Music: Listening for Appreciation

In today’s music class we listened to the following 4 musical excerpts to see how many questions we could answer:

1)     Carnival of the Animals-The Swan

                                     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvh4zEKG2zs

The first video we watched and listened to was the exquisite musical piece “The Swan” and we tried to answer the following questions

 

• Tone colour:
What do you think the two instruments represent?
(The piano represented the gentle rippling waves of water and cello represented the  gliding and fluttering movements of the swan)
Can you describe how they were played?(delicately, exquisitely)

 

• Dynamics:
How would you describe the dynamics of this piece?
(very, very soft but displaying gradations of softness)

 

• Duration:
How can you describe the tempo, rhythms?
(soft tempo, smoothly connected rhythm)

 

2)     In the Hall of the Mountain King - Edvard Grieg

                                          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRpzxKsSEZg

How would you describe the change of each of the 5 musical concepts through this piece?

• Structure- repeated
• Tone Colour-sound source seemed to be from  mainly wind and then string instruments
• Dynamics-getting louder(crescendo)
• Pitch-in and out changing pattern
• Duration- getting faster( accelerando)
 

3)     The Ice Dance – Edward Scissor hands- Danny Elfman

 

                                     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ9-kTrCAuE

• Tone Colour
What is the first instrument heard in this piece? (Harp)
What family of instruments enters next? (Strings)
Why do you think the composer used a “music box” as part of the instrumentation?( to invoke a sense of innocence, childhood, magical fantasy)
What voice range can be heard in the choir? (Soprano)
• Dynamics/ Expressive Qualities
What words would you use to describe this piece?(Haunting, mysterious, fantasy)
What images do you think of when hearing this piece?(trying to capture snowflakes while Ice skating)
Describe the dynamic changes in this piece (both diminuendo and crescendo)


4) Hedwig’s Theme- Harry Potter-John Williams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTZSg2r5XhM&feature=related
 

What is the name of the instrument that plays the main theme the first time?  (Celesta)
What family of instruments take the theme the second time? (Woodwind)
How do the strings make the “sound” of the wind? (by making the sound continuous and fast)


We also read the following work by Roald Dahl in groups

Revolting Rhymes
Excerpt – "Goldilocks and the Three Bears"

---

"This famous wicked little tale
Should never have been put on sale
It is a mystery to me
Why loving parents cannot see
That this is actually a book
About a brazen little crook..."
"...Now just imagine how you'd feel
If you had cooked a lovely meal,
Delicious porridge, steaming hot,
Fresh coffee in the coffee pot,
With maybe toast and marmalade,
The table beautifully laid,
One place for you and one for dad,
Another for your little lad.
Then dad cries, 'Golly–gosh! Gee whizz!
'Oh cripes! How hot this porridge is!
'Let's take a walk along the street
'Until it's cool enough to eat.'
He adds, 'An early morning stroll
'Is good for people on the whole.
'It makes your appetite improve
'It also helps your bowels move.'
No proper wife would dare to question
Such a sensible suggestion,
Above all not at breakfast–time
When men are seldom at their prime.
No sooner are you down the road
Than Goldilocks, that little toad
That nosey thieving little louse,
Comes sneaking in your empty house...."
"...(Here comes the next catastrophe.)
Most educated people choose
To rid themselves of socks and shoes
Before they clamber into bed.
But Goldie didn't give a shred.
Her filthy shoes were thick with grime,
And mud and mush and slush and slime.
Worse still, upon the heel of one
Was something that a dog had done.
I say once more, what would you think
If all this horrid dirt and stink
Was smeared upon your eiderdown
By this revolting little clown?
(The famous story has no clues
To show the girl removed her shoes.)
Oh, what a tale of crime on crime!
Let's check it for a second time.
Crime One, the prosecution's case:
She breaks and enters someone's place.
Crime Two, the prosecutor notes:
She steals a bowl of porridge oats.
Crime Three: She breaks a precious chair
Belonging to the Baby Bear.
Crime Four: She smears each spotless sheet
With filthy messes from her feet.
A judge would say without a blink,
'Ten years hard labour in the clink!'
But in the book, as you will see,
The little beast gets off scot–free,
While tiny children near and far
Shout 'Goody–good! Hooray! Hurrah!'
'Poor darling Goldilocks!' they say,
'Thank goodness that she got away!'
Myself, I think I'd rather send
Young Goldie to a sticky end.
'Oh daddy!' cried the Baby Bear,
'My porridge gone! It isn't fair!'
'Then go upstairs,' the Big Bear said,
'Your porridge is upon the bed.
'But as it's inside mademoiselle,
'You'll have to eat her up as well."

