Rap a Tap Tap Book and Improvisation Activity

This was a lesson posted in my Patreon community two years ago. My students love this book and has a lovely connection to the famous tap dancer, Savion Glover! Click here for the slides and please note, this will force a copy.

Enjoy! 

Scat Like That!

 This is a slide set with multiple videos and printables available here! Please note this will force a copy. 

Enjoy!

Trombone Shorty Hurricane STICKS

 One of my absolute favorites when I want to jam is listening and playing around with the music of New Orleans musician Troy Andrews, AKA "Trombone Shorty".  There are a couple of great children's books featuring his music and his story - check them out!

Today I have a rhythm stick arrangement I have been working on for the past couple of weeks to Hurricane Season - the music is here:

You can always decide to change up a section - the B Section will be challenging with the rhythm but if you say "Hurricane" to the rhythm as written it will help solidify it. The "Turn R" fits right in with the "Hey" spoken in the song. 

Want the pdf? - click the image.  This is from my Singing Waters, Dancing Flames book available in print or as an ebook from major music suppliers or direct from the publisher at www.singsmileplay.com.

Enjoy!

Ella Fitzgerald

 This year at our school, in addition to dismantling some long-held traditions that were problematic, and engaging in a 21-week Racial Equity Challenge- which has been amazing, we are celebrating Black History Month in a way we have never done before. I am so incredibly proud of my school for embracing change and valuing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice work year round. If you celebrate Black History Month, I hope we all realize the importance of celebrating Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian People of Color (BBIAPOC) music and musicians throughout the year, not only during the nationally designated, recognized, and celebrated months. 

This year we are also having a door decoration contest, with each teacher celebrating one African American/Black person of influence and importance. Teachers are relating this to content within the classroom and students will have a socially-distanced gallery crawl as well as a time to hear about each person by the students via video announcements in classrooms. It is exciting, but we also need to work on our curricula, traditions, histories, and centering voices of BBIAPOC within our classrooms. 

Here is my door our students decorated:

I chose Ella Fitzgerald, and students will be listening to and learning about this barrier-breaker and glass-ceiling-shatterer throughout the month as well as learning about Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Duke Ellington,  Louis Armstrong, and Esperanza Spalding - here is one of my favorite videos of her! 

For the full slide set of the preview below, click here. 

Enjoy! 

Seeds of Love MLK

 As I write this, our country is grieving and angry. Emotions are high, and lives have been lost. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday is approaching and a change of leadership in our country is at hand. Impeachment proceedings are upcoming and our country has experienced a tumultuous moment of violence in the midst of a global pandemic. The times we are in are not, by anyones definition, NORMAL. I do not have answers. I do not have enough words. But I know music is a way for my students to process and acknowledge what they are hearing in their homes and classrooms. Music is a way to open conversation and empathy. I began singing a song I learned many moons ago - Seeds. I was also singing the song, "Give Light" and knew those two songs would help my students (and me) to further growth, courage, and strength during times of frustration, grief, and confusion. 

1.  Books

These are books I will be using in my classroom over the next many weeks. Some I will read, some will be sung (in our heads, hearts, and homes), and others will be used as jumping off points to create poetry, rhythms, melodies, and speech or body percussion work. 

2. Songs

We Shall Overcome The Story of a Song (this is also a book - I HIGHLY recommend this video and have used it many times with my students). 

Seeds by Gemini - One of my all-time FAVORITE songs to sing with students. It is just lovely. 

Movement for this song can be found here - as well as a lovely description about planting seeds of kindness. 

Sing About Martin  - Echo song PERFECT for the littles.

Martin Luther King

Give Light - I have posted about this before numerous times and cannot say enough about this song in times of darkness- students and adults alike LOVE this song! 

Glory with new lyrics by Franklin Willis - The new lyrics Franklin wrote are SO perfect for right now!! Check out the instagram video here! 

3. Play Alongs and Body Percussion Activities

Martin Luther King Jr. Play Along

Martin Luther King Jr. Rhythm Match Up 

We All Sing with the Same Voice - the book is above - here is a sing aloud: 

You can also add the following body percussion - these are the scaffolded slides:

Want all this in one place?  Click HERE to get all this as a Google Slide - you will be asked to make a copy and then can rearrange and edit to make it the most useful for your classes. 

