Poem about the most impactful day of my life

Yes

It is true

How do you choose

One day

That has impacted you

More than any other

Especially

At my age

Yes

I am old

Relationships

So many

Weddings

Children born

Grandchildren

Graduations

Illness

Loss

Betrayal

All full of impact

Yes

But to choose one

I can say

It may always be

The day we brought

A Christmas tree

To our friend

With all the singing children

From her classes

Yes

We stood around the tree

Outside her home

Snow falling

Or that is how I remember it

We  sang carols

We decorated the tree

My tears turned to ice

I looked at our mutual friend

It was all we could do

To keep on singing

And not fall apart

Yes

It has been eleven christmases

Since we have lost her

But the day remains

Etched in memory

In all we might do

To keep her close

To keep her with us

To never let her go

She is with us forever

Because of that day

Because of that memory

Because of that love

Gustav Holst Rap- For the Exceeds

Gustav Holst 

He played the organ,

trombone, and piano

The girl he married 

was a soprano

he was inspired 

by astrology

Impossibly

to write the planets

He was born in 1874

Do you want to know more?

Well the planets

you got

Mercury Venus earth mars 

Jupiter Saturn Uranus

and Neptune

It is fascinating what he did

The planets was a masterpiece

he died

when his heart gave out

 Rest in peace

Gustav Holst 

That is what he was all about

Gustav Holst 

Exceeds option for The Planets Composition

Creating an exceeds option for a project is very difficult.

A task that I find a great challenge.

This one for The Planets composition

Is not that hard.

1.) Use more than one hand position for the piano.

2.) Use more than one time signature for the piece.

3.) Use dynamics, and other symbols for your piece.

4.) Play it for the class.

TEN STEPS TO YOUR PLANETS COMPOSITION

Students create music in easy keys, meters, and rhythms with limited ranges accurately applying the knowledge and skills of notation: symbols, terminology of dynamics.  Students perform music of various styles and genres.

1. CHOOSE A PLANET OR ASTROLOGICAL SIGN OR ASTRONOMY SUBJECT OR MYTH TO INSPIRE YOUR ORIGINAL COMPOSITION FOR PIANO.  FIND A PIECE OF COMPOSITION PAPER.

2.  WRITE 4/4 TIME AFTER THE TREBLE AND BASS CLEF.  USE QUARTER NOTES, HALF NOTES, WHOLE NOTES, EIGHTH NOTES AND SIXTEENTH NOTES IN YOUR COMPOSITION. 

3.  CREATE AN OSTINATO TO USE IN YOUR PIECE, AS IN MARS. (REPEATED RHYTHMIC OR MELODIC PATTERN) USE C POSITION NOTES.  USE OTHER HAND POSITIONS IF YOU KNOW HOW TO PLAY THEM ON THE PIANO.

4.  BE SURE TO ADD A MEASURE LINE EVERY FOUR BEATS, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AT LEAST 32 MEASURES WHEN THE COMPOSITION IS COMPLETE. BEGIN AND END ON C.

5.  BE SURE YOUR STEMS ARE GOING THE CORRECT WAY.  DOWN ON THE LEFT ABOVE THE MIDDLE LINE, UP ON THE RIGHT BELOW THE MIDDLE LINE.

6.  BE SURE YOU ARE USING NOTES YOU KNOW HOW TO PLAY, SO YOU CAN PERFORM YOUR PIECE.

7.  IF YOUR LEFT HAND OR YOUR RIGHT HAND IS NOT PLAYING, YOU MUST ADD RESTS TO SHOW SILENCE IN ONE HAND OR ANOTHER.

8.  FINISH THIS SECTION OF YOUR PIECE FIRST BEFORE YOU PLAY IT, THEN WHEN YOU PLAY IT YOU CAN CHANGE WHATEVER YOU WISH TO MAKE IT BETTER OR MORE INTERESTING. 

9.  NOW, AFTER THE 32 MEASURES ADD AS MUCH AS YOU CAN OR WANT TO TO YOUR PIECE, AT LEAST 10 MORE MEASURES, AND YOU CAN WRITE THIS DOWN IN ANY WAY YOU WISH, NOT USING CONVENTIONAL NOTATION IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO.

