Music Room Poster Freebie

In celebration of the new school year, I have posted a new, FREE classroom poster (sample and link above) which coordinates with many of my other teaching materials (a couple of linked examples below). Wishing teachers everywhere the best school year yet! : )

Music Activities with a Valentines Theme

Happy Valentines Day (week), everyone! Here's a little freebie printable poster you might enjoy:



This is a PNG file, which you can simply click on and print.










After presenting a full-day workshop and attending (and absolutely enjoying) UMEA, I am a bit slow posting some Valentines ideas. But if you are as busy as I am, you might be looking for some last-minute ideas. 

I have recently completed a few sets of Valentines activities: a note-spelling set with super cute Valentine graphics and two sets which use text-based rhythms from conversation heart candies. See samples of my layered ostinatos, composition cards, and measure mats below. I also composed a little poem to help students laugh at and feel comfortable working with the mushy text on candy hearts, which I will share below as a freebie.

Here's my poem / body percussion canon with instructions below:

(This is part of my "Love Notes with Candy Quotes" sets.) You can click on it to enlarge and project, print and/or save.

(1) Model by chanting the poem with an animated voice to a steady beat. (2) Have students pat the beat with 'spider legs' on thighs as you repeat it and match accented syllables to the beat.  (3) Add the actions/body percussion and practice. (Notes: actions are directly under the syllables they occur on. 'Open' is a silent gesture, as if opening a card. 'Brush' as if trying to get clean.) (4) Perform body percussion without audible text (but thinking the words and maintaining a steady beat).  (5) Divide the class into two groups and perform, beginning one stanza apart (as a round). If students are ready, perform this as a three- or four-part canon. Have fun! : ) 

Amplify the JOY and enJOY the ride!

As each new school year begins, I find myself re-evaluating, goal-setting and anticipating a joyful year. I feel very blessed to have a career doing something I love! A perspective that keeps me going year after year and guides me in creating meaningful and joyful music lessons and materials is this: 

The prize is in the process! 

I adopted this mantra years ago, and it has helped me focus on my students' needs and allowed me to enjoy my work much more than I did early in my career.

 

As music teachers, we often feel pressured to have our students present, perform, and even compete. But the truly great musical learning moments take place while we're exploring, evaluating, creating, and refining a piece of music. While preparing to perform music helps us set goals, the actual performance is simply a 'snapshot' in time and hardly a true reflection of the wondrous process that has taken place and the learning that will last a lifetime. I have found that 'inform-ances' are usually more meaningful for my students and their audiences (who are mainly family members genuinely interested in what students are learning).  This has relieved a lot of pressure and brought much more satisfaction and joy to my work. 

 

 

 

When I recently came across this quote, it resonated deeply with me. So I created a poster for my office to remind myself to amplify the innate joy of learning and making music. (It's a bit wordy but SO powerful. Go ahead; re-read it.) I'm posting it here for my visitors to print and enjoy. (Just click on the picture to open and print it.)




Wishing you a JOYful school year!  

Smile and enJOY the ride!    

Music is 'Electrical Soil'

Here are a few favorite music advocacy quotes and my latest poster. Enjoy : )

(JPEG is printable.)

 

“When faced with a problem to solve, students in music and the arts produce more possible solutions, and their solutions are more creative, according to a nationwide study.”           

                             - N. M. Weinberger, Arts Education Enhances ‘Real Life’ Personal Skills,  

   MuSICA Research Notes, Spring 2000.

“…The ability to be creative is native to the arts and is one of the primary processes learned through arts education...  arts promote work habits that cultivate curiosity, imagination, creativity, and evaluation skills. Students who possess these skills are better able to tolerate ambiguity, explore new realms of possibility, express their own thoughts and feelings and understand the perspectives of others… Students’ capacity to create and express themselves through the arts is one of the central qualities that make

them human, as well as a basis for success in the 21st century.

                            -  21^st Century Skills Map – The Arts, 2010,
                                   Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, www.p21.org

Music Enhances Problem Solving and Creativity

It's been a while since I've added a poster or posted some music and arts advocacy quotes, but end-of-year assessments and reflections have me thinking about the benefits of music education as it relates to creative thinking and problem solving. So here's a new poster and some favorite quotes I've collected:

“Too often students are given answers to remember, rather than problems to solve.”       
      – Roger Lewin

“When faced with a problem to solve, students in music and the arts produce more possible solutions, and their solutions are more creative, according to a nationwide study.”        

        – N. M. Weinberger, Arts Education Enhances ‘Real Life’ Personal Skills, 
            MuSICA Research Notes, Spring 2000.

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”     

         – William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)          (I've adopted this one as my mantra.)

