Where Does My Music Come From?
(suggested Grades 4-8)
The year is 1741 and you are
listening to the premiere performance of "The Messiah" by
George Frideric Handel, or you are waltzing to a Haydn minuet, you pick
up your harmonica and play "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth
Symphony, or maybe today is a puppet show to Stravinsky's "Rite
of Spring".
The Radio Hour: Classical is not about old, boring music, it's about
great musicians leaving their mark on history just like the musicians
we listen to today. Students learn that these songs were the top 40
of the 1600-1900 and why. Students are asked to find connections between
music and the culture, politics, and people of the Baroque, Classical,
Romantic and Contemporary eras.
The Radio Hour: Classical curriculum covers the historical contributions
of 30 musicians and their music using resources from a variety of texts
and combining it with the movement activities of John Feierabend's "Move
It!" Students will analyze and move to key representative works
while identifying musical textures using my visual/aural pedagogy called
call charts which actually helps students to "hear" with their
eyes!
The Student Workbook has over 110 pages full of music analysis, facts,
vocabulary, hands-on activities, review puzzles, rubrics for self-assessment
and it is fully organized to keep even the most difficult on task. All
of this is supported by my website which includes music analysis reviews,
composer overviews, links to research sites, interactive
croosword puzzles, music flashcards and on-line
flash quizzes.
The Teacher's Workbook contains all the lessons from the Student Workbook
with all the answer keys.
In addition it comes wth a wealth of support
1. Lesson plans for Era Units, Unit Activities
2. Power Point presentations for Open House / Back to School Night.
3 . Unit introduction Power Points to open dialog with your students
about what each era was about.
4 . Easy to locate and afford media (approximately $80) No need to spend
hundreds on an extensive music library.
5 . A easy to Plug-in electronic gradebook on Microsoft Excel.. Input
grades and it will calculate your averages.
6 . Ready made Sub plans.
In other words, you receive the benefit everything that I have been
teaching, testing, assessing, and modifying for the past nine years.
I know how much time it takes to be a great teacher, but the most time
consuming part is collecting the materials and organizing them into
a usable, multi-level approach that will reach every child while meeting
state and national standards.
About
the Author . . . Steven Chetcuti is a Instrumental/General Music teacher in
Somers, New York (USA), where he conducts two middle school concert
bands, a jazz ensemble, the high school marching band, and teaches two
to three sections of General Music to seventh and eighth graders. Recently
a presenter at the 14th Annual International Music Technology Conference
and Workshop at School of Music, Indiana University at IUPUI, he has
also been an invited clinician at the International Association of Jazz
Educators(IAJE) Conference, as well as presenting for the Summer and
Winter Conferences of New York State.
Mr. Chetcuti was formerly the Director of Summer Winds for the Danbury
Music Center, where he conducted elementary through high school ensembles.
A Graduate of Western Connecticut State University, Steven completed
his administration degree from the College of New Rochelle with a concentration
in Staff Development. He is a member of MENC, the New York State School
Music Association, the Westchester County School Music Association,
Phi Mu Alpha, Pi Lambda Theta, and IAJE.