10.  PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS IF THERE IS ANYTHING YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND.  ESSENTIAL FOR YOUR SUCCESS IN ANY PROJECT IS ASKING QUESTIONS OR ASKING FOR HELP WHEN YOU NEED IT! 

Holiday Poems from Enrichment class - Exemplar

THE HOLIDAY

How is a person

Supposed to celebrate

The holidays

When there is so much pain

In this world

How is a person

Supposed to be joyful

When you are so far away

From the life that you desire

How is a person

Supposed to believe

In the miracle birth

The red clothed fat-bellied guy

With the eight tiny reindeer

When children are starving

Millions are homeless

Racism is never ending

The world is a hostile place

I will tell you

The smile of a child

The first hot sip of a maple latte

The light of a million stars

on the early morning walk

The laugh you get from a great joke

Told in desperation

For a moment not to be lost

The gratitude of a friend

Whose jewelry you bought

The money you spent

That goes to a good cause

The time you know

Will be yours and ours

When they come home

To spend it with you

The holiday

Appreciate the moment

The holiday

Appreciate the time

The holiday

Appreciate the love, always

Holst Rap: From the tune of "Changes"

Holst Rap

Ooh, cuz Gustav I don't understand it,

Why did that heart failu-u-ure

have to ruin your life forever

Cuz the way you played was amazing

OOo, xuz Gustav why'd you have to do this

Cheltenham, England 1874

Ooo, cuz Gustav...why...?

Did you have to write the Planets

Teaching Everyone, can't stand it, ooo

Neuritis your making it hard for me

Neuritis you're making it hard for me

Neuritis you're making it hard for me..

ooooo

My Version of a poem about Holst

HOLST: A GIFTED SOUL 

He was a great musician

Steeped in Tradition

Supportive parents,

Helped his common sense

Neuritis electrified his hand

It was a good thing

he could join a band.

Trombone playing uphill and down

Oh Never to see him as a clown!

He was paid to play

So he could spend his day

Composing Masterpieces

Concentrating his energy

Using his shyness practically

Finally, 

Invited to teach

He gave his best self to push the reach

of his talented students.

All young women players

Performing with all their flairs

It fulfilled him in ways he never knew before

What he never figured was in store

His trip to Spain

Excited his brain

About a new subject

Learning to dissect

Theosophy 

Astronomy

Astrology

Erupted in a new work

Ideas left to lurk

Fame, Fortune, Recognition

Was his new identification

Still shy

He wished to be left to try

his hand at new pieces

And now we have no traces

Of his original spaces

Except we continue to perform

"The Planets" in its complete form 

And his fame will live on

long after we are 

ALL GONE!! 

Gustav Holst Raps, using Fifteen Facts about his life and work...

Holst,

he got to post,

up that Sweet sweet music

….Holst,

he got the most,

of that sweet sweet music!

(Music).................................................................................

He had the trombone,

the organ,

and his sweet sweet voice,

and he didn’t even have a choice!

He had Neuritis that prevented

that sweet sweet piano playing!

But he’s still slaying!

He’s now a COMPOSER!!!!……….

But then he met a girl….

AND NOW HE KNOW’S HER,

ISobel got that sweet sweet, smile

and now she got be happy while...

THEY GET MARRIED!!!!

Holst,

He got to post,

up that sweet sweet music!

Holst, he got the most,

of that sweet sweet music!.......................

Listening Assignment for The Planets

Listening Assignment for The Planets

Mars, Bringer of War_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Venus, Bringer of Peace_____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

Mercury, Winged Messenger_________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

Jupiter, Bringer of Jollity_____________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Saturn, Bringer of Old Age___________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Uranus, The Magician_______________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Neptune, The Mystic________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Draw a Picture of What you Hear, or What the music inspires you to draw, Choose one or more of the Sections to draw..use the back if you need to..

Cool Poem by one of my students about Venus from The Planets

Poem About the Venus music piece

Air goes in, Air goes out.

Life is hard, without a doubt.

Not a care in the world,

Just you, and the music.

