To start off the month, we read a brief biography from Kathleen Krull titled "Lives of the Musicians: Good Times, Bad Times, (and what the neighbors thought). Each biography gives a comprehensive overview of both the composer as a musician but also as a normal person. Many times students struggle to connect with composers because they only know their music, not their hobbies. Each entry explores the necessary details of their birth and death dates, how they were introduced to music, and followed by information about their best-known works but also shows they actually had interesting and sometimes wacky lives in the process.
Next, we reviewed thing we learned and populated a list on the board before we listened to "Summertime" from Porgy & Bess. My 4th graders do a jazz centered focus during Jazz month in April so this year's 5th graders recognized Ella Fitzgerald's voice on the recording. Little did I realize that it would turn into a historical timeline discussion of how their lives overlapped and where did I fit into the picture? So it wasn't on the lesson plan. Big deal. The fact the kids wanted to expand their understanding was well worth it!
After we had listened to a few key compositions, we did a make-and-take flipbook. Jena Hudson over at Sew Much Music has these *adorable* flipbooks for all different genres and historical periods!
To top it all off, the incredible Sara Bibee has Composer of the Month series which make wonderful mini bulletin boards. These are going to be fantastic to put up each month. There's even an updated version that has QR codes for students to scan and go on a musical scavenger hunt. Hmm...which version to choose?! :)
I can't wait to see what we discover with our composer for next month!
