Recently, our
third grade did an evening performance of Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s
Ears, A West African Folk Tale retold with original music by Brian Hiller
and Don Dupont.
There are
four third grade classes totaling 120 students. They have general music classes once a week for 45 minutes. There
were challenges mainly due to half days, holidays, and state testing, therefore
some missed quite a few music classes. Because of this I may change a few
things for next year (lesson learned!). Nonetheless, it went very well and was
a magical event for the children and all involved.
The music Hiller
and Dupont created is child-friendly, catchy, diverse, and fun. The songs go
along beautifully with the story line. I love how each class reads together
like a chorus as different animal groups (agamas, duikers, etc.). I also love
how there are plenty of narration parts (something for everyone!).
For our
performance, the students accompanied themselves on Orff instruments. This was
a scary adventure in terms of the children keeping a steady beat and not
rushing with excitement the night of the program. Sometimes we would practice
with the Orff instrumentation recording. I would have the students “pretend”
play as they listened so that they could hear their part and practice with that
steady beat.
The dancing
parts were for the most part successful. Some of my students had a hard time, so
I created some easier steps on one of the songs. On the first number, dancers
used colorful scarves which were fun and beautiful. The King Lion, Mother
Sunbird and Mosquito danced through the audience on the first song as we
welcomed the parents.
I was
extremely fortunate to have had a mom that created and set up the stage for us.
You can look at the photos to see what an outstanding job she did! I also had
the banner provided on the Tuneful Tale
CD made up. Another parent printed out all the animal props (also
on the CD) in color on poster board. Other parents then painted two-foot paint
stick whites (donated by Home Depot) and attached the poster board animal and
leaves onto the stick. The animals are on one side and the leaves are on the other.
It looked amazing with 120 kids holding props, all dressed in black! We decided
to keep them square and not cut the animals out so we can get a few more years
out of them! My daughter painted a large box with a jungle background and this
is where the three main characters sat during the show.
There were
many helpful components to the Tuneful
Tales program:
-Various
eye-catching letter templates to send home to parents (“calling all volunteers,”
reminders, "save the dates," costume information, etc.)
-Props,
posters, banner, and program templates
-The ability
to post the lyrics and songs on my teacher page so students could listen and
practice at home
-The
organized timeline check-off list
This was my
third Tuneful Tale program this year!
Second grade performed Aesop’s Fables
in December, first grade did Too Much
Noise in March, and third grade just did Why Mosquito’s Buzz in People’s Ears. I have never been one to use
“canned” programs, but must admit these three programs are going to be a
tradition at our school. I look forward to adding on each year to the stage
design and costumes—the children were so proud and there was such a great sense
of accomplishment. There were also ELL and ADAPTS students that were part of
the program and this was a special moment for them, their teachers, and their
parents. All the parents were very thrilled and delighted. There was most certainly
a lot of positive “buzz”.
I would
highly recommend all three Tuneful Tales
and hope they write some more!
___________________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment