Biography Breaks in the Elementary Music Classroom

2017 UMEA Mid-Winter Conference Biography Breaks in the Elementary Music Classroom Brittany Nixon May, Ph.D. brittany_may@byu.edu Amy Baird Miner, Ph.D. amy_miner@byu.edu Terrell A. Young, Ph.D. terrell_young@byu.edu Biography Breaks: The reading aloud of a picture book biography and the questions or activities the teacher engaged students in while reading the book. In the music classroom biography breaks can be used to introduce students to composers, musicians, musical elements and concepts, music vocabulary, music genres and styles. Provides a meaningful context to study music. Presents materials and details that help children to connect to cultural and historical context. Read Aloud Tips: Show the images to the entire class Ask students 1-2 questions while reading the biography Scaffold the text BEFORE you read by introducing students to critical vocabulary, setting and context Read with expression and gesture Follow up with the story by making musical connections What Makes a Good Biography: Engaging language Effective illustrations Incorporated music elements and vocabulary Limited and accessible text Additional back matter

Lesson Plans: The following lesson ideas all stem from biographies written about famous musicians and explore various genres and styles of music. All of the activities are framed for grades 3-6 and can be altered for younger students. Book: Little Melba and Her Big Trombone written by Katheryn Russell-Brown, and illustrated by Frank Morrison Objectives: 1. Students will use adjectives and cite musical details to describe the elements of music (pitch, duration, expressive qualities, timbre, form) as well as the mood and style of a piece of jazz music. Videos & Recordings: 1. Melba Liston & Quincy Jones Band My Reverie : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojwanp_d_fe 2. Melba Liston and Her Bones Trolley Song : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uvfltbdlri Process: Read the book (or excerpts of the book) Little Melba and Her Big Trombone Watch video of Melba (Quincy Jones Band 1960 My Reverie ) Connect to the process of using descriptive language when we write. When we are trying to incorporate descriptive language, we use adjectives to describe people, places, and events. Write down one of the nouns from the book. Have students work with a partner for a minute to come up with an adjective that describes the noun. Write several of their suggestions on the board and repeat the process for a few other nouns. When we listen to music, we also use descriptive language to describe what we hear. Some of the descriptive words we use in music include music terms that address the elements of music: pitch, duration, expressive qualities (dynamics, tempo, articulation), timbre, form, and texture. Teach/Review the definitions of dynamics, tempo, articulation, timbre, mood, and style. Introduce other related words that you use when describing these words. Before listening to The Trolley Song, write the word trolley and have a picture of a trolley and/or watch a video of a Trolley. Have the class come up with several adjectives to describe the trolley.

Explain that the music they are about to listen to can be described by adjectives and music terms. Have students listen to The Trolley Song and use at least two adjectives and/or musical terms to describe the piece. After listening, have each student share one of their adjectives or music terms. Invite students to take on the challenge of not using the same adjective as another student. Move quickly so that students will have to listen and remember what others have said. While students are sharing their adjectives, the teacher writes the words down next to the music element categories of dynamics, timbre, mood, and style. After playing the game, invite the students to each write a sentence using the adjectives they came up with to describe Melba and her ensemble playing the Trolley Song. USBE Music Standards: Standard 4.M.CR.2: Explain the connection of musical ideas to specific purpose and context. Standard 4.M.R.1: Listen to and interact with a variety of contrasting music. Standard 4.M.R.2: Recognize form, meter, beat versus rhythm, timbre, mood, dynamics, tempo, melody, texture and harmony/tonality. Standard 4.M.R.4: Describe feelings or imagery conveyed by a music selection. Standard 4.M.R.5: Identify and describe elements that make contrasting music selections different from each other. Standard 4.M.R.6: Explore/express feelings conveyed by a music selection through movement or drawing. Standard 4.M.R.7: Compare personal interpretation of a music selection with composer s intent. Standard 4.M.CO.3: Experience and explore music which connects us to history, culture, heritage, and community, and identify connections between a music genre and cultural or historical contexts. USBE English-Language Arts Standards: Reading: Literature Standard 2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text. Language Standard 1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. Indicator f. Order adjectives within sentences according to conventional patterns (e.g., a small red bag rather than a red small bag). Extension Idea for Little Melba & Her Big Trombone: Book: Trombone Shorty written by Troy Trombone Shorty Andrews, and illustrated by Bryan Collier Objective: 1. Students will use adjectives and cite musical details to describe and compare and contrast the elements of music (pitch, duration, expressive qualities, timbre, form) as well as mood and style of two pieces of jazz music and jazz musicians.