Resources

The following resources can be a starting point to gather musical lesson ideas and play with music
http://www.themusicinteractive.com/TMI/The_Music_Interactive_-_Welcome.html
http://wrightstuffmusic.com/
Audacity- Technical resource for recording, cutting tracks and sticking them together.
Ipad musical applications( Finger stomp, Singing fingers, Piano, Garage band (guitar))


References

Revolting Rhymes (1996) Retrieved from http://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/revogoldi.php

Dance: Exploring elements of dance through stimuli

Elements of dance

Space – where, time – when, dynamics – how, action – what, relationships – who, structure – form

Today we started our lecture by analysing video of performances from Quantum Leaps – an NSW DEC Resource: inter-relatedness of the Arts & other KLAs with terminology

The Painting Dance – Kellie Van Sebille

This composition suited for ES1- S1 was a very simple and beautiful portrayal of painting the butterfly, with the dancer going through movements of putting on a smock, deciding what to paint (here butterfly),choosing the colours to paint the butterfly with etc. This is a beautiful dance sequence for analysis that older children can use to explore how the elements were used to convey the idea, the factors that were disliked and liked, what kind of changes can be made to the composition to make it more likeable etc.

Stowaways – Phillipe Genty

This was another composition proposed for S1 students to explore the concept “under the sea”. It was discussed on the basis of following questions-

What was the quality of the female dancer’s movements?

What shapes were used?

How was space used?

What body parts were used?

How does it make you feel?
What do you think it is about?

Sample resources

Next, we discussed about various resources that can be used for dance lessons and ideas like the following and web applications like you tube, nings, face book and twitter(for older students) to name a few.

Aboriginal dance theatre, Redfern

AUSDANCE

Bangarra dance company, Walsh Bay

DEPA

Doonooch dances, Nowra

Mary Tankard’s Australian dance theatre, Adelaide

National Aboriginal and Islander skill development association, Dance company, The Rocks.

Resident performing artist at the Art Gallery of New South Wales

Thullii Dreamtime Performers

Web: social & professional networking:  Face book, twitter, nings, you tube, tag galaxy

Scootle: Scootle provides access to more than 8,000 digital curriculum resources from The Le@rning Federation.

Everybody Dance Now, CEO, Sydney

Quantum Leaps, NSW Department of Education and Training

Cool Cats Resources, Bushfire Press

BOS, Catholic Education Office

Other teachers, students

Stimuli inspired dance compositions

 

Visual stimuli- a pregnant woman sculpture

 

 

In the workshop we explored the idea of composing on the basis of sensory stimuli like visual (photos, statues etc), auditory (sound based), kinaesthetic (movement based), tactile (touch/feel based, eg sharp, stretchy) and ideational (based on ideas from narratives).

 

Our team were given an object and we had to explore it ‘unseen’ with our sense of touch. We came up with a composition called “Prickly pedagogy’ as the object we sensed had spikes in it. After performing we discovered that the object was a spiky coral. Another group was given a book “Henry and Amy” as their stimulus (taking ideas from the narrative) for composing. The characters Henry and Amy, have different personalities but comes together in friendship.Yet another group was given a visual stimulus–a sculpture of pregnant woman.

 

All the groups came up with a unique composition based on their stimulus. It was beautiful to watch.

Ideas for teaching

Using stimuli to explore the elements of dance-This is a concept that offers a lot of scope for mathematical exploration of shapes, narratives in English and analysing issues in HSIE etc.