Be safe, everyone.  Don't forget If you are not already, be sure to follow along at www.ofortunaorff.com, on fb -@0 for tuna orff, and instagram -@Aimee_ofortunaorff

If you enjoy these resources, please consider treating me to a cup of coffee: 

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AimeeP

With much love,

Black History Month

Stories

Each person has their own history and life is not a single narrative. We are a collection of people living in multiple environments with multiple identifiers.  I am a White female, she/her, a mom, daughter, sister; I am a musician, teacher, artist, author, blogger, and crafter; I am also the mother of a child who was adopted from China so our family is Chinese American; I am a singer, actor, dancer, and jewelry maker. I was raised in Maine but live in the South and love to travel. There is no single story to me, no single story to you and no single story of the human experience.

Please watch "The Danger of a Single Story":

Recently there was a lengthy discussion on Facebook about White teachers using spirituals in the music classroom. Though there were many perspectives, it is important to remember that each of us teach from a place of our own stories; positive, negative, and somewhere in between. It is important to remember during Black History Month that it is a time to pause, remember, and celebrate the music of Black and African Americans. That is not a single story of spirituals and Civil Rights music, but so much more. 

Today we have a guest blogger.  We are going to learn from the amazing Franklin J. Willis.

Mr. Franklin J. Willis currently serves as the Elementary Music Coach for the Metro Nashville Public Schools district. For the past decade Willis has taught both general music and choir at the elementary and middle school levels. He is a three-time recipient of the prestigious Country Music Association Foundation Music Teacher of Excellence award. He specializes in providing musical instruction that will empower and engage all students and teachers to achieve their best through authentic culturally relevant learning experiences. Click on Franklin's picture below to learn more about Franklin and his advocacy for music education.  

Aimee: Hi Franklin, thank you very much for taking the time to answer some questions from your perspective.  The focus for many music teachers during Black History Month seems to be on slavery and the Civil Rights Movement.  What do you feel is important for everyone to understand about Black History Month?

Franklin: First, I think it is very important for students and teachers to understand the history of why we celebrate Black History Month. Mr. Carter G. Woodson [was] considered the Dean of African American History [who] worked tirelessly to educate the public about the achievements of African Americans. His life was dedicated to sharing the history of African Americans. I recently learned about a fabulous resource by two veteran Social Studies teachers, Lanesha Tabb and Naomi O’Brien that provides context on how Black History Month was formed and why we celebrate it. Download this free resource by clicking this link. 

Now that we have an understanding of what Black History Month is and why we celebrate it every year let’s discuss how we can celebrate the accomplishments of African Americans in the music classroom. African American music is diverse and has birthed musical genres throughout history. If a music teacher wishes to focus on our sacred slave songs, which we call spirituals I believe that it is fine. However, please give the spiritual the same respect and study as we would give a classical piece of music with our students. Give students the opportunity to ask questions about the music. Provide historical context for them to understand how the spiritual was created. Offer students an example of the evolution of the spiritual, like “Mary Don’t You Weep” by Take 6: 

Including all of this information is very important because it just doesn’t focus on the pain of the spiritual. However, it shows through a horrific time in our history these songs were created, and this is how they have changed over time. Spirituals are just as varied as African American music itself. There are songs of sorrow, songs of joy, songs of despair, and songs of hope. Ensure that our students learn the depth and vastness of the spiritual.

Aimee: When done well, Black History Month should focus on ___________.

Franklin: Black History Month should educate students about the accomplishments and achievements of African Americans. There are many appropriate ways to celebrate Black History Month in the music classroom. Listed below are some of the themes I have used for my Black History Month Programs in the past.

·       The Evolution of the Spiritual

·       The Music of Motown

·       The Women of the Civil Rights Movement

·       The Music of the Harlem Renaissance

·       Lift Every Voice and Sing: Music of the Culture

·       Yo! What’s Up? The Story of Hip-Hop Music

·       Music of Africa: The Beat of the Drum

·       The Dream Lives On! The Words of Martin Luther King Jr.

