So,
Things went very well on Tuesday. As Adam said, we did a quick game, a vocal warm up of "somewhere over the rainbow" and then for both classes, we dived right in.
Sona's class worked on the basics of song writing with great instruction from Adam and Mubeen's & Amanda's classes finished up their story presentations. Sona's class did a great job finding parts of the story that they would like to highlight and some expressed interest in doing rap which I wholly embrace. (Word!) When I see what they have come up with, I will incorporate into the piece.
For Amanda and Mubeen's classes, after hearing their stories, we did a brainstorming session where we came up with the following elements of the story: it will involve a food fight, incited as a result of a stolen item and involve the following gods and goddesses:
Hera
Zeus
Cupid
God of Fire
God of War
It struck me when I was watching Mubeen's & Amanda's classes that having the students present their stories is a very important part of the process. Basically, we have to get them performing so they get used it. I feel a little dense for not seeing the importance of the presentation of the stories before as I just viewed them as a way for us to hear the stories.
Next week for Sona's class, we will going right into creation. So this is the homework for Sona's class:
-Finish writing the lyrics for the songs as assigned
-Break the group down in terms of:
who would like to work on music
who would like to work on movement/dance
who would like to work on text
We will be breaking into three groups. Adam will continue to work on the music, I will work on movement/dance and Sona will work on text (i.e scenes for the piece). Next week, we will put it all together.
-Also, we would like to know:
who would like to play the djembe in the final piece
who would like to act/sing
also, any other talents the students would like to showcase
We need for Sona's class:
-Chart Paper & Markers
-Djembes
For Amanda & Mubeen
-Finish the story, Amanda's class has to write the second half and Mubeen's class has to write the first. Please coordinate so the two halves match up and send to us by Monday if possible.
-Break the group down in terms of:
who would like to work on music
who would like to work on movement/dance
who would like to work on text
We will be breaking into three groups. Adam will continue to work on the music, I will work on movement/dance and Mubeen or Amanda will work on text (i.e scenes for the piece). Next week, we will continue our work, possibly rotating and by the end of next class, we should have the beginnings of a piece.
Also, let us know who has a talent they would like to share (e.g djembe playing or break dancing)...We can't accommodate all the requests, but we will definitely keep it in mind.
Okay, that's it!
Sedina
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Hi All!
So yesterday was a busy day! In Sona's class, Sedina lead everyone through a vocal warm-up and then taught the class the first verse of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." Then I talked a bit about the functions of song in opera: to introduce or descrobe a character, to pose a problem or solution, or to tell part of a story. We listened to a bit of Papageno's aria, and the Queen of the Night's aria from the Magic Flute, and discussed how these songs flesh out characters (in the case of Papageno) or present a problem (the Queen of the Night's aria). I discussed rhyme schemes and rhythm in poetry with the class, and then split them into three groups, the Beginning, Middle and End. Each group had to look at their section of the story and choose a subject, mood and characters for a song that will be the central part of their section of the story. The three groups have opening lines now, and I gave them the homework of finishing their songs, using a hand-out I gave them with reminders of rhyme scheme and libretto-writing tactics. I encouraged them to try to follow the rhythm of the opening line throughout the song. Hopefully by next class, there will be lyrics for three songs that I can set to music. The Middle group wants to do a rap...
Amanda and Mubeen's class are still in the story-making phase, so I'm looking forward to seeing what plot they come up with, along the lines of Mount Olympus food fight.
So yesterday was a busy day! In Sona's class, Sedina lead everyone through a vocal warm-up and then taught the class the first verse of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." Then I talked a bit about the functions of song in opera: to introduce or descrobe a character, to pose a problem or solution, or to tell part of a story. We listened to a bit of Papageno's aria, and the Queen of the Night's aria from the Magic Flute, and discussed how these songs flesh out characters (in the case of Papageno) or present a problem (the Queen of the Night's aria). I discussed rhyme schemes and rhythm in poetry with the class, and then split them into three groups, the Beginning, Middle and End. Each group had to look at their section of the story and choose a subject, mood and characters for a song that will be the central part of their section of the story. The three groups have opening lines now, and I gave them the homework of finishing their songs, using a hand-out I gave them with reminders of rhyme scheme and libretto-writing tactics. I encouraged them to try to follow the rhythm of the opening line throughout the song. Hopefully by next class, there will be lyrics for three songs that I can set to music. The Middle group wants to do a rap...
Amanda and Mubeen's class are still in the story-making phase, so I'm looking forward to seeing what plot they come up with, along the lines of Mount Olympus food fight.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Hi All!
Thanks, Sona, for your class's story! It's going to work beautifully, and I'm really excited about working on the libretto tomorrow! I know you won't be there...if it's not too late, could you make sure the kids all come with pencils tomorrow? We are going to start writing lyrics and looking at songwriting.
Thanks, Sona, for your class's story! It's going to work beautifully, and I'm really excited about working on the libretto tomorrow! I know you won't be there...if it's not too late, could you make sure the kids all come with pencils tomorrow? We are going to start writing lyrics and looking at songwriting.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Hi,
Below is the story my class wrote. Each part was written in groups so they do not know what the other groups have written. Some changes can be made. I am sure once the students read the entire story they will pick up on it.
Your suggestions are welcome!
Sona
Anansi’s Journey to Help West Africa
Beginning
Long ago in a small village in the country of Guinea lived a small but courageous spider named Anansi. He spends his days trying to solve all the problems happening around him. Anansi wanted everyone to treat each other with respect. Everyone felt that Anansi was getting involved in things that did not concern him. They didn’t see a reason to be kind to each other all of the time. The villagers went to see their leader, a power python named Dulayha. They told him that Anansi was filling their heads with too many new ideas. Dulayha was furious and he banished Anansi from Guinea. Anansi was devastated. “Why is everyone against me?” Silently he leaves the country all by himself.