Structure of an ideal dance lesson

• Warm up (15 % of lesson time)
   chain tag, huggie 3, loco motor travel(will allow to utilise elements), follow the  leader
• Improvisation (20%)
  exploring ideas, movements etc
• Development(50 % )
   composing (focus on what you want students to achieve)
• Reflecting (15%)
   Sharing ,feedback

 

As per research collaborative dance opportunities provide a means for students to break from stereotypical ways of looking at themselves and their world (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.37) which is what we want to achieve through education and that is a valid excuse (if you ever need one) for utilising dance opportunities in a classroom.

 

References

Gibson, R., & Ewing, R. (2011). Transforming the curriculum through the arts. Palgrave MacMillan: Melbourne

 

 

Music: Organising Sound

Today’s music class was on organising sound. It started off, with us hearing the “Rainforest” by B’ttuta.  We closed our eyes and tried to conjure the pictures that were painted in our minds with the music. Surprisingly, the picture I got in my mind was of the rains and the forests. I have never tried this exercise before and was astonished by the ease with which the music made me think of the forests and the rain.

This is an excellent exercise for the children to learn about the power of music to evoke our imagination and senses. For the first time since our music classes started, I found myself enthusing about using music in my classroom to engage my students in learning various topics. Students can listen to the music a few times to familiarise themselves with it and make a clearer picture in their minds. As an extension to this activity, students can be asked to listen to the music to try and name the various musical instruments that are used in it. Students can try to understand how effectively certain types of sound can summon certain kind of images, memories and feelings to our mind. After multiple listening, as part of this exercise, students can be asked to write a story or paint a picture that comes to mind based on the music.

Soundscapes- Creating story with sounds

Another fascinating topic that was covered today was the concept of creating stories with sounds. The following diagram tells the story of journey in a train (work sample done with the theme ‘Transport’: Stage 1) with a beginning and end with 4 or 5 interesting events in between. Each of these events, the travelling sound and the motion of the train can be accompanied by a sound. Starting from the station (whistle), train travels, through a railway crossing (triangle), over a bridge with birds flying above (two different notes on a xylophone, past a grazing cow (cow bell), up the hill and down the hill (using xylophone), until it ends at a station (whistle).

 

                                                        Soundscape of a train Journey

Students can be asked to create their own story with a beginning and end, with events in between. They can illustrate their story as above, and then add sounds that can invoke the image in the illustration. This activity can be a fun way for students to explore various instruments as there are no wrong choices they can make with the sound, just more apt choices of instruments to make sound.
 

 

Soundscape of an ocean environment

The above diagram is an alternative to the traditional musical notation that can be used to engage children. The waves can be represented by a continuous sound, star fish a dainty, radiant sound like the one made by a triangle, the tentacle movement of octopus can be depicted using a tambourine etc.
The soundscape our team created today was about “Getting caught in the rain”. It depicted the story of a person walking home in the evening in a city. Soon the rain starts falling (first gently then pick up the tempo), and thunder strikes, he takes shelter in a café, waiting there until the storm abate before leaving the café. We captured the sounds of the walk(tambour), traffic in the city(horn, oral sounds), rush of feet to escape the rain (tambour), rain, thunder(cymbals, big drum),café door entrance (finger cymbal), café murmur and chat(maraca), clinking of cutlery(triangle) etc to tell our story.

Image: ‘Getting caught in the rain’ soundscape

Music in literature

Next we explored the possibility of using music in literature through a story book Three Billy goats gruff. We read the book and thought about the various sound effects we could add to the movements and actions of the characters. (Eg.3 billy goats hoof beats by using 3 different sizes of the drum or 2 tone wooden block, paper crinkling to capture the sounds of goats chewing etc.)

We also looked at the possibilities of exploring beat and rhythm through rap. This is what we came up with :

Sitting in music class trying to write a rap
Thinking that we’re clever and this should be a snap
We know that we can sound just as good as the herd
But it is just so tough tryin’ to find the right word

So, today’s lesson (my favourite lesson so far) was full of possibilities that I could use in a classroom and the definite potential of music in engaging with various KLA’s .

