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..