Middle
Anansi arrives in Sierra Leone. He is feeling depressed as he travels along the sides of the roads. He hears a voice calling from a dark alley, “Anansi, come here!” Anansi approaches the strange voice and is offered a magic potion. The stranger tells him it is a growing potion. Anansi wants to become big so that people will accept him so he takes the potion. He continues on his journey and stumbles upon a young student who is sad. The student explains that their Alchemy School has lost a very important growing potion. They hear the school bell ring and the student runs off toward the school. Anansi follows the students and finds the head wizard. The wizard explains to Anansi the importance of the potion. It is used by the farmers to grow their crops which are used to feed the people of Sierra Leone. Anansi decides to give up his potion to help them. The wizard is suspicious of Anansi and calls the farmers for advice. They conclude that Anansi would be the perfect suspect for stealing their potion because he is small. The wizard accuses Anansi for being small and sneaky. He rejects Anansi’s help and cast a banishing spell on him.
End
After much disappointment Anansi arrives in Ghana. In search for water he notices the Niger and an army of people standing in front of it. With fear he gets closer to find out what is happening by crawling up a tree. He hears the king of the army tell the traders they can only cross the Niger River with gold dust and must leave their golden nuggets with them. The king and the traders argue because the traders do not agree with the king and his army. Anansi starts to think of a solution. Suddenly a bright idea comes to mind. If there was a bridge that the traders could use to cross the river they would not have to deal with the king and his army. Anansi calls upon all the animals and insects in the area. He tells them his ideas and they all agree to help. They build the bridge on the other side of the river so the army does not notice them. Once the bridge is built, Anansi walks over to the traders and tells them they no longer have to deal with the army because he has built a bridge with the help of the forest animals. No one believes him and they all put him down by saying mean things to him. One of the traders suggests that there is no harm in going to see if Anansi was telling the truth. To their surprise, they are shocked to see a bridge guarded by the forest animals. They start thanking Anansi of his wonderful idea and apologizing for not believing him. The king and his army get scared by all the forest animals and leave for their kingdom. The news about Anansi’s great idea traveled throughout West Africa and from that day on everyone learned an important lesson: Never judge others or put them down because they look different than you. Always give everyone a chance.
There is a celebration all across West Africa!
Below is the story my class wrote. Each part was written in groups so they do not know what the other groups have written. Some changes can be made. I am sure once the students read the entire story they will pick up on it.
Your suggestions are welcome!
Sona
Anansi’s Journey to Help West Africa
Beginning
Long ago in a small village in the country of Guinea lived a small but courageous spider named Anansi. He spends his days trying to solve all the problems happening around him. Anansi wanted everyone to treat each other with respect. Everyone felt that Anansi was getting involved in things that did not concern him. They didn’t see a reason to be kind to each other all of the time. The villagers went to see their leader, a power python named Dulayha. They told him that Anansi was filling their heads with too many new ideas. Dulayha was furious and he banished Anansi from Guinea. Anansi was devastated. “Why is everyone against me?” Silently he leaves the country all by himself.
Middle
Anansi arrives in Sierra Leone. He is feeling depressed as he travels along the sides of the roads. He hears a voice calling from a dark alley, “Anansi, come here!” Anansi approaches the strange voice and is offered a magic potion. The stranger tells him it is a growing potion. Anansi wants to become big so that people will accept him so he takes the potion. He continues on his journey and stumbles upon a young student who is sad. The student explains that their Alchemy School has lost a very important growing potion. They hear the school bell ring and the student runs off toward the school. Anansi follows the students and finds the head wizard. The wizard explains to Anansi the importance of the potion. It is used by the farmers to grow their crops which are used to feed the people of Sierra Leone. Anansi decides to give up his potion to help them. The wizard is suspicious of Anansi and calls the farmers for advice. They conclude that Anansi would be the perfect suspect for stealing their potion because he is small. The wizard accuses Anansi for being small and sneaky. He rejects Anansi’s help and cast a banishing spell on him.
End
After much disappointment Anansi arrives in Ghana. In search for water he notices the Niger and an army of people standing in front of it. With fear he gets closer to find out what is happening by crawling up a tree. He hears the king of the army tell the traders they can only cross the Niger River with gold dust and must leave their golden nuggets with them. The king and the traders argue because the traders do not agree with the king and his army. Anansi starts to think of a solution. Suddenly a bright idea comes to mind. If there was a bridge that the traders could use to cross the river they would not have to deal with the king and his army. Anansi calls upon all the animals and insects in the area. He tells them his ideas and they all agree to help. They build the bridge on the other side of the river so the army does not notice them. Once the bridge is built, Anansi walks over to the traders and tells them they no longer have to deal with the army because he has built a bridge with the help of the forest animals. No one believes him and they all put him down by saying mean things to him. One of the traders suggests that there is no harm in going to see if Anansi was telling the truth. To their surprise, they are shocked to see a bridge guarded by the forest animals. They start thanking Anansi of his wonderful idea and apologizing for not believing him. The king and his army get scared by all the forest animals and leave for their kingdom. The news about Anansi’s great idea traveled throughout West Africa and from that day on everyone learned an important lesson: Never judge others or put them down because they look different than you. Always give everyone a chance.
There is a celebration all across West Africa!
Hello,
The planning for our West Africa story has taken off to a great start. On Friday, we brainstormed all the possible topics that were of interest to the students. We narrowed down our choices by process of elimination.
The winner was:
-Anansi's Journey to Help West Africa
Main idea:
- don't judge others by the way they look
- accept suggestions/help given by others before rejecting them
Problem:
Anansi travels to different countries (Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ghana) in West Africa trying to help solve problems but, no one accepts his help and suggestions because he is a spider and they ask him to leave their country.
Solution:
Finally the last country Anansi travels to (Ghana) accepts his help and the word spreads around West Africa about his bright idea. He receives praise and an apology from everyone and there is a celebration at the end.
In groups, students either wrote the beginning, middle or end of the story. On Monday, the entire story will be revealed and the students will make revisions.
I will type out the stories without the revisions and post it.
Sona
The planning for our West Africa story has taken off to a great start. On Friday, we brainstormed all the possible topics that were of interest to the students. We narrowed down our choices by process of elimination.
The winner was:
-Anansi's Journey to Help West Africa
Main idea:
- don't judge others by the way they look
- accept suggestions/help given by others before rejecting them
Problem:
Anansi travels to different countries (Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ghana) in West Africa trying to help solve problems but, no one accepts his help and suggestions because he is a spider and they ask him to leave their country.
