Just for Fun- Stephen Foster

This is the most recent 'composer' we're studying about. When we (here at North Laurel Home & School) think 'composer' we don't usually think this sort of music; we think of classical, orchestral. But we are expanding our ideas. At first we were a little taken back by the music but we rather like it now. I remember "Oh Susanna!" from when I was younger, and "Camptown Races". I just didn't know the names or remember them until now.

Study the Composers- Link Up (11/10/11)

Entering the Classical Period & Franz Joseph Haydn

 We started into the Classical Period this week. For the introduction, I simply read from A Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers. The kids really wanted to listen to something from the era but since there wasn’t a specific listening selection in the book…well, I made them be content with WCLV on the radio

However, as we moved along through the book we are now onto Joseph Haydn and there were plenty of listening selections to choose from. The one the kids really wanted to listen to though was not linked…I went searching

Le Poule Symphony is what they wanted to hear. Here is one video I found. Watch the performers heads… (just be careful if you choose other videos for this piece- some are not appropriate imho!)

We really enjoyed Haydn’s sense of humor His Farewell Symphony is great piece that shows a small bit of it. There was a youtube video linked in the book and it is the best that is probably out there but it’s not very clear. It would be really neat to see live. Or how about Surprise Symphony- Haydn said, “It will make all the women scream!” (A Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers, 2009, pg. 45)- it made me jump in surprise!

We will ‘finish up’ with Haydn on Friday by reading more about him in Harriette Brower’s book The World’s Great Men of Music found at Project Gutenberg. Also we will do more time lining and map placement (because I don’t think of it as ‘work’- we line up the composer with their country and color the country [if it isn’t already]). We will finish by making our composer info card and putting him in the Classical Period folder

How has your study been this week? Are you wondering how to just get started? Jump in! Check out ~a teaching heart~ for other ‘linkers’ to see what they have been doing.

PS: Thank you very much, Angie from Petra School and especially Barb from Harmony Fine Arts for the mini-unit on Prokofiev and Degas! I cannot wait to get started (I’ve been reading it already and searching for materials). I will add posts as we use it.

Study the Composers- Link Up (11/3/11)

This week are onto Johann Sebastian Bach. On Monday we listened to scary organ music Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor. What an interesting piece! I mistakenly had the volume up very loud for this one and we were a bit shocked not very far into it. But of course the kids wanted to listen to it first when we listened to selections later in the week.

Study of the Composers- Link Up (10/27/11)

Aah…back to the composers. This week we are studying Handel. I found it interesting that his name is Georg Friedrich Handel in German and George Frideric Handel in English. They are basically the same but he had it changed for his naturalization papers. Just an interesting tidbit

We enjoyed listening to Hallelujah (or really it is titled Messiah). Reading, it said that this is the piece that most often comes to mind when thinking of Handel. I, for one (and I know my kids fit in this category as well lol), had no idea who Handel was or the piece we listened to was not titled Hallelujah. But that is what ‘study’ is for; to learn.

Since a piece is not suggested for Water Music, we had to look for it. I personally was not looking forward to listening to an hour of this…but we did find a short, ten minute bit of it. Here is the youtube video:

Or here is one I just found that is only 3:26, by the four talented ladies of Vanilla Mood (who I’d never heard of):

Basically, as you might have guessed from our previous composer study link ups, we are using A Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers from Bright Ideas Press (can be purchased from Timberdoodle). We don’t venture much past what is in the book…although we might

I did wonder what a timpani is and looked it up. When we were listening to Music for the Royal Fireworks, we intently focused just so we could hear the ‘ba-bum’ of the drums! I could hear them before I realized what they were. Lee, of course, could hear the trumpets the best. She loves the trumpet

Here is a video of Music for the Royal Fireworks:

Have a look at the others on the same page.

I have to mention Fox’s coloring, uh, creation during this study. Lately, he and Lee have created Pokemon-like creatures…and he seems to be obsessed with them. While listening and answering questions about Handel, he drew creatures on his coloring page. I asked him to stop unless he could make them more fitting to the subject at hand. Of course…he did. They became instrument playing, singing creatures… lol. It made for an interesting picture

Have you done some composer study this week? Link up with us at …a teaching heart…

Study the Composers: Link Up (10/13/11)

I would love to say that we did great with our Composer Study this past week but I don't want to lie

We have been listening to the local classical music station each day during school but haven’t done our actual study. The dj (if that is what they are still called lol) will often interject information about the composer or the piece being played. We have heard many pieces by Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Vivaldi, as well as others that we have never heard of (therefore I don’t remember them lol).

We also have heard pieces that were done for Orphan Annie and the Sound of Music. At first I think the kids were annoyed that the radio is only set for the classical station but it’s been that way for 3 weeks now and it’s become second nature

We do not have school next week so we won’t post for Composer Study. The next person we plan to study (via A Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers) is George Frideric Handel. See you in two weeks!