In order to create these Black History Month programs, I started with the end in mind. Questions that I consider when planning a Black History Month Program are the following:

·       Why do I want to present a Black History Month program?

·       What did I want my students to learn?

·       What do I want the student body or community to learn from observing the BHM program?

·       How did I want students to experience this music?

·       What grade level did I want to feature?

·       What is my school ready for? (I could write a lot about this one!)

·       What classroom teachers would be willing to help me plan this program?

·       How will I inform students, teachers, administration, parents, and community members about this program?

The greatest question of all these is the first one. Why do you want to present a Black History Program? If it is to check off a list of things that you have done this year, please don’t do it. Take time to consider the importance of teaching the important history and contributions of African Americans. All students should learn about Black History Month. Black History is American History.

Aimee: Who would be your top 10 African American musicians for music teachers to focus on during Black History Month?

Franklin: My top 10 African American musicians, composers, or artists to teach to students would be the following: (These are not in a specific order.)

·       Scott Joplin

·       Nina Simone

·       Beyoncé

·       R. Nathaniel Dett

·       Stevie Wonder

·       Kirk Franklin

·       Marian Anderson

·       Margaret Bonds

·       Quincy Jones

·       Run DMC

Aimee: If you had 4-6 lessons to go deeper into celebrating the contributions of Black and African American musicians to teach about during February, who and what would you choose?

Franklin: If I had four to six lessons to dive deeper into a subject surrounding African American music it would be the subject of African American composers. Often times our students only learn about African American artists, however I think there is valuable information students and teachers can gain in the study of our Black composers. In my undergraduate Music History class, we studied several European composers and only studied one African American composer which was Duke Ellington. I did my own research and learned about many black composers before Duke Ellington who were trailblazers and virtuoso artists. Composers like Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Scott Joplin, R. Nathaniel Dett, Harry T. Burleigh, Florence Price and many others who opened the doors for future African American composers and artists to be accepted for their talents. Listening to their music was empowering and it let me know as a student that just because we were not studying it in class, doesn’t mean it is not worthy of learning. Many teachers simply teach what’s in the curriculum and quite frankly learning about innovative African American composers is not on the list important things students should know in music education.

So, if I were digging deeper with students, I would do a historical overview of African American composers in classical music. Complete listening exercises that ask students to think and listen critically to the music. Compare and contrast the music of these composers with the more famous European composers to find similarities and differences. Finally, I would have students write a personal reflection of what they learned about the composers and to choose a favorite selection that we listened to as a class and tell me why.

Aimee: What kinds of activities make sense for our youngest students?

Franklin: Black History Month activities for our youngest of students could include story books, short melodic songs, and movement activities. Follow this link to get ideas about books to utilize during Black History Month. Stories allow students to read and visualize a character in a personalized unique way. Moreover, when students can identify and see themselves in the literature they are more engaged and learning is relevant. This lesson plan by Charissa Duncanson incorporates short rhythmic activities with the book Trombone Shorty by Troy Andrews. 

 Also an easy way to get younger students involved with African American music is by having them keep the steady beat to the music. That is a major standard for our Kindergarten and 1^st grade students. Can students keep a steady beat to R. Nathaniel Dett’s Piano Suite In the Bottoms: IV. Dance. Juba? Yes, THEY CAN!

Aimee: What are your favorite resources to pull from to ensure everyone feels included in the conversations in your music classroom?

Franklin: My favorite resource to use in the music classroom not only during Black History Month, but in general is Expressions of Freedom by Dr. Rene Boyer. This teacher resource does a wonderful job of connecting African American spirituals to the Orff music pedagogy. Every time I teach a song from this resource students absolutely love it!

Listed below are some great resources available from some African American music educators and composers specifically for the elementary music classroom.

Dr. Rene Boyer 

Rollo Dillworth 

Anthony Q. Richardson 

Chelsea Cook 

Franklin J. Willis 

Thank you so much for a rich conversation!

Black History Month

Black History Month.
Those three words have power, value, and emotion. Though the story of Black History Month began in 1915, it was not officially recognized until 1976 when President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month, calling upon Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”  Want to read more? Check this out.