Feel the steady beat of the blow of the trombones,

Feel the rhythm of the mallet banging against the drum

Feel yourself get pulled out of reality,

And in to the air.

Forget all of your worries,

All of your struggles

All of the darkness,

And come into the light.

Here you are free

Here you can be yourself

Dreams can be whatever you want,

Dreams can go however you want,

Here is you dreams.

Change and twist reality.

Here is wherever you want.

Here goes however you want.

Here is your dreams.
Never give up on your dreams.

Or else, they will become fears.

Petrified...new UNIT!!

I am creating and teaching a new unit this quarter with my sixth graders.  This is a unit that I have been meaning to work on for years, and it is just happening now.  The opera project has died a long and dramatic death, and it is time for something new.  However, creating this project is taking some time and energy and a lot of gumption.  The good news is that I can use it as one of my smart goals, and I can also work on it during our professional development days because we are working on The Backwards Design and creating units using this method. 

Stage 1 - Desired Results

Established Goals (standard(s)):  1.) - Explain that the visual/performing arts help people understand history and/or world cultures. 2.)  Create their own compositions, using their understanding of notation, dynamics, and symbols. Enduring Understandings (big ideas):  1.)Students will remember how a composer’s life and experience affects his/her art, writing, and compositions. 2.)Students will remember how a composer connects astronomy, astrology with a piece of music.   3.)Students will remember how to approach creating their own compositions.

Brand new project on Gustav Holst and The Planets..

https://www.classicfm.com/composers/holst/guides/holst-facts/astrology-12/

1.)Where and when was Gustav Holst born?

          2).What made it impossible for Holst to become a pianist?

3.)What other instruments did he play?

4.)Which composers influenced Holst and in what ways?

5.)Who is Isobel Harrison and how is she important to Gustav Holst’s life?

6.)What other career did Holst have other than being a composer and musician?

7.)What made Holst want to write The Planets?

8.)What other facts do you know or can you find out about the piece, “The Planets”?

9.)Was Holst excited about his fame and fortune with his famous piece “The Planets”?

10.)When did Holst die, and where and why?

EXCEEDS OPTION:

Create a composition/ song/rap using facts about Holst and a few short phrases of his music to show your understanding of his style and his life and influences.

My Dear Companion

Because I had to take a sick day, I was able to assign the kids one of my favorite songs and projects for while I was away.  We sing a beautiful song, "My Dear Companion" and then the students write letters to people in their lives that they miss, or who moved away, or who are gone for one reason or another.  This time I wrote an exemplar for the first time that I read to them, instead of using exemplars of other students' work, and I think it made a difference.  Here I insert the Exemplar.

                    Exemplar for My Dear Companion                     11/2/2018
LETTER TO SOMEONE I NO LONGER SEE

Dear Betty,
Things have changed around here, you wouldn’t believe it if you saw it.  So many things have happened since you went away, since you transformed and moved on.  I will try to fill you in, so if you ever return, you will know what to expect. 

First of all, our mutual friend actually retired two years ago from teaching fifth grade.  I thought it would be the end of the world as we know it.  However, he wasn’t actually gone that long.  The following fall he began substituting, and now he is a full-time ed tech.  I don’t see him much, because he works upstairs now, but last year he was in my class most days, and I really appreciated his help with the students.  I never forget to write him a poem every year for his birthday, and it always has to do with you, and our threesome, and often all the times we had together all those years here.  The poems make me both grateful, and sad: Grateful because of what we had together for all those years, and sad that it is gone..like the colors of the leaves in autumn, the roses in spring, the way babies smell when they are newborn, the beginning of every new friendship. 

Well, time has flown since you moved on, and I have become a grandmother! Four times already!  I have three little girls that are strong and healthy and beautiful and one gorgeous baby boy.  Olive and April are seven and four, and live in Chicago, and Sibby and Wilder are 21 months and 1 month old, and live in Brooklyn, NY.  Louis has become a fifth grade teacher, (can you believe it?? Remember when he was just a little boy in middle school, waffle-eating his way through life?) Sarah is a high school teacher at a charter school on the south side of Chicago, David is still a professor, and Chloe is staying home with her babies at this writing.  They all came home for my big birthday celebration this summer, and they always visit me in the summer and at Christmas time at the old farm house in Kennebunk.  They are amazing and interesting and brilliant people, and three of them have partners/wives/husbands that are also equally as brilliant and amazing and interesting.

