Submitted by Amy Finnerty, Pennsylvania
Idea posted April 12, 2002
The band teacher and I put up a bulletin board in our hallway that says "Pick up a book and tune in to Reading." Then underneath we photocopied book covers of books that deal with music (from my personal library), colored and laminated them, and hung them on laminated giant music notes.
I also did several lessons using books - 1st, 2nd, and 3rd all got Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin (we just finished Peter And The Wolf for an upcoming assembly, so orchestra instruments were on their minds).
Fourth grade did the "Vanishing Pumpkin" with a song and instrument parts that I picked up at a conference somewhere.
Fifth grade learned a little about Jubilee songs and spirituals by singing Swing Low and reading the book "A Band of Angels."
And sixth grade studied Duke Ellington. First I played "Sentimental Mood" on the piano, then I read a story about him, and finally I played "Take The A Train," a recording with Duke actually performing.
This has been a pretty successful "RAA" week for me (I really enjoyed it and I think the kids did, too!).