Printed from SchoolMusicMatters.com
Birthday Bulletin Board: A Great Tool For Choosing Who To Listen To
Submitted by Sandra Elder, Michigan
Idea posted 2002-11-01
So many musicians, who do I have them listen to, right??? Here's an idea that is working wonderfully for me this year.
In the hallway I have a "Happy Birthday To Me" bulletin board. Each month, I enlarge the birthday list from the back of Music K-8 mags, dig up as many pictures or photos and facts of the people on the list (Dover publishes inexpensive collections of famous composer and opera singer photographs!!!), xerox them, mount them on colored construction paper, label them, and laminate them. Then, I put them all on the board.
Each week, I choose one from the board to play for the kids, sometimes just a snippet, other times a longer piece which I build a lesson around. Today we listened to Yo-Yo Ma playing one of the Gershwin piano preludes.
This Birthday Board has provided me with the structure I needed myself, and gives me an instant excuse for playing a particular person. "Why are we listening to Charles Ives today?" "Because he's having a birthday..." They're all so birthday conscious that that's all the explanation they need.
In addition, I allow any student who's having a birthday that month to check the board to see if any famous musician is also having a birthday on their exact date.
Here's how I label each person:
Name (birth-death dates and place, if possible): musical role (composer, conductor, etc...)Examples from September:
George Gershwin (b. Sept. 26, 1898. d. 1938) Composer and pianist.Copyright ©1997-2024 Plank Road Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved