirt and black shoes (no sparkly blingy, bright colored hair bows or accessories, please)
  • ORCHESTRA CALL TIME: 
    • 5th grade orchestra: 5th grade students are welcome to stay with Ms. Valkova in the afternoon.If not staying: Warm up for all 5th graders : 5pm in the Hirsch House
    • 4th grade orchestra: 5:30pm in the gym
  • BAND CALL TIME: between 5:40-5:45pm
************** 
Community Sing-a-long
Featuring ANY SPARK families and staff who wish to come 
and the Atlanta Young Singers Training Chorus 
In the Springdale Park Gym 
Wednesday, December 10th at 5:30pm 
(Chorus/AC call time 5pm--this gig is optional, but will be fun!)

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

ASO Composer Project Updates

Below are some items I wanted to reiterate about the ASO Composer Project.
·         During the year students should spend 30-40 minutes weekly on Music work (for projects or for studying)
·         Students should be prepared to show me their progress on their ASO Project Sheet every week until the project is completed. [This is worth 2-5 points of their daily grade.]
·         Fourth and Fifth Graders must choose their due date this week (the week BEFORE Thanksgiving or the week AFTER Thanksgiving on their Music day)
·         Students who wish to work with a partner must bring a note from parents. EACH partner must complete his/her own Project Sheet, and the sheets should NOT contain the same 5 Fascinating Facts or exact wording as their partner. [Each partner should complete Step 1 and Step 2 separately, then complete Step 3 together. I have seen several partnerships whose work in Step 1& 2 is identical. This means there are 5 Facts for 2 students, which is not fair to the students who are working individually. ]
·         Students may NOT choose Beethoven as their composer, because we are studying him in class.
·         Please let me know if your child would like to stay after school to use my resources (Monday 11/10, 11/17; Wednesday 11/5, 11/12, 11/19; Thursday 11/13, 11/20)

I have seen some excellent work from kids in 3rd-5th so far, but some kids did not have progress to show last week. Please encourage your child to do their weekly work so they don’t feel stressed when the due dates approach. I have found that many kids are finishing way ahead of schedule because they’re working consistently!

Have a great week!
Brianne Turgeon

Composer List/ suggested (not required) pieces
1.       Gustav Holst    The Planets: Jupiter & Mars
2.     Richard Strauss    Also Sprach Zarathustra
3.    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Twinkle, Twinkle: Theme and Variation
4.    Sean O’Boyle  Twinkle, Twinkle for strings
5.    Antonio Vivaldi    Winter from Four Seasons
6.    Mason Johnston  Dominus (he goes to Grady High School!! We may be able to ask him about his work in person!)
7.    Dimitri Shostakovich:   Festive Overture & Symphony No. 5 
8.    Vincent Ludwig Persichetti:     Lincoln Address
9.    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky:   Marche Slav          
10.  Bedrich Smetana  The Moldau   The Bartered Bride  
11.  Bela Bartok Mikrocosmos
12.  Charles Ives  Country Band March
13.  George Frederick Handel  Hornpipe from Water Music
14.  Zoltan Kodaly  HĂ¡ry JĂ¡nos
15.  Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 2 Movement 4
16.  Jean Sibelius  Finlandia
17.  Johann Sebastian Bach Brandenberg Concerto No. 2
18.  Margaret Bonds  Dream Variations
19.  Ruth Crawford Seeger  Rat Riddles
20.  Scott Joplin  Maple Leaf Rag, the Entertainer
21.  *Guido d'Arezzo (developed notation and scales)
22.  *Create a detailed, illustrated history of the Symphony Orchestra (including instrumentation, orchestral sizes throughout history, seating charts, etc.)

Other composers may be chosen BY APPROVAL by November 6th
(student must explain WHY they want to do the composer)
Students who wish to work together
must bring in a signed note or email from each parent/guardians set.
Non-classical composers will NOT be approved (jazz, pop, rock, movie composers, etc)


Wednesday, October 22, 2014

ASO Composer Project Info


Music and ELA CCGPS covered in this project

ASO Composer Project Sheet 
DOWNLOAD AND PRINT

Students are receiving this sheet in class this week (week of October 20th). Students only need to download/print here if they have lost their sheet.

