My 4th grade students have been learning this year about how music is universal. We talk about music as a career, we draw connections to science and technology, but the thirty minutes a week we have is not enough. Help us reinforce that learning with a day of science and performance.
My students attend a public elementary school in Washington State.
Many of my students are below the poverty line with approximately 14% living without homes. We were lucky to receive a special grant which provides all of our students with lunch and breakfast every day. Budget constraints mean that our school does not have a lot of money for special trips with our kids and some of these unique learning experiences. We know that most of the parents can afford to send their students to one trip, but probably not two in one day as we are planning here.
Having returned to this school from last year I can continue see how wonderful these kids are and how much they want to succeed and to do well. They are dedicated musicians, captivated and interested learners, and try hard to perform as professionals in the classroom and in the rest of the school.
My Project
This year my 4th grade students will be attending the Link-Up performance: a concert where they will learn parts for singing and for the recorder which they will then perform with their local symphony. As a way to connect music back to the world around them we have been discussing in class how music is math, science, foreign languages, physical endeavor, and completely universal. We have chosen to reinforce that message by taking our kids to the Mobius Science Center to see exhibits on science and technology and to direct their musical minds toward waves, and all the other ways science and music intersect.
At Mobius they will be able to interact with changing harmonic structures, feel sound waves through their teeth, generate beats and rhythms, and even play with the overtone series. This fun and interactive experience, coupled with the discussion in class, shows kids how they can take what they love and turn it into a career and how they can be anything they want.
This trip is a chance to allow my students a means of understanding the connections between different disciplines a little more.
Since we will be traveling straight from the Link-Up concert the connections between science and music should be even more apparent than when we just talk about them in class. They will be able to see more of the possibilities available to them as the strive to be successful as learners, professional or hobbyist musicians, and in their future career choices.
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