Solution:
Finally the last country Anansi travels to (Ghana) accepts his help and the word spreads around West Africa about his bright idea. He receives praise and an apology from everyone and there is a celebration at the end.
In groups, students either wrote the beginning, middle or end of the story. On Monday, the entire story will be revealed and the students will make revisions.
I will type out the stories without the revisions and post it.
Sona
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Week 2
Hi,
Having the students share their stories and receive critical criticism was helpful for the students. For homework, the students were asked to jot down ideas based on the criteria Sedina gave (5 characters, 1 animal, magic involved, etc.) for our class story. Not only did they jot down their ideas, many students wrote a new story! Its clear that the students are really excited. They are so eager that they want to start acting out their stories. Tomorrow and Friday the students will share their ideas with the class and I will make a list of these ideas. Based on these ideas, we will plan for a beginning, middle and end of the story together. I will then divide the students into 3 groups (beginning, middle and end) and ask them to write their part of the story. On Monday we will put the story together and make any revisions or changes needed.
Sona
Having the students share their stories and receive critical criticism was helpful for the students. For homework, the students were asked to jot down ideas based on the criteria Sedina gave (5 characters, 1 animal, magic involved, etc.) for our class story. Not only did they jot down their ideas, many students wrote a new story! Its clear that the students are really excited. They are so eager that they want to start acting out their stories. Tomorrow and Friday the students will share their ideas with the class and I will make a list of these ideas. Based on these ideas, we will plan for a beginning, middle and end of the story together. I will then divide the students into 3 groups (beginning, middle and end) and ask them to write their part of the story. On Monday we will put the story together and make any revisions or changes needed.
Sona
Hi All!
Here's my update and my thoughts to date...
Yesterday's classes went really well. Listening to the students' presentations of their stories proved inspirational for me and I am more excited than ever to get started writing music and songs.
I am awaiting a response from my friend in LA who specializes in Ghanaian song, but I am looking forward to reading her thoughts in incorporating aspects of West African song into the libretto and musical score we develop with Sona's class.
In both classes, I was struck by the imaginative variety of characters and tales created byt the students, and their presentations provided useful food for thought. As Sedina mentioned, chorus work seems to be the best option so that the student's thoughts and stories can best be heard. Sedina and I have discussed using small groups of students to represent characters, so that text and lyrics can still be understood under the duress of stage fright! In terms of singing, articulation of words and projection seem to be important issues to continue to address throughout the program. If we can convince the students to use the same voices they use on the playground onstage, we should be in business.
For next Tuesday with Sona's class, I am planning to examine the topic of songs and songwriting. I will bring in some short audio clips of opera arias and African songs, and hopefully use whichever song Sedina chooses to teach the kids as an example and study subject for the topic of lyric-writing. I am going to break down the topic of song into components: lyrics, melody and accompanyment. I will make sure to have several examples of strong lyric writing, maybe from musical theatre...something concise. I want to show rhyme scheme and structure and then examine more conceptual aspects of song as part of a libretto, ie: mood, who's singing the song and overall subject/important issues in the song.
I will play examples of recitative and aria, and I'm thinking maybe three short recitative-song (aria) pairings, with the emphasis placed on the song part. I'll split the class into three and challenge each group to create a few lines of introductory dialogue (to be set to music) and then write a song, for the beginning, middle and end of the opera. At the end of the class, I'll poll the class to see who wants to sing and who wants to be a part of "the band," and I'll try to see what instruments we will have to work with.
Ideally, there will be a libretto by the fourth class, which I will set to music by the fifth class.
For Amanda and Mubeen's class, I'll have to think of ways to speed up the process, so that ideally both classes will have a libretto and music by the fifth class and thus will be able to get started rehearsing.
Anyway, I'll see y'all at the opera tonight! Thanks Zoe for the podcast and the blog excerpt. They have been and will continue to be very helfpul!
Here's my update and my thoughts to date...
Yesterday's classes went really well. Listening to the students' presentations of their stories proved inspirational for me and I am more excited than ever to get started writing music and songs.
I am awaiting a response from my friend in LA who specializes in Ghanaian song, but I am looking forward to reading her thoughts in incorporating aspects of West African song into the libretto and musical score we develop with Sona's class.
In both classes, I was struck by the imaginative variety of characters and tales created byt the students, and their presentations provided useful food for thought. As Sedina mentioned, chorus work seems to be the best option so that the student's thoughts and stories can best be heard. Sedina and I have discussed using small groups of students to represent characters, so that text and lyrics can still be understood under the duress of stage fright! In terms of singing, articulation of words and projection seem to be important issues to continue to address throughout the program. If we can convince the students to use the same voices they use on the playground onstage, we should be in business.
For next Tuesday with Sona's class, I am planning to examine the topic of songs and songwriting. I will bring in some short audio clips of opera arias and African songs, and hopefully use whichever song Sedina chooses to teach the kids as an example and study subject for the topic of lyric-writing. I am going to break down the topic of song into components: lyrics, melody and accompanyment. I will make sure to have several examples of strong lyric writing, maybe from musical theatre...something concise. I want to show rhyme scheme and structure and then examine more conceptual aspects of song as part of a libretto, ie: mood, who's singing the song and overall subject/important issues in the song.
I will play examples of recitative and aria, and I'm thinking maybe three short recitative-song (aria) pairings, with the emphasis placed on the song part. I'll split the class into three and challenge each group to create a few lines of introductory dialogue (to be set to music) and then write a song, for the beginning, middle and end of the opera. At the end of the class, I'll poll the class to see who wants to sing and who wants to be a part of "the band," and I'll try to see what instruments we will have to work with.
Ideally, there will be a libretto by the fourth class, which I will set to music by the fifth class.
For Amanda and Mubeen's class, I'll have to think of ways to speed up the process, so that ideally both classes will have a libretto and music by the fifth class and thus will be able to get started rehearsing.
Anyway, I'll see y'all at the opera tonight! Thanks Zoe for the podcast and the blog excerpt. They have been and will continue to be very helfpul!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Second Week Stories!
So, so, so.
This week was story week. Fun times. After a brief drama game and singing warm up, we delved right into the stories that the students had prepared the week before.