I am still teaching music here at YMS, but I don’t teach chorus anymore the way I used to.  Instead, I play piano for chorus, and play at the concerts.  You should see the beautiful new auditorium and the amazing piano that they bought for the concerts there, I love playing it and I love hearing the students sing, they are incredible!!  So much talent in this town, so many kind and intelligent students, so much to learn from them!  I wish you were still here to work with them, it just hasn’t been the same since you moved on.  I miss you terribly, but I think of you every single day, and all of my work is inspired by all the things you taught me about life, love, kindness, bravery, courage, humor, and the meaning of life.  I wish you were here, and will always wish you were here. 

All my love,
Susan

Hope it helps with the idea if you want to use it in your classroom..

more questions for your perusal

Maddy’s & Fabiola’s
Questions & Answers
Why does the Queen of Night, Pamina’s mother, ask Pamina to kill Sarastro, the King of  Light?
Answer: The Queen of Night asks this of her, because, as the Queen of Night, she thinks that light is dangerous or evil. As for Pamina, she knows that to kill is wrong, but wants to obey her mother. Sarastro assures her that the reason for her kidnapping is for her safety, saving her from her mother.   

 2. Why does Tamino remain silent even though Pamina arrives?
Answer: Tamino remains silent because he is under a vow, which Pamina does not understands, and is heartbroken, which she states her the song “Now my heart is filled with sadness.” He keeps his silence, also, because he is worried about Pamina’s safety, and does not want to do anything that might put her in danger.


3. Why does the Queen of Night think she has the right to try to kill, Sarastro, the King of Light?
Answer: The play is set in a fantasy world and time, which is a land between sun and moon. As in most fairytale stories, there is always a good and evil. The evil will think the good is weak and pathetic, which will make them think they can take them on (the good), finish them off and rule the land. As she is the Queen of Night, she thinks of the same, and asks Pamina to kill the King of Light. 


4.  Who’s the play about?
Answer: You might be saying that the play is about Pamina, or maybe about Tamino or the Queen of Night or Sarastro, but really, the play is about good and evil, and Pamina is the gap between those two. Pamina is the daughter of the Queen of Night, but is kidnapped by the King of Light, and her mother sends Tamino to rescue her. Sarastro, the King of Light, assures Pamina that he is trying to save her from her mother. Then her mother asks her to kill Sarastro, but Pamina knows that killing is wrong, even though she wants to be loyal to her mother. Pamina is the only thing between her mother and Sarastro. So, basically, the play is about Pamina because she is the daughter of the Queen of Night and she is asked to kill the good guy, but wants to obey her mother. She needs to make the right decision for the plot to turn out right.


5. What did Papageno do after he gives up on the initiation? 
Answer: Papageno broke the vow that he and Tamino made by drinking water. After that he gave up on the whole idea about the initiation and longed for a wife instead. He settles for the old lady and when he says he’s going to be faithful to her a young and beautiful Papagena appears but disappears immediately. He tries to hang himself but is saved by three spirits and they remind him that if he rings the bells he will be happy. He rings the bells and Papagena appears and in the song “Pa-pa-pa-papageno!” they start family plans. 


         6. Why does the Queen of the Night and her
three ladies, and Monostatos attack the temple but fall into a hole and disappear?
Answer: You might think because she wanted the girl to kill her but the true statement is that the lady wanted the girl into her own hands that she can have the power so she could control It. 




7. Why does Monostatos
tries to kiss the sleeping Pamina but all of a sudden the Queen of the Night appears?
Answer: Why the Queen walked in is because in the story she was coming to check on Pamina but then she sees that Pamina was trying to get kissed by  Monostatos.


