Category: Music

3-12, Art, Creative Thinking, Education, Language Arts, Music, Student Products, Teaching Tools, Videos

Painted Pie

Terri Eichholz
from "Painted Pie"
from “Painted Pie”

“Painted Pie” is a video you will probably want to view more than once.  The post-Impressionist artwork alone is stunning.  But, even better, is the sweet story of a homeless boy who is searching for a human being to connect with him.  The moral of the story, that you never know how many lives you can touch with small kindnesses, reminds me of another couple of videos I have featured on here, “The Kindness Boomerang” and “Monsterbox“.  The film was created by Havish Thota, Kudzai Gumbo, Mehdi Farrokhtala, and Abdulrahman Alansari.  It has already won several awards.  The accompanying soundtrack, “Little Person” by Jon Brion is a masterpiece, as well.

In the classroom, I would, of course, ask the students to verbalize the moral of the story.  You could ask them to retell this silent movie in their own words.  Before even showing the movie, you could play the soundtrack, and ask the students to come up with stories that would go with the music.  If you are studying art, you might see if they could write a similar story based on another work of art.  Random Acts of Kindness Week is fast approaching (February 11th), and this would be a good way to introduce it.

I found this video on the “Kuriositas” blog.  Though the “Kuriositas” blog is not meant for a young audience, I encourage adults to check it out, as it features many interesting videos, pictures, and stories.

Here is the link to the video in case the embedded version does not show below:  http://vimeo.com/57146618

Painted Pie from Mehdi Farrokhtala on Vimeo.

Education, K-12, Motivation, Music, Videos

You’re a Firework!

Terri Eichholz

It’s time for our weekly Fun Friday Post, and I have a video for you.  This might bring a tear or two to your eyes, however.  I know that doesn’t quite fit in with the Fun Friday theme, but time is of the essence.  This is one of the preview clips from Comedy Central’s Night of Too Many Stars: America Comes Together for Autism Programs, hosted by Jon Stewart, which will air on 10/21/12 at 8 PM. In this particular video, Jodi DiPiazza, a girl who was diagnosed with autism at an early age, performs a duet with Katy Perry of her song,  “Firework”.  In interview clips of Jodi’s parents, they admit that they were afraid that their daughter would never be able to speak, much less perform a song onstage, accompanying herself with the piano.

You can find more clips from Sunday’s show here.  More information about the show can be found here.  I’m not absolutely sure how age-appropriate everything is, but I can promise you that the clip below is an inspiring video that you can show to any audience.

(If you are unable to view the embedded video, here is the link: http://youtu.be/QX-xToQI34I)

3-12, Education, Music, Teaching Tools, Websites

Choruzz

Terri Eichholz

I have not used Choruzz in my classroom yet, but I can see the possibilities.  This site allows you to create your own playlist of songs.  There is no sign-in or registration required.  Once you create a list, and “publish” it, you are given an embed code and a unique URL, so that anyone you would like to share it with can access it.  You can check out a practice playlist I created at this link.

Last school year, one of my more successful lessons included a center where students could listen to a playlist on my iPod, and choose the song that they would pick as a theme for the novel we had just read.  They really enjoyed it, and there was much discussion within each group about the pros and cons of the songs.  Their written explanations were very thorough.  I could see using Choruzz for this activity, so that more students could access the playlist – or even do the activity at home.

My cautions would be that the videos for the songs are included, and that there are some ads that run at the bottom.  I have not seen anything inappropriate in my short experimentation with this, but will be exploring it further before I offer it as an option for my students.  Another possible obstacle would be that district filters might block the site.

Choruzz has a lot of potential for classroom use.  If this particular site cannot be used educationally, I would love to see a similar one that could be used in a classroom setting.

3-12, Creative Thinking, Education, Independent Study, Music, Social Studies, Student Products, Teaching Tools, Videos

History for Music Lovers

Terri Eichholz

 

The History for Music Lovers channel on YouTube has a lot of videos of historical figures and moments set to popular songs.  The one I use with my students is “Gutenberg“, the lyrics of which are sung to the tune of “Sunday Girl” by Blondie.  For those students who don’t really care to read history from a book and are musically inclined, this is a great way to get their attention.  (As usual, before presenting videos to students, please preview them to make sure they are appropriate for that age group!)  This is also a great idea for students who are interested in finding another way to present their own research.  It beats a PowerPoint presentation!

Creative Thinking, Education, Games, K-12, Music, Student Products, Teaching Tools, Websites

Hands Symphony

Terri Eichholz

I found Hands Symphony on one of my favorite resources, KB Connected.  I think that it is a great site for composing a tune to email to someone you care about while at the same time spreading life-saving information about CPR.  Even if you aren’t planning to e-mail your composition, your students will have fun with this creative way to make music.  I thought it was appropriate to post a site sponsored by the American Heart Association on Valentine’s Day:)

3-12, Art, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Math, Multiple Intelligences, Music, Science, Teaching Tools, Videos

Fibonacci

Terri Eichholz

The mysterious Fibonacci pattern can be a great way to hook students into both math and science. Here is a fun video from YouTube that shows the connection, and a link to some Fibonacci lesson plans integrating music.

Direct YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahXIMUkSXX0