Submitted by Jan Morris

Idea posted August 4, 2003

Question: I'm planning to do a Stomp-like piece at my music camp in a few weeks. I'm thinking that I'll ask each kid to bring something from their kitchen, and then we can create a rhythm piece. I've never done this, and these are not my school kids, but a group of kids from lots of other schools. Any ideas?

Answer: I did this during the last days of school, and the kids loved it. We began by watching a very short segment of the Stomp Out Loud video (they begged for more), then we talked about what was used to make the music. The kids did a great job telling me all the various "found" instruments. Then we talked about the organization of the rhythms, the fact that it was organized and not just beating out whatever came to mind. Next we talked about how to make it happen in our classroom. We divided up into groups, and each group came up with the rhythm, choreography, and chose additional instruments to add "tone color" to their piece.

I had gone to the dollar store and purchased six brooms, balls, and metal odds and ends, passed those out equally among the groups, and off we went. It was great. Several groups really took off and created some excellent music. Others grasped the concept, but didn't develop it as far.

Then, we did an evaluation. Each group evaluated themselves at the end of the unit, and I evaluated after the students. The kids usually were right on target. One group even commented that they could have been as good as another group, but that their cooperation just wasn't working.

Have great fun with this project.