Students learn about rhythm and polyrhythm as they create the sounds of a rainstorm using their hands and feet. Then they make up their own rhythms inspired by listening to sounds in everyday life.
Grades: K-3

Teaching Concepts:

• Rhythm is the element of music that deals with the beat or pulse and the distribution of notes within that beat.
• Polyrhythms are several rhythms performed at the same time.

Academic Content

• Music: elements of music (rhythm and polyrhythm), listening

Lesson Idea
Resource: “Rainstorm,” performed by John McCutcheon in Program 3 of KET’s Old Music for New Ears

View: Define and demonstrate rhythm for your class. Ask students how a rainstorm might have rhythm. Then watch the video segment in which John McCutcheon shows children in the studio audience how to create the rhythm of a rainstorm. They make sounds with their hands and feet in different, carefully conducted rhythms. Try making a rainstorm in your classroom. Discuss how the beat changes as the rainstorm progresses.

Create: Have students brainstorm a list of things they might hear on a regular basis that has rhythm. (If possible, take your class outside and listen for rhythmic sounds.) Ideas might include horses galloping, a train going over a bridge, factory sounds, church bells, etc. Then ask students to simulate these rhythms with body parts or with found objects in the classroom.

Expand: Define polyrhythm and ask students how they might create one. Divide the class into three groups. The first group will establish a slow, steady beat by clapping. The second group will clap two evenly spaced notes per beat. The third group will clap three evenly spaced notes per beat. Can students create a polyrhythm inspired by one of the sounds they identified in everyday life—like the rainstorm?

Author: Sara O’Keefe

Students learn how an Impressionist painter used texture in her work, then imitate the painter’s technique, using different materials and tools, to create texture in their own artworks.
Grades: 6-8

Teaching Concepts:

• Students research how different textures were created in impressionistic paintings.
• Students gain a better understanding of how to use a variety of materials and tools.

Academic Content

• Visual Art: elements of art (shape, form, texture), media (two-dimensional: paint)

Lesson Idea
Resource: L’enfant (The Child) by Mary Cassatt

Discuss: Have a class discussion about Mary Cassatt’s painting L’enfant. Give the students a brief history of the impressionistic style. Talk about how Cassatt’s painting style introduced a new way of looking at children. (She painted children in a realistic and lifelike manner.) Draw the students’ attention to the texture of the painting. Does the painting look smooth or rough? How do you think the artist made this texture in the painting?

Create: Use tempera or acrylic paint on various surfaces such as canvas, paper, fabric, cardboard, etc. with various tools such as dry brushes, paint thickeners, fingers, cotton swabs, and sponges. Try to simulate the texture represented in L’enfant.

Explore: Find other works of art in the Kentucky Virtual Art Museum that have strong texture. Based on your experience trying to simulate the texture in L’enfant, how do you think the other artists created the textures in their artworks?

Expand: Is texture seen only in impressionist paintings? Research other periods in painting and find examples where texture is used.

Author: Adapted from a lesson by Gwen Kelly

Students learn folk songs and the stories behind them, then research folk songs that are a part of their own family or culture.
Grades: 3-5

Resource:
“FooBoo Woo Boo John” performed by Mike Seeger

Teaching Concepts:

• Traditional folk music is music of common people and is handed down from one generation to the next.
• Immigrants bring their music with them when they move.
• Studying folk music helps students understand and appreciate the people who sing and perform it.

Academic Content

• Music: purposes of music
• Music and Social Studies: cultures (American, Appalachian, African-American, etc.)

Lesson Idea
Additional Resources: Feel free to include other performances from Old Music for New Ears, such as “Shady Grove” by Jean Ritchie, “So Go Rabbit” by the Reel World String Band, or “Bushy Tail” by Malcolm Dalglish.