8. Why does Papageno tries to hang himself on a tree but is saved by the three spirits, who remind him that if
he uses his magic bells he will find true happiness?
Answer: Why he wanted to hang himself is because he wanted to
commit suicide and why the three spirits was actually trying to save him and remind him that if
he uses his magic bells he will find true happiness.


9.Why did  the ladies give a magic flute to
Tamino?
Answer: The ladies give a magic flute to
Tamino because in the text is says, “ The ladies give a magic flute to
Tamino and silver bells to Papageno to ensure their safety on the journey and appoint three
spirits to guide them (Quintet: “Hm! hm! hm! hm!”). And so that shows the answer to my question.


 10. Why did Tamino want to know who killed the creature
Answer: It says in the texted that He boasts to Tamino that it was he who killed the creature.
The ladies return to give Tamino a portrait of the queen’s daughter, Pamina, who they say has
been enslaved by the evil Sarastro.

How do you teach people to ask profound questions?

I have been trying to teach my students to ask profound questions for several years.  I have studied how to do this, and I have worked on asking my students to think about asking questions that could not be answered in one word.  This does not mean that students find this easy, or even worthwhile to do.  I gave this group many days to complete their questions about The Magic Flute, and here they are today, most of whom did not even start these questions.  I am giving them today to work on them, even though I gave them a week of tlts to complete them last week, or at home, or at any other time, ..

so I was losing it that day, and now the world is redeemed.  Read these amazing examples of questions created and answered by some students.

Q: Why didn’t Tamino break his vow of silence when he meets up with Pamina, the woman he loves?
A: He is determined to be accepted into the brotherhood, even if it means that Pamina becomes upset with him. He values his loyalty to the brotherhood, and will complete the trails, even if it means breaking Pamina’s heart.

Q: Why do Papageno’s bells grant him true happiness? How does this relate to Mozart?
A: Papageno’s bells give him true happiness because the bells play music. This relates to Mozart and his life because one of the only things that could bring him happiness was music.

Q: Why does Papageno break his vows almost immediately?
A: Papageno is more of a care-fee, “go with the flow” person. If he prefers to drink a glass of water, he will. He isn’t as loyal to the brotherhood as Tamino.

Q: What could be a reason that the spirits are incorporated into the story?
A: It is known that Mozart was scared of the paranormal. In his last years, he wrote funeral music that was requested by a man he thought was a ghost. This could tie into the part near the end, where the ghosts tell Papageno to play his bells and make music.

Q: Who is Tamino?
A: Tamino is a prince, who is saved by the three lady servants of the Queen of the Night. Once he is shown
A picture of Pamina, he falls in love. He eventually helps defeat the Queen on the Night.

Q: Why did Pamina refuse to follow the Queen of the Night’s -her mother- orders to kill Sarastro?
A: Although Pamina loves her mother and would obey her, she knows that murder is wrong, and those kind of morals that could affect someone’s life so dearly like that come before her obedience to her mother. I believe when the Queen of the Night asked her to do this and she refused, it made her see how evil her mother could be.

Time Signatures

It is so interesting how little my sixth graders know about time signatures.  If you ask a random selected group of sixth grade general music students, what does the top number mean in 4/4 time, you will usually get the right answer:  It means there are four beats in every measure.  If you ask a random selected group of these students what the bottom number means in 4/4 time, you will get several answers, almost none of them will be correct!  They will say it means there are four measures on every line, they will say there are four beat measures, they will say each measure has four notes in it..none of these are even close to being correct. 

Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to make sure that before the year is over, these sixth graders will be able to explain what the bottom number means in 4/4 or 2/2 or 6/8 time.  My first plan of action has worked quite well.  One of the reasons they don't know what the bottom number means is that the 4 is always on the bottom, they never have noticed any other number there.  I will show them now what it means to have a 2 or a 6 on the bottom. 

When they first witness the 2 on the bottom, it is really playing with their heads.  The way you count it is different than they have ever learned before, but they begin to see the light.  They begin to understand what happens to the counting if you change the 4 to a 2.  They then begin to realize that if you change it, you have the half note as the unit of beat, or that a half note equals one beat.  If they understand that, then they can by proxy begin to understand what it means to have a quarter note equal one beat.  The minute something changes and can be changed, that is the minute they say, "Oh, now I get it!!"  It is very exciting to watch, but I am thinking and kicking myself that I never started this process before now.  I will give them a quiz at the end of the quarter, and I believe they will ALL be able to explain the idea of the time signature, both top and bottom numbers.