To make navigation easier I created a tab at the top of this blog  called ASO Composer Project Resources that has everything you need—the list of composers to choose from, project sheet download, tips, a ton of resources and websites to support kids in researching for the ASO Composer Projects—all on one tab. 

Items to note:

  • ·         During the year students should spend 30-40 minutes weekly on Music work (for projects or for studying)
  • ·         The ASO Composer Project consists of four Steps. The Steps don't have to be fully completed each week, and students may choose to start with Step 1 or Step 2, but I will check everyone's sheets each week to make sure kids are working and making progress.
  • Students will turn in their ASO Composer Project sheet AND their Project (poster, essay, poem, video, prezi...etc. see Step 3 on the project sheet for some options) on or before their due date.
  • Third Graders' projects will be due during the week of December 8th on their Music day 
o   December 11th English/Badger & Windham/Badger
o   December 12th Lockwood/Badger & Neal/Badger
  • Fourth and Fifth graders may CHOOSE their due dates (by November 7th):
o   The week BEFORE Thanksgiving break, week of November 17th on their Music day OR
o   The week AFTER Thanksgiving break, week of December 1st on their Music day
  • ·         Students who wish to work with a partner must bring a note from parents. EACH partner must complete his/her own Project Sheet, and the sheets should NOT contain the same 5 Fascinating Facts or exact wording as their partner.
  • ·         Please remember the point of the project is for each child to learn interesting facts about a composer and to practice listening intently to music. I want students to highlight excellent facts while using their academic skills and creativity while having some fun, but please keep it simple! 
  • ·         A final note: Please encourage your child to read through their work to be sure they have paraphrased well, and that the writing sounds like something they would say. If they cannot read their work out loud fluently they should probably rephrase to make things simpler. Even better, get a friend to read it to and let the friend give feedback!  How to Paraphrase 

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Need Extra Credit?

Each week students can earn 10 points during Music class--we've had 8 weeks of class so far, and the Flashcard Project is worth 15 points (95 points possible without extra credit).

If you have forgotten your supplies or lost participation/vocabulary points OR if your Flashcard Project was not your best work you can earn extra credit to ensure that you earn the grade you want on the report card.

Students who did not complete a project cannot earn extra credit.

Extra credit must be turned in by Monday, October 6th with name, homeroom and grade listed.


Extra Credit Assignments


The choices below can be submitted in any format you wish, as long as your ideas and work are clearly represented and your research sources are cited.
You must cite your sources (tell where you found the information).
You may choose any of the following as your final presentation:


  • Write a paper (neatly handwritten or typed)
  • Write a song
  • Create a Powerpoint
  • Design a poster/presentation
  • Make a TV commercial (video)
  • Create a video presentation
  • Illustrate and design a comic book
  • Create a scrapbook
  • Make a playlist (selected projects only)
  • Create a multimedia presentation
  • Create a piece of artwork
  • Design your own presentation format (consult Ms. Turgeon if you have questions)


  1. Orchestra Seating Chart (up to 5 points) Student will research the families of instruments and discuss why Orchestras have a typical seating chart. Student should create a diagram of where each section of an orchestra plays, and write a few paragraphs about how sound is produced on each instrument, and how loud or soft each instrument plays.


  1. Who Am I? A guessing game (up to 5  points) Students will use the Glossary of Instruments, Instrument Cards, and other resources to find 4 facts about their chosen instrument. Students will write the four facts about the instrument on the outside of a “hamburger folded’ piece of paper, then draw the instrument inside and label it with the name and family of the instrument.


  1. Lyrics Book Illustration (up to 10 points)
(eg. America the Beautiful) Student chooses a song to illustrate. Each page should consist of a line of lyrics from a song and an illustration of the line. The end result is an illustrated songbook that can be used by future students.


  1. Music Book or Music Comic Book (up to 15 points)—(fiction or non fiction) Students may write and illustrate a book about music, a musician, or a musical character. Eight to ten pages with title page. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation must be correctly utilized.
    