A Young Scholar’s Guide to Composers (Timberdoodle Review)

Authors: Melissa E. Craig; Maggie S. Hogan
Pages: 298
Binding: Paperback
Copyright: 2009
ISBN: 978189242746X
Publisher: Bright Ideas Press
Made In: USA
Consumable: Yes
Reproducible: Yes, permission is granted to photocopy student reviews, note-taking pages, and other activity pages for your own family only. This is not intended to be used for an entire co-op or school.

Price: $31.50
Ages/Grades: 9-13/4th-8th

Implementing Composer Study in our homeschool is actually a bit difficult for this family. I am not entirely sure why but I really want to include it in our day. I believe that it is good to be exposed to the classics and the music is beautiful.

I was excited when Timberdoodle asked if I would like to review this product. You can find more music resources for homeschoolers at Timberdoodle. I love Bright Ideas Press and I know that Timberdoodle offers high quality homeschool items. I jumped on the chance to do this review. It came along at the perfect time, too.

What to expect in this book:

32 Weekly Lessons

26 Bios of Famous Composers

6 Eras of Music Explained

Easy-to-Use Comparative Timeline

Easy-to-Use Maps

Composer Info-Cards & Game Directions

Note-taking Pages

Quizzes

Answer Keys

Listening Suggestions

Intricate Coloring Pages

Resource Books

So there are 298 pages in this book (which I received as an ebook) and I wanted to print them all off as soon as I downloaded it! I was able to exercise restraint and instead started with the images of the composers. I can read the lessons from the computer as we go.

I decided to give each kid (since I am using this with both Fox and Lee- that’s okay it says to grade 8, it’s adaptable!) a folder of their own. It is blue so that we know it is for Composer Study. I purchased a ton of these two pocket folders last year and have been using them for all sorts of things. I found three folders that were different colors for each musical period we will be studying.

At first I thought I would print two sets of the images of the composers (as well as two of everything else) but I decided we didn’t need two. Since it will done together there is no need for separate Composer Info-Cards. So I cut out the images and put them in an envelope. Each time period (except for the first two that do not have Composer Info Cards) will have its own envelope with the corresponding composer folder. When we study them, we go through the envelope and find who we are looking for and put him (rather, his image!) on a card and place it in the correct folder.

*Just realized as I am posting this, I am short one folder! Will have to find an…orange or yellow one perhaps!

Originally the Info-Cards were printed out and I was going to put them on….something. I didn’t have any 5x7 cards (as is suggested in the book) but I do have a lot of 3x5s. Instead of using the print outs we glue the image on the unlined side of a 3x5 and paste the info sheet on the back side, where it has lines. We label the front just like it says (name and period). Here is a photo of the Vivaldi one we made.

         

I then modified the folderbook idea by using pocket folders. I can still do the same as I could with a file folder but have a built in ‘envelope’ (they give suggestions on how to use it on page 266, and one is to paste envelopes in them). Here is a photo of the Baroque and Romantic Period “folderbook” I made. Neither are done because we haven’t finished the Baroque period and haven’t started the Romantic

          

The other aspects, such as the recommended schedule we use as is. I think it works well doing it three times a week. The amount of time it takes is about 30 minutes for us. The book says about 15 minutes for reading but then I’m not sure if that includes the listening and activities time.

Here is how it looked for us:

DAY 1: We start on the first day by either reading the lesson (rather I read it out loud) while they do the note taking pages or listening to the suggested selections. It depends on what we do first because sometimes I have internet connectivity and sometimes not (we’ve recently moved). When we listen to the selections, generally we do it 2-3 times for each suggested one and then search for others.

DAY 2: The second day is listening to the selections and reading/note taking, if we did not do it on the first day. On this day we filled in the Composer Info card. We also may fill in the timeline, which we have included in each folder book. Each folder for the musical period has little pockets for each composer. After the card is made, it goes in a slot (or envelope if that is what I’ve put instead of little pockets).

DAY 3: The third day is spent listening to the selections and others we have found. We also work on the coloring sheets that are included in the book. To help with geography, there are mapping pages that the students match the composer with his country. This is done on the third day as well.

We like this book and study. I personally didn’t find the timeline very ‘user friendly’ but I’m not a timelining kind of person. Not that I don’t like to make them and that I don’t see the relevance of one, I just find it difficult to actually do and make one. It didn’t seem to have step by step instructions for those lacking in this area (aka: ME).

Otherwise, it is a great book. I enjoyed the bios of the composers as well as the information about the musical periods. We learned a lot while using this. Of course, we are not done with it and will continue with it the rest of the year.

Visit Timberdoodle to see more information about this book. You can also find them on Facebook. Follow this link to request a physical catalog of current products from Timberdoodle or see it online.


**Disclaimer: I received this as an ebook from Bright Ideas Press via Timberdoodle’s blogger review program. I was required to give an honest review of this item; no other compensation was given in exchange for this product.