Open: Write on the board:

“Folk music is not owned by anyone. It belongs to all of us.”
—folksinger John McCutcheon

View: Any or all of the selections from Old Music for New Ears. Mike Seeger sings several traditional songs that have been passed down for many generations. Versions of the song “Foo Boo Woo Boo John,” for instance, are also known in England and come from the oldest traditions. As with most of the oldest English songs, it was originally sung without any instrumental accompaniment, but Seeger says he added the trump, or jaw harp, interlude when he learned the song. The other songs also have stories behind them (see the teacher’s guide for details). Talk about where each of the songs came from and how the songs often get altered as they are passed down. Ask whether any of the students know one of the songs performed. Do they sing it the same way, with the same lyrics, or do they know a different version?

Find Out: Ask students whether there are songs they learned from their parents, grandparents, sisters or brothers, other relatives, or close friends of the family. Did they sing “Skip to My Lou” or “Oh Susannah”? Have students brainstorm a list of folk songs.

Family Songs: Have each student talk to an older family member or family friend about songs they remember from their childhood. Ask students to “collect” the song; that is, to learn the song and the family member’s or friend’s story about how he or she learned the song, when/where it was sung, and where it came from. Have each child present his/her song and teach it to the class.

Extend: Make a class list of things students learn about one another from the songs they have collected (e.g., where people came from, occasions when they sang songs, how similar songs are different, etc.).

Author: Sara O’Keefe

Students create a low-relief sculpture using the sand-casting technique.
Grades: 6-8

Resource:
Metal Sculpture: Ed Hamilton

Teaching Concepts:

• Casting is a process that has been used for thousands of years to create sculptures out of bronze and other materials.
• Sand casting is another example of the casting process.

Academic Content

• Visual Art: principles of design (pattern, balance), art processes and materials (three-dimensional, metal, sand)

Lesson Idea

Art Activity: Directions for students: Gather together several objects that have simple shapes, such as seashells, bottle caps, cookie cutters, spoons, etc. Fill a wood, plastic, or cardboard box one-third full of damp sand. Smooth the surface of the sand. Carefully press the different objects into the sand to make an interesting design or pattern. Then mix plaster of Paris according to the package directions and until it begins to thicken. Slowly pour the plaster into the impressions in the sand; the plaster should be between one-half inch and one inch thick. Burlap can be applied to the top of the plaster until it begins to soak through. When the plaster is completely dry, lift the casting away from the sand. Gently brush away the excess sand with a stiff-bristled brush.

View and Discuss: The two video segments. Ask: Which of the two artists profiled used a casting technique? Discuss the similarities and differences between the two artists, their materials, and their processes. Compare their processes, techniques, and ideas to the sand casting created in class.

Expand: Have students search the Kentucky Virtual Art Museum to find sculptures that were cast. Ask: How can you tell these sculptures were cast? What process do you think the artist employed in order to make the sculpture?

Author: Adapted from a lesson by Bonnie Peugeot

Students perform a ring dance and a line dance, each from a different culture, and explore the similarities and differences between the two dances.

Grades: K-3

Resource:
Punchinella on Dances from Many Cultures

Suggested Uses:

• Dance: cultures (Appalachian, Native American, African-American, European)
• Dance: purposes (recreational, ceremonial) and styles (folk dances)

Teaching Concepts:

• Folk dances are based on movement patterns. Two common patterns are ring dances and line dances.
• Learning dances from different cultures helps students better understand and appreciate those cultures.

Lesson Idea

Prepare: Select at least two dances from the Dances from Many Cultures resource that you will teach your students or that they will learn from watching the video demonstrations. Choose one ring dance (“Punchinella,” “Seven Jumps,” “Ciranda,” “Little Johnny Brown”) and one line dance (“Zuni Harvest Dances,” “Goin’ to Boston,” “Upon a Summer’s Day”). To make the experience more meaningful, make sure each dance is from a different culture. You’ll find information about each dance in the “Dance and Culture” section of the Dance binder.

Teach: Teach students the two dances. Before each dance, provide them with background about the dance—where it came from, the story behind it, its purpose, and other details students will find interesting. You may choose to have students watch the video demonstrations so they can see what the dance looks like or to teach the dances yourself, after watching the demonstrations and reading the instructions.

Discuss: What students liked about the two dances. Was one dance more fun or easier to perform than the other? How are the two dances similar? How are they different? Why do students think the circle and the line are popular dance patterns? Do they know any dances that are performed in a circle? In a line?