  1. Song Writer project (up to 10 points) Guess. Set parameters for students, including minimum form requirements, if the song can be vocal, instrumental, or both. Decide how the student will present the song—written in text, written in notation, video or audio recording, etc.


  1. Instrument projects (up to 7 points)
Student uses online and Media Center resources to research facts about an instrument, and create a poster with a detailed illustration and facts about the instrument.


  1. Musicality (Varies, according to the difficulty of the song, up to 10 points)
This project is intended for students who take private lessons and can already play independently. The general idea is that the student will find a song that they have wanted to play, but are not preparing it in their private lessons. The student is allowed ask for coaching help from his/her teacher, but the purpose of the project is for the student to learn to play  a piece for him/herself, not because it was chosen for them.


  1. Memorization (up to 5 points) Student may memorize a song in another language or English, but it must be challenging for his/her age, and it may not be a song from the radio.


  1. Music Current Events (up to 7 points) Student will read newspapers or magazines and write a synopsis of an article about a musician or musical event.
  1. Musical Time Capsule (up to 10 points) Pretend that you have gone to the future and you want your grandchildren to know about the music that you listened to as a child. Start a “time capsule” to capture your own experience and understanding of music in your world today. A time capsule can take the form of a journal, a video, documentary, an original song, or a work of art. Include your thoughts and feelings about the music you like now (at your current age) and the music you liked as a younger person. Describe how your musical tastes have changed (or have not changed), and make a timeline of your favorite music from each time period in your life.
You could also interview a parent, friend, or family member to create a Musical Time Capsule for them!


  1. Musical Celebrations (up to 10 points) Does your family, neighborhood, or community celebrate events in a special way? Explore and tell about the interesting ways that you use music to celebrate different events in life (parties, weddings, holidays and so on). You might start by interviewing your family or closest friends. Find out what their favorite ways are of celebrating their cultural heritage—parades, festivals, ceremonies, parties, etc. Then create a brochure, poster, TV ad, or display to show what you’ve learned.


  1. Critical Thinking (up to 10 points) Newspapers and magazines often have an arts critic or music journalist. This person attends an event then writes an opinion about the performance, the music, and/or the atmosphere created by the event. Read several arts critic reviews, then prepare your own review of a musical event, concert, or performance. Be sure to use appropriate musical vocabulary!


  1. Compare/Contrast (up to 10 points) Choose two musicians or two songs from two different styles of music and compare them. These can be two musicians you like or one you like and one you do not like. Explore the sources and inspiration for their music, or find out who they admire personally or musically. Choose a song from each musician and write about the musical aspects of the song (tempo, meter, major/minor, instruments, voices, etc) and compare the two. Try to determine why you like (or dislike) each song and write about your observations.


  1. Music Mix (up to 5 points) Pretend that you are planning an event and you are the DJ. Choose the type of event (dance party, elegant evening, quiet meditation, wedding reception, karaoke party, skating party, sporting event…) and make song list of music you would play. You should write a paragraph or two about the event, how you want the audience to feel or react, and how you plan to keep the mood going. For each song tell about the mood it sets or the musical reason that you chose it, and include at least a sentence about why you chose that song.


  1. Save the Music, Save the Arts! (up to 12 points) Imagine that your school or community has cancelled all Music and Arts classes (it happens!). Prepare a presentation that shows why Music (or Art, Band, Orchestra, guitar, violin, piano, voice, or other visual art lessons) should not be cut. You should give important and accurate facts which support your main idea (not just emotional explanations), and your presentation should show your understanding of the importance of music and the arts in our world. You may include how music or art has been important to you in your life or at school, or how it has improved the life of your family members or friends. You could also include how music and art help the economy, help others through concerts and benefits, or simply how music and art help people express themselves.


  1. Music Manners (up to 12 points) Research proper manners or concert etiquette for different types of musical events (rock/pop concerts, elementary music concerts, classical music, jazz, weddings, parties, and so on) and create a brochure for children about appropriate Music Manners for the different situations. You must include at least THREE different event types.