Videos & Recordings: 1. Trombone Shorty Age 13 with Wynton Marsalis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9yui3uhepq 2. Trombone Shorty Backatown : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zg9u1hxnds Process: Read the book (or excerpts of the book) Trombone Shorty Watch a video of Trombone Shorty playing at the Lincoln Center when he was 13 years old. Listen to Backatown and play the adjective game used in the Little Melba lesson. Compare the adjectives used for Backatown with those for Trolley Song. How were these two pieces similar? How were they different? Compare and contrast the two musicians? How are their stories similar and different? How did their life story influence their music? USBE Music Standards: Standard 4.M.R.1: Listen to and interact with a variety of contrasting music. Standard 4.M.R.2: Recognize form, meter, beat versus rhythm, timbre, mood, dynamics, tempo, melody, texture and harmony/tonality. Standard 4.M.R.4: Describe feelings or imagery conveyed by a music selection. Standard 4.M.R.5: Identify and describe elements that make contrasting music selections different from each other. Standard 4.M.CO.3: Experience and explore music which connects us to history, culture, heritage, and community, and identify connections between a music genre and cultural or historical contexts. USBE English-Language Arts Standards: Reading: Literature Standard 6: Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third- person narrations. Reading: Informational Text Standard 9: Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

Books: My Name is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz Me Llamo Celia: La Vida de Celia Cruz written by Monica Brown and illustrated by Rafael Lopex Celia Cruz Queen of Salsa written by Veronica Chambers and illustrated by Julie Maren Objectives: 1. Students will perform a basic salsa step to Celia Cruz s Vida Es Un Carnaval. 2. Students will learn traditional salsa rhythm patterns and use them to accompany Celia Cruz s Guantanamera. Videos & Recordings: 1. Celia Cruz La Vida Es Un Carnaval : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifpfsu02im0 2. Celia Cruz Guantanamera : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajolj7x3tw4 Dance Activity Process: Read the book (or excerpts of the book), Celia Cruz Queen of Salsa Discuss important facts about Celia Cruz and why she is known as the queen of salsa Introduce the genre of music known as salsa o Salsa is a genre of music that has it s own dance movements o Teach the students the simple salsa movements that will be used in La Vida Es Un Carnaval and perform the dance as you listen to the music. o When teaching the dance steps of the salsa use dance terms such as: o YouTube video of Basic Salsa Step: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfdvnx4j3-w Intro A Students standing in a large circle facing center Moving in place to the music for 32 counts 16 counts Going around the circle (moving to the right): Right, left, right, hold Left, right left, hold Repeat above and then switch directions 16 counts Going around the circle (moving to the left): Right, left, right, hold Left, right left, hold

B Instrumental Break A B Instrumental Break C D Repeat above and face center 16 counts: Side-to-Side Salsa step right, left, right, hold Salsa step left right, left, hold Repeat 16 counts: Front-to-Back Salsa step right, left, right, hold Salsa step right, left, right, hold Repeat Repeat both Side-to-Side and Front-to-Back Improvise movement in place for 32 counts Repeat movement for A (above) Repeat movement for B (above) Improvise movement in place for 24 counts 8 counts Move forward to the center of the circle Right, left, right, hold Left, right, left, hold 8 counts Move backward from the center of the circle Right, left, right, hold Left, right, left, hold Repeat above 4 more times Improvise movement in space until the end of the song Choreographed by Allyssa Pehrson & Brittany Nixon May Have the class create a KWL chart together based on what they know about both salsa and Celia Cruz as well as what they still want to know. Read the book, My Name is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz Me Llamo Celia: La Vida de Celia Cruz Break the class into groups of 2 or 3. Give each group a page out of the book to find out more facts about her life. One of the facts to have students looking for is the number of instruments mentioned in the book. Instrument Play-Along Activity Process: Salsa also uses a lot of different percussion instruments and very particular rhythm patterns Teach the cowbell part to the class play on beats 1, 3, 5, and 7 Guiro part play on beats 1, 3, 5, and 7 with two short eighth note scrapes in between (SAY: long, short-short, long, short-short, etc.) Teach the clave rhythm to the class (SAY: cla-ve, play sal-sa) Play along to Guantanamera