Mubeen and Amanda's class were the first up. I was impressed with the cross section of stories as well as performance styles. Each group had a unique presentation and it was great to see. I challenged the class to use constructive criticism to take their performances to the next level and I had each group perform twice (second time after some suggestions and they only performed half of their pieces if that.) We didn't get through all of the groups, but we will continue next week. I'm going to revise the plan slightly for Amanda & Mubeen's class to reflect the change in schedule. Next week we will continue with the stories and I think we will spend a good chunk of time discussing and brainstorming for our story for the libretto. We will spend week 4 doing the libretto as opposed to week 3. I have also taken their stories home in order to brainstorm on my own so we can have a starting point for the libretto discussion. My thought is this discussion will begin with me and then continue through out the week with their teachers.
Sona's class was next and I was impressed with their preparation and also the structure of their stories. It was clear that we worked diligently on the presentation and did excellently at incorporating elements of West African storytelling. I challenged this group to explore some characterization (which they really enjoyed) and also some choral work. We discovered that 2 or 3 voices were stronger than 1! Exploring the stories using a choral approach allowed us to understand the stories much better. So we will definitely be exploring a lot of choral work with this group, as we had planned. I gave Sona's class the challenge of creating a story in preparation for their libretto writing class next week. I gave them the following criteria to get them started on a story: 5 characters, magic, 1 character should be an animal, others should be royalty and the story should tell how some element of nature came to be. I based this criteria on interesting elements from the stories presented by the students and also some feedback from Sona. We will be writing a libretto next week based on their story.
On another note, we didn't get a chance to learn a petit song this week, but Adam and I will work on this for next week. Thanks for the suggestions Katherine! We will be researching this week for West African songs as well as looking at The Magic Flute in order to get some inspiration for Sona's class.
In regards to the structure of the program, Adam and I were speaking at length and we decided that it is important for us to be there for every class possible. A part of the collective creation process requires that the facilitators are present for every creative workshop. i.e if Adam wasn't here today for the stories, he wouldn't know what direction to take for the music. This is something to think about for the structure of the CAO in the future.
Other than that, I am looking forward to continuing to work next week. Things are shaping up well and I think this is going to be an awesome project for all the classes.
Sedina
This week was story week. Fun times. After a brief drama game and singing warm up, we delved right into the stories that the students had prepared the week before.
Mubeen and Amanda's class were the first up. I was impressed with the cross section of stories as well as performance styles. Each group had a unique presentation and it was great to see. I challenged the class to use constructive criticism to take their performances to the next level and I had each group perform twice (second time after some suggestions and they only performed half of their pieces if that.) We didn't get through all of the groups, but we will continue next week. I'm going to revise the plan slightly for Amanda & Mubeen's class to reflect the change in schedule. Next week we will continue with the stories and I think we will spend a good chunk of time discussing and brainstorming for our story for the libretto. We will spend week 4 doing the libretto as opposed to week 3. I have also taken their stories home in order to brainstorm on my own so we can have a starting point for the libretto discussion. My thought is this discussion will begin with me and then continue through out the week with their teachers.
Sona's class was next and I was impressed with their preparation and also the structure of their stories. It was clear that we worked diligently on the presentation and did excellently at incorporating elements of West African storytelling. I challenged this group to explore some characterization (which they really enjoyed) and also some choral work. We discovered that 2 or 3 voices were stronger than 1! Exploring the stories using a choral approach allowed us to understand the stories much better. So we will definitely be exploring a lot of choral work with this group, as we had planned. I gave Sona's class the challenge of creating a story in preparation for their libretto writing class next week. I gave them the following criteria to get them started on a story: 5 characters, magic, 1 character should be an animal, others should be royalty and the story should tell how some element of nature came to be. I based this criteria on interesting elements from the stories presented by the students and also some feedback from Sona. We will be writing a libretto next week based on their story.
On another note, we didn't get a chance to learn a petit song this week, but Adam and I will work on this for next week. Thanks for the suggestions Katherine! We will be researching this week for West African songs as well as looking at The Magic Flute in order to get some inspiration for Sona's class.
In regards to the structure of the program, Adam and I were speaking at length and we decided that it is important for us to be there for every class possible. A part of the collective creation process requires that the facilitators are present for every creative workshop. i.e if Adam wasn't here today for the stories, he wouldn't know what direction to take for the music. This is something to think about for the structure of the CAO in the future.
Other than that, I am looking forward to continuing to work next week. Things are shaping up well and I think this is going to be an awesome project for all the classes.
Sedina
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Final Product
Hi again,
From past experience from participating in this program, I found my student wrote very long librettos with few songs. They love to tell stories and hence the reason for their long opera. When it comes to performing, I found singing and dancing keeps the audience engaged because it becomes difficult to hear individual students speaking. Hence, this time I would suggest that we keep the opera short and simple with more of a focus on singing, dancing and drumming.
Sona
From past experience from participating in this program, I found my student wrote very long librettos with few songs. They love to tell stories and hence the reason for their long opera. When it comes to performing, I found singing and dancing keeps the audience engaged because it becomes difficult to hear individual students speaking. Hence, this time I would suggest that we keep the opera short and simple with more of a focus on singing, dancing and drumming.
Sona
Session #1
Hi,
Our homework of writing myths in group has kept us busy this week! I wanted to give the students some background info before letting them go ahead and write their stories. Having done research on countries on West Africa and creating their own picture books has really helped.
This week we read several African myths as a class and independently to come up with the characteristics of African myths. From here, the students have orally planned for their stories. Tomorrow they will be ready to write their stories. I'm really excited to hear their stories.
We have also started our unit on Ancient Africa in Social Studies. The students are very enthusiastic! The students have started with a lot of prior knowledge because of our study of modern West Africa.
The students enjoyed the first session. We have further talked in class about the stereotypes of an opera singer (e.g., fat lady with horns on her head singing at the top of her lungs!).
At North Kiping we have very high expectations when it comes to behaviour. I was not impressed with the students behaviour. They exhibited behaviours that they would not in the classroom (e.g., calling out, not fully paying attention, etc.) I know they were very excited and hence we saw such behaviours however, having 35 students, I find it important to run a structured program with clear expectations and consequences. The students are very smart and know exactly who they can take advantage of. Can I please suggest, Sedina, that you set your expectations clear with them. It will make the remainder of our time together go smoothly. Thanks!