Expand: Add to the experience by teaching one or more folk dances from cultures other than those students have already experienced. Show “Powwow” and “Three Irish Dances” from the DanceSense Enhanced resource and “African Dance Performances” from the African Root resource. Have students look for similarities between the dances they’ve learned and the dances they’re seeing performed.

Students use recycled materials to make their own instruments, then compose a piece using them.
Grades: 5-8

Teaching Concepts:

• Throughout history, musicians have made instruments out of the materials available to them.
• Music can be performed on instruments made out of found and recycled materials.

Academic Content

• Music: elements of music (tempo, rhythm, melody, timbre)
• Music: folk instruments

Lesson Idea
View: Malcolm Dalglish playing the spoons and bones in Old Music for New Ears.

Discuss: How found objects such as the spoons and bones can be made into musical instruments. Define and discuss melody, timbre, tempo, and rhythm, relating these elements of music to the spoons and bones performances. Can students identify the rhythm Dalglish produces on the spoons? Can they discern a melody? Can they describe the timbre (tone color)? In what general instrument family would they place the spoons—brass, woodwind, string, percussion?

Create: Have students bring in recycled materials from home, such as clean empty cans, milk cartons, paper towel rolls, coffee cans, glass bottles, string or wire, etc. Have each student brainstorm an instrument he or she could make with these materials. How can they change the pitches of their instruments? Once all the instruments are made, have the class compose a piece with their homemade instruments. Each instrument should play a role in the orchestra. Choose a student to conduct the orchestra and keep the tempo of the musical piece. Record the class while they are performing to share at a parent-teacher night.

Author: Sara O’Keefe

Students categorize the purposes of different pieces of music as ceremonial, recreational, or artistic expression. Then they select one or more songs in each category for a “Purposes of Music” program.
Grades: 4-6

Teaching Concepts:

• Reasons for creating music include ceremonial purposes, recreational purposes, and artistic expression.
• A composer or musician may have more than one purpose in mind when composing/performing a piece of music.

Academic Content

• Music: purposes of music, singing

Lesson Idea
Open: Draw a “Purposes of Music” chart on the board or overhead with three columns labeled “Ceremonial,” “Recreational,” and “Artistic Expression.”

View: Selections from Old Music for New Ears.

Categorize: After each song, have the students tell how they would categorize the purpose of the song and why. Have them create their own charts and think of more types of music as well as specific songs or musicians that fit into each of the categories. After the students have completed their charts, ask them to add examples to the classroom chart.

Perform: As a class, select at least one song from each category to perform. Then divide the class into small groups and have each group write an introduction to one of the songs: where it came from, who wrote it (specific person or cultural group), and what the group thinks is the song’s purpose or purposes. Present a program of songs illustrating the purposes of music for other classes or parents.

Extend: Create a program for the concert with notes and lyrics for each song. Invite the audience to sing along.

Author: Sara O’Keefe

Students explore how props and costumes help tell the story in a dramatic performance.
Grades: K-3

Resource:
Cat and Rat

Teaching Concepts:

• Props and costumes in plays help tell the story.
• A storyteller and an actor in a play have different ways of telling stories.

Academic Content

• Drama: technical elements (scenery, props, and costumes)
• Creative Dramatics: role-playing, improvisation

Lesson Idea
Open: Bring in a box of Halloween costumes. Have students come to the front of the class in groups of three or four. Each student selects a costume and describes the character he or she portrays when wearing the costume. Define costume and prop. Talk about the effects of costumes and props in playing make-believe and in a play.

View: “Cat and Rat.” Discuss the main ideas of the story. Ask students to consider what they would need to make this a play. View the video excerpt “Wind in the Willows: The Motor Car” without the sound to explore how costumes and props create dramatic effects.

Discuss: The teaching concepts.

Expand: Have students create costumes and props to dramatize the story of Cat and Rat. Possible props for each character might include a knife for the cat, a rat’s tail for the rat, milk for the cow, hay for the barn, a key for the shop, coal for the coal bank, a feather for the eagle, a piglet for the sow, corn for the corncrib, and a key for the man.

Author: Mary Henson