Rhythm Chart 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + Cowbell X X X X Guiro X X X X X X X X X X X X Claves X X X X X USBE Music Standards: Standard 4.M. P.7: Perform and identify rhythm patterns in two-, three-, and four-beat meters using body percussion, voice and simple instruments. Standard 4.M.P.8: Respond with body percussion, voice, or simple instruments to visual representation of rhythm patterns. Standard 4.M.CO.3: Experience and explore music which connects us to history, culture, heritage, and community, and identify connections between a music genre and cultural or historical contexts. USBE Dance Standards: Standard 4.D.P.4: Demonstrate fundamental dance skills through locomotor and nonlocomotor sequences. Standard 4.D.P.5: Differentiate and perform movement with metric and irregular phrasing and respond to tempo changes as they occur in dance and music. Standard 4.D.P.7: Recall and replicate movement sequences with a partner or in group dance activities. USBE English-Language Arts Standards: Reading: Literature Standard 2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text. Reading: Literature Standard 6: Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations. Reading: Informational Text Standard 6: Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and the information provided. Reading: Informational Text Standard 9: Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

Book: Esquivel! Space Age Sound Artist written by Susan Wood and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh Objectives: 1. Students will analyze two versions of the piece Lazy Bones and identify musical elements such as form, expressive qualities, and timbre. 2. Students will compare and contrast two versions of the piece Lazy Bones. Videos & Recordings: 1. Lazy Bones Performed by Leon Redbone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrowjulkvj0 2. Lazy Bones by Esquivel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czwwlqvnrzy Process: Prepare the listening by having a short discussion about what it means to be lazy. A suggestion is to have the students identify book, movie, or cartoon characters that are lazy. Another idea is to read a book or folk story such as Tops & Bottoms by Janet Stevens. For the first listening of Lazy Bones, invite the students to listen for the lazy behaviors the musician is singing about. For the second listening, display the lyrics for the students. Explain that there are four verses to the song and two melodies. Invite the students to listen for when the melody is the same and different, and have them indicate the changes using a predetermined signal. For example, hands together like a clap (same) hands make an X (different). With the lyrics still posted, have the students identify which verses shared the same melody and which were different. Label the form AABA using iconic images and/or letters. After listening have the students describe the piece Lazy Bones. In what ways did the music sound lazy? Write all of their observations on the board (to be used later). Encourage them to use musical terms such as dynamics, timbre, mood, and style. Introduce the book Esquivel! Space Age Sound Artist. Esquivel was a composer that liked to use folk songs as inspiration for his compositions. He mainly used Mexican Folk songs, but he also used the song Lazy Bones as inspiration for one of his compositions. Read parts of the book that share a little bit about the composer and his music. Display the music map of Esquivel s Lazy Bones. Invite the students to conduct the map using a finger or baton (chopsticks) while the teacher conducts on the map.