Looking forward to Tuesday. Also, will we be needing the piano every week. If so, I will have to change the location of our practises since the piano is not on the stage.
Sona
Our homework of writing myths in group has kept us busy this week! I wanted to give the students some background info before letting them go ahead and write their stories. Having done research on countries on West Africa and creating their own picture books has really helped.
This week we read several African myths as a class and independently to come up with the characteristics of African myths. From here, the students have orally planned for their stories. Tomorrow they will be ready to write their stories. I'm really excited to hear their stories.
We have also started our unit on Ancient Africa in Social Studies. The students are very enthusiastic! The students have started with a lot of prior knowledge because of our study of modern West Africa.
The students enjoyed the first session. We have further talked in class about the stereotypes of an opera singer (e.g., fat lady with horns on her head singing at the top of her lungs!).
At North Kiping we have very high expectations when it comes to behaviour. I was not impressed with the students behaviour. They exhibited behaviours that they would not in the classroom (e.g., calling out, not fully paying attention, etc.) I know they were very excited and hence we saw such behaviours however, having 35 students, I find it important to run a structured program with clear expectations and consequences. The students are very smart and know exactly who they can take advantage of. Can I please suggest, Sedina, that you set your expectations clear with them. It will make the remainder of our time together go smoothly. Thanks!
Looking forward to Tuesday. Also, will we be needing the piano every week. If so, I will have to change the location of our practises since the piano is not on the stage.
Sona
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Hi All!
Sorry as well for the delay in my bloggin activites!
Sedina really outlined the class activities perfectly, and also mentioned our goals for next Tuesday and the issues related to the two unique class dynamics.
I discussed various elements of opera with both classes, had them come up with a definition of opera, and gave them a few examples of other musical story-telling they might know (musical theatre, Disney movies, etc). We also discussed some of the things we'll need to create an opera (characters, story, libretto, music, accompanying music/musicians, etc) and discussed the ways that music can intensify or heighten the effect of a story of dialogue.
What I have been pondering is how to most effectively lead the students into the process of songwriting. I have many ideas in organizing and orchestrating music for the two classes of 35 children, but over the next two weeks, I am going to give a lot of thought to the methods I will use in introducing composition to the class. I have yet to decide if I want to get the students to create melodies and then those melodies to music myself, or if I should come to the class with melodies and have the students take part in orchestrating these melodies.
For Sona's class, I'd like to do some research on West African music, and use my findings to inspire the format for creating music with the kids. Certainly, the drumming they have learned will provide a great soundscape and departure point for the melodies we will create. For Mubeen and Amanda's group, I will wait until Tuesday to see what sorts of stories the kids come up with and try to use their ideas to guide me. Sedina made a very useful point when we spoke on Tuesday in suggesting that I start with the climax of each story and focus with the kids on using the music to highlight the most exciting points of the story. I want to continue to stress with them the importance of using music to heighten the impact of the text they create.
Anyway, those are my thoughts for now!
I am having a blast so far, and can't wait till next Tuesday!
Sorry as well for the delay in my bloggin activites!
Sedina really outlined the class activities perfectly, and also mentioned our goals for next Tuesday and the issues related to the two unique class dynamics.
I discussed various elements of opera with both classes, had them come up with a definition of opera, and gave them a few examples of other musical story-telling they might know (musical theatre, Disney movies, etc). We also discussed some of the things we'll need to create an opera (characters, story, libretto, music, accompanying music/musicians, etc) and discussed the ways that music can intensify or heighten the effect of a story of dialogue.
What I have been pondering is how to most effectively lead the students into the process of songwriting. I have many ideas in organizing and orchestrating music for the two classes of 35 children, but over the next two weeks, I am going to give a lot of thought to the methods I will use in introducing composition to the class. I have yet to decide if I want to get the students to create melodies and then those melodies to music myself, or if I should come to the class with melodies and have the students take part in orchestrating these melodies.
For Sona's class, I'd like to do some research on West African music, and use my findings to inspire the format for creating music with the kids. Certainly, the drumming they have learned will provide a great soundscape and departure point for the melodies we will create. For Mubeen and Amanda's group, I will wait until Tuesday to see what sorts of stories the kids come up with and try to use their ideas to guide me. Sedina made a very useful point when we spoke on Tuesday in suggesting that I start with the climax of each story and focus with the kids on using the music to highlight the most exciting points of the story. I want to continue to stress with them the importance of using music to heighten the impact of the text they create.
Anyway, those are my thoughts for now!
I am having a blast so far, and can't wait till next Tuesday!
Are you looking for an excerpt from an opera to sing? or are you going to find another piece of music - folk, choral, etc.?
I really like how you're providing routine and structure to a very organic and creative experience. Since this sounds new for the students, this approach might help in their overall focus.
Amanda, Mubeen and Sona - how did this first session go from your perspective? What were some of the comments from the students the day after the session?
Katherine
I really like how you're providing routine and structure to a very organic and creative experience. Since this sounds new for the students, this approach might help in their overall focus.
Amanda, Mubeen and Sona - how did this first session go from your perspective? What were some of the comments from the students the day after the session?
Katherine
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
January 13, 2009 - 1st Day Wrap Up
Hi All!
Sorry for the delay in blogging and thanks for the friendly reminder Zoe. So glad that you and Catherine are excited to hear about Adam and I's first day at North Kipling. We are excited to be at this diverse school and I am doubly excited because it is in my 'hood. (Rexdale for life!)
So things went very well, I think. Sona's class was an enthusiastic group and after they got over my crazy hair, things were a go. I introduced them to my multi disciplinary style with some drama games to get us warmed up and of course a vocal warm up. The drama games went over very well and it was great to hear them sing. I then read them a Yoruba story about the beginning of the world and Adam chatted with them about the elements of opera. I also spoke with them about the elements of storytelling which they were very well versed in having just finished their own West African stories. And I talked with them about my approach to collectivve creation (creating lots of material, putting it in a "basket" and then piecing it all together.) I broke them down into groups of 5 with the homework of coming up with one short story per group. I also challenged them to incorporate elements of what they have been learning about West Africa as well as create a myth that explains some natural element. They are also really excited about the idea of using djembe drumming in the show and Adam and I have decided that we will have some of the students drum (as they have learned a lot about drumming and have instruments at the school.)
