Thanks to a generous donation from the
Friends of Colchester Music, Porters Point School has received two iPad Mini's to be used exclusively in the Music Room at PPS. This is good news because I will be able to load music apps and have the iPads available for all classes. Our first project was done with First Graders.
Students launched into a project called "What's In A Name?" Using the Garage Band app, students used the Sampler to record a sound based on their first name. Once their name was recorded, they then used the onscreen music keyboard to record an 8-bar (measure) track. Students were so surprised at how funny their voices sounded when listening to high and low sounds. They really learned a lot about such musical concepts as high-low, loud-soft, and fast-slow.
After recording their first track, students selected a bass guitar loop to include with their creation. They also added a drum track to compliment their recorded track by adding sounds from the available drum kits. They had options to choose from as far as types of percussion instruments and how they wanted the track to sound.
Students then presented their projects to the class, and the reaction was to get up and dance! This stuff sounds really fun!!! So how can we use such a project? We brainstormed times when students write a story and how music could be added to go along with parts of the story -- or throughout the story. The music could be used to dance to, and a song with words could be added to it.
As a music teacher, I had so much fun seeing students create these projects. I had a student approach me after this project was all done and she told me she wrote a song. I said, "OK, so now you can write the music track to go along with it, right?" She responded with a big smile...
It's almost mid-summer (I'm being optimistic). Flowers are blooming and the sun is warm. I recently went to the University of Hartford -- Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, Connecticut. Former Porters Point students may remember when we had Peter and Mary Alice Amidon for a week-long residency at our school -- maybe five years ago?? Anyway, I went to a week-long course at Hartt with the Amidon's designed for music educators. What a GREAT week! The course was called: "Rich Traditions and New Creations - Dance, Song, Storytelling and Literature in the Music Classroom". Course requirements were to retell a story (no books allowed!!) and to create a song to sing to the group. Quite a challenge. I tell stories to my students all the time. I love to use books to tell (or sing) a story. This was different, though. The "class" was all adults -- all music teachers. I also had to write a song, and so I chose a personal subject -- my Mother. It wasn't easy, but once I got started it was hard to stop. It went very well. 