For the second listening, issue two challenges to students: (1) conduct the map with their entire body (while teacher conducts), and (2) listen to identify where on the map melody A and melody B from the Lazy Bones folk song appear. After the listening, invite students up to the map to identify where Esquivel used the A and B Melodies in the composition and label them on the map with letters or icons. Can they identify where A and B reappeared but were changed slightly? How many times were A and B repeated? What was the overall form of Esquivel s version?! Intro A A B A 1 B 1 Coda Use a venn diagram to compare and contrast the two different versions of Lazy Bones. If needed, have musical terms and descriptive words on the board for the students to use. Have the students write a comparative statement about the two versions of music. Extension #1 Playing with a Folk Song: Have students recall the various ways that Esquivel played with the folk song Lazy Bones (changes the form, different instrumentation, sound effects, no lyrics, etc.) Take a familiar folk song that the students have learned in class, and invite the class come up with some ways you might create a new composition using this folk song using some of the ideas that Esquivel used. Put the students in small groups to create a new version of a familiar folk song you can either assign these or allow the students to choose a song. Parameter ideas include: o Adding an introduction and/or coda o Changing the form in some way mixing up phrases, repeating phrases o Use any combination of singing, humming/looing, or instruments for the melody o Include classroom instruments, body percussion, or found sounds to add sound effects to your piece Have the groups perform for the class. Extension #2 Comparing other versions of Lazy Bones There are several musical performances of Lazy Bones with various artists (Harry Connick Jr., The Kings Singers, Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong, etc.). Students could be assigned as groups to listen to different versions and compare and contrast them. USBE Music Standards: Standard 4.M.CR.2: Explain the connection of musical ideas to specific purpose and context. Standard 4.M.CR.5: Organize personal musical ideas using iconic notation or recordings to combine and/or sequence personal rhythmic and melodic ideas. Standard 4.M.R.1: Listen to and interact with a variety of contrasting music. Standard 4.M.R.4: Describe feelings or imagery conveyed by a music selection. Standard 4.M.R.5: Identify and describe elements that make contrasting music selections different from each other. Standard 4.M.R.6: Explore/express feelings conveyed by a music selection through movement or drawing. USBE Dance Standards: Standard 4.D.CR.3: Develop a dance study, alone or with others, that expresses and communicates a main idea. Standard 4.D.P.5: Differentiate and perform movement with metric and irregular phrasing and respond to tempo changes as they occur in dance and music. Standard 4.D.P.6: Analyze, describe, and perform movement phrases using contrasting energy and dynamic changes. USBE English-Language Arts Standards: Reading: Literature Standard 2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.

Reading: Informational Text Standard 7: Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears. Reading: Literature Standard 5: Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text. Book: Elvis: The Story of the Rock and Roll King written & illustrated by Bonnie Christensen Objectives: 1. Students will compare and contrast the version of Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton with that of Elvis Presley. 2. Students will perform Hound Dog on the ukulele using C F and G7. 3. Students will create their own blues song following 12-bar blues form using the chords C F and G7. Videos & Recordings: 1. Elvis performing Hound Dog on the Ed Sullivan Show: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4zkyty 2. Big Mama Thornton performing Hound Dog : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxogvbqtjpm Process: Students enter the classroom to the music of Elvis Presley. See how many of the students recognize the music and/or know who the musician is. Read the book Elvis: The Story of the Rock and Roll King Play the video of Elvis performing Hound Dog live on the Ed Sullivan show. Afterwards, invite the students to describe the music using music terminology and write their responses on the board. A little background on Hound Dog is a twelve-bar blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally recorded by Willie Mae Big Mama Thornton on August 12, 1952 and later by Elvis in 1956. Play the video of Big Mama Thornton singing Hound Dog. Afterwards, have the students compare and contrast the two versions of Hound Dog using a venn diagram. Introduce the students to the 12-bar blues: o Each verse of the blues has three phrases o The phrase form is AAB for example: You ain t nothin but a hound dog, cryin all the time You ain t nothin but a hound dog, cryin all the time Well, you ain t never caught a rabbit and you ain t no friend of mine o The blues is based on the major scale

o The harmony has three chords C, F, G7 o The 12-bar blues got its name because it has 12 measures o The form of the harmony in Hound Dog is: Review the three chords used in the song with the students and teach them the form Hound Dog. Some ideas for how to teach the three chords: o Split the class into three groups and assign each group one of the chords to play on the downbeat of each measure as you point to the chart. Repeat the activity assigning each group a different chord until each group has had a chance to play all three chords. o Have the students only strum the chord on the downbeat so that they have ample time to change their fingers for the next chord. o Change the strumming pattern to provide a bit of a challenge. o An option is to have some of the students play the chords on the xylophone. Sing and play with Elvis!( Once the students are comfortable playing Hound Dog, have them create new a new verse in AAB form (using the chart below) to the 12-bar blues chord progression they learned for Hound Dog. A A B Have the groups perform for one another or create a class rondo: A (Hound Dog), B (Group 1), A (Hound Dog), C (Group 2) etc. USBE Music Standards: Standard 5.M.CR.3: Generate musical ideas using specific tonalities, meters and simple chord changes. Standard 5.M.P.10: Demonstrate persistence and cooperation in refining performance pieces. Standard 5.M.CO.4: Experience and explore music which connects us to history, culture, heritage, and community. Standard 5.M.CO.5: Identify connections between a music genre and cultural or historical contexts.