Mubeen's and Amanda's classes combined were a great group as well. A different energy, a little more subdued, but for the most part keen. This group will take a little more convincing to board the art train, but I see a lot of potential. This class also has some vocal training as they were all in jazz choir, so it will be great to push them further with the singing. The class format was similiar to Sona's class, with drama games, a vocal warm up and then a story/ discussion about story telling and my approach to collective creation. I read this class a legend about Nanabush and the creation of the 30 thousand islands. They too were well versed in the elements of a story. I gave them the same assignment: in groups, create a story that explains a natural element.
It is clear from both groups, that we will have to sing every class in order to get them ready for the final performance. For the singing, it really helped when I get them to jump right before singing and Adam and I will be incorporating some movement with singing in order to get them in their bodies. We have also decided that we will emphasizing choral work for both classes as we don't want to single anyone out as some of the students are understandably shy about performing. So, that's it!
For next class Adam and I are looking for about 16 bars of a song we can teach the class (quickly) again, to really get them singing. This is an opera after all!
So, that's it. Looking forward to their stories next week.
Sedina
Sorry for the delay in blogging and thanks for the friendly reminder Zoe. So glad that you and Catherine are excited to hear about Adam and I's first day at North Kipling. We are excited to be at this diverse school and I am doubly excited because it is in my 'hood. (Rexdale for life!)
So things went very well, I think. Sona's class was an enthusiastic group and after they got over my crazy hair, things were a go. I introduced them to my multi disciplinary style with some drama games to get us warmed up and of course a vocal warm up. The drama games went over very well and it was great to hear them sing. I then read them a Yoruba story about the beginning of the world and Adam chatted with them about the elements of opera. I also spoke with them about the elements of storytelling which they were very well versed in having just finished their own West African stories. And I talked with them about my approach to collectivve creation (creating lots of material, putting it in a "basket" and then piecing it all together.) I broke them down into groups of 5 with the homework of coming up with one short story per group. I also challenged them to incorporate elements of what they have been learning about West Africa as well as create a myth that explains some natural element. They are also really excited about the idea of using djembe drumming in the show and Adam and I have decided that we will have some of the students drum (as they have learned a lot about drumming and have instruments at the school.)
Mubeen's and Amanda's classes combined were a great group as well. A different energy, a little more subdued, but for the most part keen. This group will take a little more convincing to board the art train, but I see a lot of potential. This class also has some vocal training as they were all in jazz choir, so it will be great to push them further with the singing. The class format was similiar to Sona's class, with drama games, a vocal warm up and then a story/ discussion about story telling and my approach to collective creation. I read this class a legend about Nanabush and the creation of the 30 thousand islands. They too were well versed in the elements of a story. I gave them the same assignment: in groups, create a story that explains a natural element.
It is clear from both groups, that we will have to sing every class in order to get them ready for the final performance. For the singing, it really helped when I get them to jump right before singing and Adam and I will be incorporating some movement with singing in order to get them in their bodies. We have also decided that we will emphasizing choral work for both classes as we don't want to single anyone out as some of the students are understandably shy about performing. So, that's it!
For next class Adam and I are looking for about 16 bars of a song we can teach the class (quickly) again, to really get them singing. This is an opera after all!
So, that's it. Looking forward to their stories next week.
Sedina
How did it go!?
Katherine and I are waiting with great anticipation to hear how your first day went! I would love to hear about the reactions of the students, the themes and stories you have selected to work with, and what you ended up with by the end of the day!
Congrats on one down!
z
Congrats on one down!
z
Monday, January 12, 2009
The Outline - Amanda & Mubeen's Class
Create An Opera – North Kipling –Mubeen & Amanda’s Class
Premise
For the 2009 Create An Opera project, we will be exploring conflict and resolution. Using the character of the trickster (Nanabush in Aboriginal culture and Anansi in West African & Caribbean culture), we will explore how these characters are the catalyst for conflict and resolution in folklore.
Approach
Using a combination of writing, movement, improvisation, music in the collective creation framework, the class will create their opera. The collective creation frame work will be broken into 4 phases: story and music composition, movement and drama exploration of material and putting it all together and rehearsal. I will direct the process and be the outside eye who will facilitate the process of creating the final opera. The collective creation framework requires individual contribution of group members. For our project this will be achieved through breaking the class into smaller groups. These groups will often be given a creative challenge to be solved and asked to present their work to the wider class. The emphasis for this opera will be on a choral work as to allow all students to feel apart of the piece and emphasize team work and cooperation.
Elements in every class, they may be combined, but they will be present in every class.
-1 Drama Game
-1 Singing Warm Up
-1 Movement Warm up
Schedule
Class One – Intro to Opera / Mythmaking and Story Creation
Beginning with a quick name game intro and an intro to me, we will have a brief intro to opera, we will isolate the necessary elements of opera and move forward. The students will be introduced to one story based on Nanabush and one story based on Anansi. We will discuss the elements of conflict and resolutionThe students will then be given the task of creating their own stories in smaller groups.
Teacher Task – have students complete their stories to prepare for presentation in groups.
Class Two – Story Finalization / Storytelling
After some drama games to get the students moving and on their feet, students will present their stories in groups. With some critique, they will be encouraged to improve their storytelling techniques. At the end of the class, students will isolate which elements, ideas of the stories that they enjoyed and want to explore further.
Teacher Task – Have students complete their collective story for the libretto writing class.
Class Three – Let’s Sing / Libretto Writing
Beginning with an extensive vocal warm up, we will write the libretto for their opera. Using their story as a basis, the accompanist will facilitate a libretto writing process. The accompanist will provide a simple musical score and the students will work together to create a libretto. This libretto will be a choral work for the time being. This will be recorded for future rehearsal.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse libretto and continue exploration of ancient West Africa and Aboriginal culture.