.Black History Month is a special "pause" in our year to reflect and celebrate the vast musical contributions of Black and/or African Americans, but it should not be the only time our students see themselves represented and reflected in the music we use in our classrooms.

Things to Consider

• Where is my focus?  Who and what am I celebrating and honoring? Personally, I do not want to be the white teacher telling a single narrative about Black and/or African Americans as slaves and that they are only worthy of celebrating when talking about slavery or the Civil Rights Movement.  How does this impact our students view of musicians and composers who are Black and/or African American? 
• Sing, listen, and teach about music from a broad perspective; spirituals and Civil Rights songs are valuable, but they are not the only music to be celebrated and learned.
• If we teach these songs we should keep our community and parents informed of our intention to teach about slavery.  I have known many music teachers who begin to go down this path and receive emails and phone calls from upset parents who have not discussed slavery with their child and now they are forced into a conversation they were unprepared to have.
• For me, I want my students to celebrate, honor and learn about Duke Ellington, BB King, Billie Holiday, Scott Joplin, Ella Fitzgerald, Leontyne Price, and Miles Davis. I also want them to celebrate, honor, and learn about Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Queen Latifah, Tina Turner, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Denyce Graves, Black Violin, Rihanna, The String Queens, will.i.am, Ne-Yo, Rhiannon Giddens, and Ranky Tanky, (who just won a Grammy and are amazing - listen to this podcast and you'll see why I love them for elementary aged students).
• Sister Rosetta Tharpe - do you know her name? I didn't until this past year. Learning about her was eye-opening and a bit shocking- how did I NOT know her name until now? She was a pioneer and laid the foundations for Rock 'n Roll. Read more about her here from NPR.

Here are some of the things my students and I will be using throughout the year, not only during the month of February.

Children's Literature

Rap a Tap Tap: Here's Bojangles - Think of That 

Change repetitive words to "Rap, Tap, Tap, Think of That". (3 quarter notes, 1 quarter rest, repeat same rhythm).

I use this with Kindergarten students after we first do some movement preparation to "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder.  

1. Read Book, encourage students to speak repetitive words, "Rap, tap, tap, think of that".

3.  Videos - Tap Dancing Group - I like this one - you will only watch until 1:20.

Next I show Savion Glover - this is such a cool commercial- just skip the end (commercial for a fridge). 

How to Tap- this is really good for my younger kiddos - very slow, sequential. We only watch to about 3:00 and we stand up and practice tapping.

4. Then I break out the Heart Chart and we go back to the book of Bojangles - the Heart Chart is amazing and many music teachers have them or something like them - it is the perfect way to  introduce quarter and eighth notes. Once we have explored, ""Rap, tap, tap, think of that" and learned how to clap it, etc. and have discovered quarter notes, we tap it on rhythm sticks.  That leads into eighth notes, and before we know it we are reading stick rhythms with quarter and eighth notes.

Ruby Sings the Blues 

I love the animated video here with jazz music in the background. It is really well done! 

Trombone Shorty

Great lesson to go with this from my friend Charissa! Check it out here. 

Violet's Music 

Another great animated video by PBS!

There are so many other books I use!  Here are several:

 

Songs to Celebrate and Sing 

Sources - 

Let's Slice the Ice - A Collection of Black Children's Ring Games and Chants by Eleanor Fulton and Pat Smith, available from West Music. 

Step it Down: Games, Songs, Plays, and Stories from the Afro-American Heritage by Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes, available here from Amazon.

(not a complete list)

Head and Shoulders, Baby

Ranky Tank

Just from the Kitchen

I Got a Letter this Morning

Green Sally Up

Go In and Out the Window

Draw Me a Bucket of Water

Shoo Turkey

Little Sally Walker

Miss Mary Mack

Other Resources

• Who is Making Music for Black Children
• SecretAgent 23skidoo.com - mixing Hip Hop and Mozart on Mozartistic, the first 2:20 is about the making of the song.
• NPR's Code Switch has a Playlist for Black History Month
• Decolonizing the Music Room Songs and Stories

Hope this was informative! More to come next week!