Laura Jeffrey Academy Music

This week in music students are presenting their research on world music! Students will present to the class: The name and location about their country, three interesting facts about their country, one interesting thing about the music from their country, instruments that are commonly used, the context in which music is performed (religious, entertainment, games, ceremonies, etc), and three ways the music relates to the culture.

We have been keeping a running list of things that music can tells us about a culture. Some of our ideas are: language, history, values, beliefs, religions, what the country has been through, festivals, ceremonies, instruments, materials and resources (metal flute/bamboo flute)

Students have been very excited about the presentations and have prepared PowerPoint presentations, posters, dances, as well as bringing in instruments and clothing from their countries! I will have video clips for most of the countries as well. It will be a fun and educational week!

Students will have music Tuesday and Thursday this week. Tuesday will be the last day for students to use laptops in class for research or preparing PowerPoint presentations. We will spend Thursday preparing anything else – note cards, posters, etc. Students will be presenting Monday, Wednesday, and Friday next week. I will have a presentation schedule on Thursday so students know which day they are presenting.

We will continue developing our ability to improvise and perform polyrhythms as an ensemble. We will be adding the element of singing while simultaneously playing through the practice of a song from Liberia.  

This week students will begin researching for their presentations. I have discussed the following internet and computer expectations with the girls and will be reviewing them everyday. Students who do not follow the expectations will lose their internet privileges for this project.

1) Only look up information relevant to your country and its music

2) Visitng youtube is not permitted

3) Be careful and respectful with the laptops

4) No printing

5) Close down and promtly put laptop away when asked

If students wish to find a video on youtube I am asking they do this at home under the supervision of an adult. Youtube has wonderful videos but I cannot ensure the content will always be school appropriate. Students may write down and give me the web address for the video they would like to use prior to their presentation. I will be downloading videos and showing students in class that they may use for their presentations.

We have successfully performed as a percussion ensemble in class! We are playing djembes, tubanos, shekeres, and an agogo bell in our ensemble. We will continue to develop our listening and playing skills as an ensemble. We will also begin playing question and answer patterns as a gateway to improvisation.

Students should come to class Tuesday with a first and second choice for the country they would like to present on. I will be discussing the expectations for the presentations and use of Internet in class on Thursday.

Students will be working on developing open tones on Tubanos and Djembes and learning bass tones. Students will be introduced to and play the Agogo bell. We will practice call and response as well as question and answer patterns (improvisation). We will also begin working on a polyrhythmic piece as an ensemble. 

We will continue playing the hand game that we learned last week from Zimbabwe and begin a new rock passing game from Ghana. 

We will begin the week in music by discussing our learning targets and essential questions for the quarter. Our key word for the week is respect. We will be talking about how we respect each other as musicians and how we respect our new musical instruments!

Students will play the shekere and the tubano in call and response patterns as well as question and answer.

We will also be learning a hand movement game from Zimbabwe called Sorida. This game helps develop physical and musical coordination. 

In the next few weeks students will be working on preparing a presentation on the music from a country of their choice. Students should decide by Tuesday what country they would like to research and present on.

Homework for Tuesday: Students choose country to present on.