Class Four – Text Exploration/ Movement Exploration
Using the story, libretto and music, we will create scenes in small groups for presentation. I will give each group a challenge which will include a simple plot and characters. They will then have to create short scenes for presentation to the class. As a group, we will decide our favourite scenes for inclusion in our piece.
Using elements from the story isolated by me, the students will also create a movement vocabulary (ideas, gestures) that we will use for the piece. En masse, we will explore movement and I will highlight movements that are interesting for inclusion in final piece.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse libretto, movement and scenes for the next class.
Class Five - Put It All Together!
We will put all the elements together to create our opera. I will facilitate this process as the final picture will be my puzzle piecing based on their work.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse their opera, newly pieced together
Class Six – Design Class
Students will design their costumes and decide on any essential props.
Class Seven – Tweaking / Improving
Students will present their opera based on week 5’s piecing together. We will tweak, improve and push story telling boundaries. We will decide on the final storytelling format.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse the opera (maybe with costumes)
Class Eight – Presentation!
We will present our creation for the school after warm up and final notes.
Premise
For the 2009 Create An Opera project, we will be exploring conflict and resolution. Using the character of the trickster (Nanabush in Aboriginal culture and Anansi in West African & Caribbean culture), we will explore how these characters are the catalyst for conflict and resolution in folklore.
Approach
Using a combination of writing, movement, improvisation, music in the collective creation framework, the class will create their opera. The collective creation frame work will be broken into 4 phases: story and music composition, movement and drama exploration of material and putting it all together and rehearsal. I will direct the process and be the outside eye who will facilitate the process of creating the final opera. The collective creation framework requires individual contribution of group members. For our project this will be achieved through breaking the class into smaller groups. These groups will often be given a creative challenge to be solved and asked to present their work to the wider class. The emphasis for this opera will be on a choral work as to allow all students to feel apart of the piece and emphasize team work and cooperation.
Elements in every class, they may be combined, but they will be present in every class.
-1 Drama Game
-1 Singing Warm Up
-1 Movement Warm up
Schedule
Class One – Intro to Opera / Mythmaking and Story Creation
Beginning with a quick name game intro and an intro to me, we will have a brief intro to opera, we will isolate the necessary elements of opera and move forward. The students will be introduced to one story based on Nanabush and one story based on Anansi. We will discuss the elements of conflict and resolutionThe students will then be given the task of creating their own stories in smaller groups.
Teacher Task – have students complete their stories to prepare for presentation in groups.
Class Two – Story Finalization / Storytelling
After some drama games to get the students moving and on their feet, students will present their stories in groups. With some critique, they will be encouraged to improve their storytelling techniques. At the end of the class, students will isolate which elements, ideas of the stories that they enjoyed and want to explore further.
Teacher Task – Have students complete their collective story for the libretto writing class.
Class Three – Let’s Sing / Libretto Writing
Beginning with an extensive vocal warm up, we will write the libretto for their opera. Using their story as a basis, the accompanist will facilitate a libretto writing process. The accompanist will provide a simple musical score and the students will work together to create a libretto. This libretto will be a choral work for the time being. This will be recorded for future rehearsal.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse libretto and continue exploration of ancient West Africa and Aboriginal culture.
Class Four – Text Exploration/ Movement Exploration
Using the story, libretto and music, we will create scenes in small groups for presentation. I will give each group a challenge which will include a simple plot and characters. They will then have to create short scenes for presentation to the class. As a group, we will decide our favourite scenes for inclusion in our piece.
Using elements from the story isolated by me, the students will also create a movement vocabulary (ideas, gestures) that we will use for the piece. En masse, we will explore movement and I will highlight movements that are interesting for inclusion in final piece.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse libretto, movement and scenes for the next class.
Class Five - Put It All Together!
We will put all the elements together to create our opera. I will facilitate this process as the final picture will be my puzzle piecing based on their work.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse their opera, newly pieced together
Class Six – Design Class
Students will design their costumes and decide on any essential props.
Class Seven – Tweaking / Improving
Students will present their opera based on week 5’s piecing together. We will tweak, improve and push story telling boundaries. We will decide on the final storytelling format.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse the opera (maybe with costumes)
Class Eight – Presentation!
We will present our creation for the school after warm up and final notes.
The Outline - Sona's Class
Hi All,
I've been working hard on the outline and tweaking things. Here is the outline for Sona's Class.
Create An Opera – North Kipling –Mubeen & Amanda’s Class
Premise
For the 2009 Create An Opera project, we will be exploring ancient West African culture and specifically the Yoruba pantheon of gods and goddesses. We will use the myths of the Yoruba pantheon in order to create our own myth which will be the basis for the opera.
Approach
Using a combination of writing, movement, improvisation, music in the collective creation framework, the class will create their opera. The collective creation frame work will be broken into 4 phases: story and music composition, movement and drama exploration of material and putting it all together and rehearsal. I will direct the process and be the outside eye who will facilitate the process of creating the final opera. The collective creation framework requires individual contribution of group members. For our project this will be achieved through breaking the class into smaller groups. These groups will often be given a creative challenge to be solved and asked to present their work to the wider class. The emphasis for this opera will be on a choral work as to allow all students to feel apart of the piece and emphasize team work and cooperation. I have italicized the "teacher task" which is the homework after each session and before the next session.
Elements in every class:
These elements may be combined, but they will be present in every class.
-1 Drama Game
-1 Singing Warm Up
-1 Movement Warm up
Schedule
Class One – Intro to Opera / Mythmaking and Story Creation
Beginning with a quick name game intro and an intro to me, we will have a brief intro to opera, we will isolate the necessary elements of opera and move forward. The students will be introduced to one myth from the Yoruba pantheon. We will discuss the elements of myths and stories in general. The students will then be given the task of creating their own stories in smaller groups.
Teacher Task – have students complete their stories to prepare for presentation in groups.
Class Two – Story Finalization / Storytelling
After some drama games to get the students moving and on their feet, students will present their stories in groups. With some critique, they will be encouraged to improve their storytelling techniques. At the end of the class, students will isolate which elements, ideas of the stories that they enjoyed and want to explore further.
Teacher Task – Have students complete their collective story for the libretto writing class.