Great lesson on how to count music

Enrichment activity - Where do you Stand?

I don't know if I have talked about this activity on this blog before.  I have a class that is a creative drama class, and it has from 20 to 25 students in it per quarter, some come two days a week, some come three days a week, and some only come one day a week.  I am always finding new ideas and creative activities to share with them for class.  Where do you stand? is a way to figure out how people think about different statements, and I am always happy to play this game.  You have two rows of chairs.  You say the statement, "I prefer cats to dogs" for example, or "If you find money on the street you should be able to keep it" or "You can't change your personality" or "Precious jewels are more valuable than trees", just to name a few.  If you agree with the statement you sit in the front row, if you disagree with the statement, you sit in the back row.  Then, you discuss it with the group.

We have had some amazing conversations about these statements, and I have gotten to know my students better with this.  At this point, I am giving them the statements, and they are now writing speeches about the statements, that they will share with the class. I look forward to hearing what they say about these different statements, and about what they believe.  They definitely are opinionated, and this gives them a chance to write about something that they truly believe in. 

Ledger lines in music

I have never taught ledger lines in music.  I just let them be a natural progression when students need to use the notes from above the staff or below the staff or in between the treble and the bass staff.  I realized this fall, after over 25 years of teaching music and a lifetime of using ledger lines, that it would be smart to teach students what ledger lines really are.

  I am now, intentionally teaching them to sixth graders, when I should have taught it to them last year.  When I get fifth graders this winter, I will teach them more specifically what ledger lines are so they understand, for example, why middle C has a line through it!  It makes sense to teach it intentionally because, after all, the first note I teach is middle C, since I am teaching treble and bass clef every day, along with rhythms and dynamics. 

Why did I not do it all these years?  That is the thousand dollar question.  Was it just one more thing that I didn't want to push?  One more thing that was too technical and not about the "love" of music?  But if I just told them why C has a line through it, maybe the rest of it would be easier to understand. The students seem to be taking to it, and seem to understand it immediately when explained to them.

 Well, better late than never, is what I always say!!

Yesterday was my birthday..

There is nothing better than being a teacher on your birthday.  You just mention it to all the students in your classes, and they immediately break out into song.  They celebrate you like no one else ever could or ever does.  Life has been wonderful for me because I get to celebrate my birthday with my students most years. 

In fact, when it is on a Saturday, it is just not the same. 

And it is in the beginning of every year, so it is a joy, because the students are still trying to impress you and are still caring about the consequences of their actions.. gotta love being a teacher, and there are so many reasons..

Continued complications with Enrichment class

I had a visit this morning from a fellow enrichment teacher.  She has the same students in her enrichment at the end of the week that I have at the beginning of the week.  They are all thrown in together, a holding pen, for students who are not in other RTI or band or chorus or language classes.  The problem is, there is no rhyme or reason for where students are placed, and there are so many students who should not be put together.  I heard stories of students jumping on tables, of students not being quiet while the teacher was reading out loud from the book, students spitting on the floor in the library.  What is this about? 

Why can't students care about someone other than themselves?  How are we supposed to teach them anything if they don't behave, and if there are so many students who are not good combinations together?  Why is it ok for the allied arts teachers to have groups of students who have not chosen to take the class together all in one place who are not a good combination when it would never be a group together in math, science, social studies or language arts?  I have to say, it isn't fair.  However, I have found my way to order in this group.

I have also found a way to keep them accountable.  I send home a comment sheet through the mail to their parents at the end of each quarter.  This makes a huge difference, and now I can keep them from turning over tables or spitting on the floor, because if they do these things, their parents will hear about them doing it.  It is quite the deterrent, I have to say, as it makes a difference to them what their parents might think.  It works, and I have a better behaved class, who write poems, monologues, podcasts, dialogues and plays for me throughout the year.  Have a great week!