“The principle goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done - men who are creative, inventive and discoverers.”          – Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

“The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer.”

            – Elliot Eisner in The Arts and the Creation of Mind –  
            What the Arts Teach and How it Shows

                        (Absolutlely love this. So true!)

“…the ability to be creative – a key 21st Century Skill – is native to the arts and is one of the primary processes learned through arts education...  arts promote work habits that cultivate curiosity, imagination, creativity, and evaluation skills. Students who possess these skills are better able to tolerate ambiguity, explore new realms of possibility, express their own thoughts and feelings and understand the perspectives of others… Students’ capacity to create and express themselves through the arts is one of the central qualities that make them human, as well as a basis for success in the 21st century.

      –  21^st Century Skills Map – The Arts, 2010,
            Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, www.p21.org

Cultural Connections - Music & Social Studies

My latest poster and a few of my favorite quotes about music and culture:

“We know an age more vividly through its music than through its historians.”                                                                              - Rosanne Ambrose-Brown

“The history of a people is found in its songs.”    - George Jellinek

“The truest expression of a people is in its dance and music.”   
                                                                             - Agnes de Mile (1905-93)
 

"The arts celebrate multiple perspectives. One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.”    - Elliot Eisner in The Arts and the Creation of Mind
   
I've been working with several sixth grade social studies classes (at different schools) to explore how environment has affected the development of ethnic music and art (a core objective). I play about 40 seconds of various multicultural selections (from a list I've compiled in Spotify) and have students fill in a listening chart, commenting on timbre, repeating melody or rhythm patterns, tempo, dynamics, and style, and then guessing what country or culture the music is from.

Next, as I review and replay about ten seconds of each piece, I show pictures of the ethnic instruments (which I've gathered from the Internet) and discuss the environmental and cultural influences that affected their development. Finally, I reveal the country or culture. Students really enjoy the 'big reveal.' This is a true integration (if you take time for it), as we are able to explore both curricula (music and social studies) and use music vocab in context. 

I've compiled a multicultural listening list in Spotify, and you are welcome to access/follow it. Here's a link: Multicultural . (You can also search for and download these pieces using iTunes, Amazon, etc.) I'm listing some of my favorites selections below.

Information appears in this order: Culture, Track/Title, Artist, Name of Album

India: Indian Summer, The Tigers of Bengal, Indian Raga

China: Chinese Wuhan Erhu, (Chinese Traditional), Chinese Traditional ErhuMusic

Russia: Gari Gari(Brule Brule), Jan Boutouk, Gypsy & Folk Music – Russia

Japan: Yamaji Yamato Ensemble, The Art of the Traditional Japanese Flute & Koto

Africa: African Meditation Music, African Drums, African Tribal Music

Germany: Rosamunde, Die Oberkariner Volksmusikanten, German Polka Party

Egypt/Arabia: Ayoub, Mohamed Maksoud, Oriental Sax – Turkish & Arabic Music

Spain: Punta del Faro, Paco de Lucia, El Flamenco Es…

Tahiti: Bora Bora (Tahitian Drums), The Polynesians, Luau Songs of Hawaii

Ireland: Irish Jigs, Irish and Celtic Music, Irish & Celtic – The Lord of the Dance

Mexico: Ay Jalisco no Te Rajes, Mariachi Mexico, Plaza Garibaldi

America: Shufflin’Blues, Paul Lenart, Acoustic Blues

Do you have any favorite multicultural songs or activities? Please share in the comment box : )

Beautiful Music Quote

                               Music adds so much to life!
I enjoy creating these posters, and I hope my blog visitors and TPT customers enjoy them too : )   These JPEG files, FREE for your home or classroom use, can be printed. (Just click on the image, and a higher resolution file will open for you.)  If you use these electronically, please give credit by linking to my blog.

Every child is an artist... and every artist listens to his/her inner child.

 

Today I was privileged to teach an all-day workshop to an amazing group of music teachers, and the day was filled with the joyful synergy of learning, creating and making music. I made this new little poster tonight as I've reflected on how remaining an artist keeps us young and excited about life, and yes, even our work. Actually, my work feels like play quite often : )

Believe it or not, today also brought the blessing of another grandchild, my third new grandson in the past three weeks. I will travel to meet him tomorrow, and I can hardly wait!

Expressing Feelings through Music

I've had an INCREDIBLY JOYOUS week with the birth of TWO grandsons on the same day -- two different families but only four hours apart! I was also able to attend the annual UMEA conference in St. George. It was wonderful to see so many friends and colleagues and gather and share ideas. I enjoyed pouring my happy feelings into my violin tonight, and then created this little poster to celebrate being able to express my joy and gratitude through music. (Visitors can click on this image and print or save it.) en-JOY!