Class Three – Let’s Sing / Libretto Writing
Beginning with an extensive vocal warm up, we will write the libretto for their opera. Using their story as a basis, the accompanist will facilitate a libretto writing process. The accompanist will provide a simple musical score and the students will work together to create a libretto. This libretto will be a choral work for the time being. This will be recorded for future rehearsal.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse libretto and continue exploration of ancient West Africa.
Class Four – Text Exploration/ Movement Exploration
Using the story, libretto and music, we will create scenes in small groups for presentation. I will give each group a challenge which will include a simple plot and characters. They will then have to create short scenes for presentation to the class. As a group, we will decide our favourite scenes for inclusion in our piece.
Using elements from the story isolated by me, the students will also create a movement vocabulary (ideas, gestures) that we will use for the piece. En masse, we will explore movement and I will highlight movements that are interesting for inclusion in final piece.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse libretto, movement and scenes so they are ready for piecing it all together.
Class Five - Put It All Together!
We will put all the elements together to create our opera. I will facilitate this process as the final picture will be my puzzle piecing based on their work.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse their opera, newly pieced together
Class Six – Design Class
Students will design their costumes and decide on any essential props.
Class Seven – Tweaking / Improving
Students will present their opera based on week 5’s piecing together. We will tweak, improve and push story telling boundaries. We will decide on the final storytelling format.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse the opera (maybe with costumes)
Class Eight – Presentation!
We will present our creation for the school after warm up and final notes.
I've been working hard on the outline and tweaking things. Here is the outline for Sona's Class.
Create An Opera – North Kipling –Mubeen & Amanda’s Class
Premise
For the 2009 Create An Opera project, we will be exploring ancient West African culture and specifically the Yoruba pantheon of gods and goddesses. We will use the myths of the Yoruba pantheon in order to create our own myth which will be the basis for the opera.
Approach
Using a combination of writing, movement, improvisation, music in the collective creation framework, the class will create their opera. The collective creation frame work will be broken into 4 phases: story and music composition, movement and drama exploration of material and putting it all together and rehearsal. I will direct the process and be the outside eye who will facilitate the process of creating the final opera. The collective creation framework requires individual contribution of group members. For our project this will be achieved through breaking the class into smaller groups. These groups will often be given a creative challenge to be solved and asked to present their work to the wider class. The emphasis for this opera will be on a choral work as to allow all students to feel apart of the piece and emphasize team work and cooperation. I have italicized the "teacher task" which is the homework after each session and before the next session.
Elements in every class:
These elements may be combined, but they will be present in every class.
-1 Drama Game
-1 Singing Warm Up
-1 Movement Warm up
Schedule
Class One – Intro to Opera / Mythmaking and Story Creation
Beginning with a quick name game intro and an intro to me, we will have a brief intro to opera, we will isolate the necessary elements of opera and move forward. The students will be introduced to one myth from the Yoruba pantheon. We will discuss the elements of myths and stories in general. The students will then be given the task of creating their own stories in smaller groups.
Teacher Task – have students complete their stories to prepare for presentation in groups.
Class Two – Story Finalization / Storytelling
After some drama games to get the students moving and on their feet, students will present their stories in groups. With some critique, they will be encouraged to improve their storytelling techniques. At the end of the class, students will isolate which elements, ideas of the stories that they enjoyed and want to explore further.
Teacher Task – Have students complete their collective story for the libretto writing class.
Class Three – Let’s Sing / Libretto Writing
Beginning with an extensive vocal warm up, we will write the libretto for their opera. Using their story as a basis, the accompanist will facilitate a libretto writing process. The accompanist will provide a simple musical score and the students will work together to create a libretto. This libretto will be a choral work for the time being. This will be recorded for future rehearsal.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse libretto and continue exploration of ancient West Africa.
Class Four – Text Exploration/ Movement Exploration
Using the story, libretto and music, we will create scenes in small groups for presentation. I will give each group a challenge which will include a simple plot and characters. They will then have to create short scenes for presentation to the class. As a group, we will decide our favourite scenes for inclusion in our piece.
Using elements from the story isolated by me, the students will also create a movement vocabulary (ideas, gestures) that we will use for the piece. En masse, we will explore movement and I will highlight movements that are interesting for inclusion in final piece.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse libretto, movement and scenes so they are ready for piecing it all together.
Class Five - Put It All Together!
We will put all the elements together to create our opera. I will facilitate this process as the final picture will be my puzzle piecing based on their work.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse their opera, newly pieced together
Class Six – Design Class
Students will design their costumes and decide on any essential props.
Class Seven – Tweaking / Improving
Students will present their opera based on week 5’s piecing together. We will tweak, improve and push story telling boundaries. We will decide on the final storytelling format.
Teacher Task – Have students rehearse the opera (maybe with costumes)
Class Eight – Presentation!
We will present our creation for the school after warm up and final notes.
Friday, January 9, 2009
New year, new operas
I'm very pleased to hear the direction the operas are going at North Kipling this year. This is the very first time we will have explored African stories and traditions in the Create-an-Opera program. And I'm happy to hear that Amanda and Mubeen will be joining us as well. This is a very solid team of teachers at North Kipling and with your leadership I am sure that the students will jump into this project with great enthusiasm.
I will pop in to see a session at some point in the process and seeing your operas unfold.
Enjoy your first session next week,
Katherine
I will pop in to see a session at some point in the process and seeing your operas unfold.
Enjoy your first session next week,
Katherine
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Planning
Hi,
I've started to plan for the Social Studies unit on Ancient Civilizations. I'm having a difficult time finding books with information on East Africa. Do you suggest that I chose one country in East Africa to focus on? I was even wondering would it be better to focus the opera on West Africa because we have started to research about it? Please advise.
Sona
I've started to plan for the Social Studies unit on Ancient Civilizations. I'm having a difficult time finding books with information on East Africa. Do you suggest that I chose one country in East Africa to focus on? I was even wondering would it be better to focus the opera on West Africa because we have started to research about it? Please advise.
Sona
Happy New Year
Hi everyone,
just wanted to wish you a Happy New Year! Looking forward to the next few weeks with the Opera program!
Amanda
just wanted to wish you a Happy New Year! Looking forward to the next few weeks with the Opera program!
Amanda
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