Biography Breaks and the Music Classroom( LITERATURE CITED Andrews, Troy Trombone Shorty. (2015). Trombone shorty. New York, NY: Abrams books for young readers. Brown, Monica (2004). My name is Celia, The life of Celia Cruz. Flagstaff, AZ: Lunarising books. Chambers, Veronia. (2005). Celia Cruz, queen of salsa. New York, NY: Puffin Books. Christensen, Bonnie. (2015). Elvis, the story of the rock and roll king. New York, NY: Ottaviano Books, Henry Holt and Company. Russell-Brown, Katheryn. (2014). Little Melba and her big trombone. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books. Wood, Susan. (2016). Esquivel space-age sound artist. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge. Brown, Monica. (2013). Tito Puente mambo king. New York, NY: Harper Collins. Cline-Ransome. (2014). Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson: Taking the stage as the first black and white jazz band in history. New York, NY: Holiday House. Deans, Karen. (2015). Swing Sisters: The story of the international sweethearts of rhythm. New York, NY: Holiday House. Engle, Margarita. (2015). Drum dream girl how one girls courage changed music. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Golio, Gary. (2012). Spirit seeker John Coltraine s musical journey. New York, NY: Clarion Books. Gourley, Robbin. (2015). Talkin Guitar a story of young Doc Watson. New York, NY: Clarion Books. Hill, Laban Garrick. (2013). When the beat was born: DJ Kool Herc and the creation of hip hop. New York, NY: Roaring Brook Press. Krull, Kathleen. (2013). The Beatles were fab and they were funny. New York, NY: Harcourt Children s Books. Medina, Tony. (2009). I and I: Bob Marley. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books. Munoz, P. (2000). When Marian sang. New York, NY: Scholastic Press. Nelson, Marilyn. (2009). Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World. New York: Dial Books/Penguin Group. Nerl, G. (2014). Hello I m Johnny Cash. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. Orgill, Roxane. (2002). If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers. Orgill, Roxane. (2010). Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. Pinkney, Andrea Davis. (1998). Duke Ellington. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children. Pinkney, Andrea Davis. (2002). Ella Fitzgerald the tale of the vocal virtuosa. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children. Raschka, Chris. (1997). Charlie Parker Played Be Bop. New York, NY: Scholastic. Schroeder, Alan. (1999). Satchmo s Blues. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Book for Young Readers. Schroeder, Alan. (2012). Baby Flo. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books.

Sis, Peter. (2006). Play Mozart play. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books. Slade, Suzanne. (2016). The music in George s head: George Gershwin creates Rhapsody in Blue. Honesdale, PA: Calkins Creek. Stringer, Lauren. (2013). When Staravinsky met Nijinsky: Two artsists, their ballet, and one extraordinary riot. New York, NY: Harcourt Childrens Books. Watson, Renee. (2012). Harlems little blackbird: The story of Florence Mills. New York, NY: Random House. Weatherford, Carole Boston. (2008). Before John was a jazz giant a song of John Coltraine. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company. Weatherford, Carole Boston. (2014). Leontyne Price voice of a century. New York, NY: Alfred A Knopf. Winter, Jonah. (2006). Dizzy. New York, NY: Scholastic. Winter, Jonah. (2007). The 39 Apartments of Ludwig van Beethoven. New York, NY: Schwartz & Wade Books. Winter, Morton. (2015). How Jelly Roll Morton invented jazz. New York, NY: Roaring Brook Press.

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