 

Dance: How do students learn through Dance?

Various types of learning through dance

Today in the lecture we discussed the various types of learning achieved through dance

• Cognitive learning (Dance contributes to the development of thinking skills – perception, creativity, logical thinking, metaphoric thinking, question formation, decision making, critical thinking, concept formation and memory)

• Sensory learning (Students focus on the use of their senses to develop their expression and imagination)

• Physical learning (Dance is active. Students develop physical skills and learn techniques which require practice and concentration)

• Social learning (Students learn to work cooperatively in groups through dance and study the role of dance in different social and cultural contexts)

• Aesthetic learning (Students learn to use aesthetic values to discriminate, select and respond to and through dance experiences)

Developing a crack Ad

Today in dance workshop we looked at composing an advertisement adopting inspiration from the movements and ideas in a visual stimulus. We started off with a ‘Chain-Tag’ exercise to warm up and to get us into a collaborative mode as our lesson would utilise these collaborative skills to compose and perform together. We were given a photograph of an Airplane and we had to come up with a 30 second Ad show casing the product.
  

 

 

The entire composition was analysed based on the following questions:

 

• Was the product clearly identifiable?

• What was the ‘money shot’ that sold the idea?
• How was the catch phrase delivered?
• How can you describe the way in which the choreography was manipulated?
• How did the process of construction evolve?
• How was the composition implemented in the classroom?

 

Our team of 5 collaborated very well in coming up with the composition. An initial idea put forth would be modified or added on to by the team. We went back to the movements shown in a video clip which was one of the inspirations for the composition and incorporated it to emphasise out catch phrase “There is no comfort like Jet Star comfort” .This catch phrase was the main feature of the money shot. I found this a lot more engaging because we had concrete idea and clear criteria with which to shape the composition.

Ideas for teaching

I can visualise myself taking this or a similar lesson in a classroom where I can give my students a product/theme/ idea and ask them to come up with something meaningful to explain it. Students can gain from this lesson if they are familiar with the concept they are expected to tackle ( like about airplanes), and are given explicit instructions to scaffold the process.

Things to look for (Rubric from the foundation statements)

• Intent: meaning and purpose (How does the dance work?, Role of creator/performer)
• Elements: space, time, dynamics, action, relationship, structure
• Performance Quality: expression, communication, body awareness, variation of dynamics,

   awareness of concept

• Complex movement skills: techniques, sequencing, space, execution

 

 

Music: Elements

Today we explored the various musical components:

1. Duration: involves beat (underlying pulse of the music), rhythm (patterns of long, short sounds &  silences), tempo (the speed of the pulse/beat that can vary in a piece of music: fast, slow and  changing), metre (grouping of beats usually into multiples of 2’s or 3’s expressed as a time signature)
2.  Structure: involves the way a piece of music is put together or organised: small and large  structures.  
3.  Pitch: involves the relative highness or lowness of sound (direction of pitch movement can be up, down or same)
4.  Tone colour/Timbre (pronounced ‘tambre’): involves the quality of sound which is determined by source material for the sound (i.e. what is it made of? (wood, metal, string, skin, electronic, voice ) sound production (How is the sound made? blowing, hitting, plucking, shaking, scraping) and single or combined sources of sound (textures)
5. Dynamics: involves volume of sound (degree of loudness or softness)

Various considerations when choosing music for children

• Fun factor

• Range of music (voice range suitability)

• Age appropriateness(eg: lyrics)

• Level of difficulty involved(eg. skills required)
 

What should you look for in children while singing?
 

• Pitch accuracy

• Rhythm

• Listening skills

• Articulation(role of lips, teeth and tongue in clear expression of consonants, practice tongue

  twisters)

• Breathing (holding and releasing breath)

• Posture (Straight, eyes level)

• Tone quality( shape of mouth)

• Voice range
 

In the music workshop today we sang the following songs and it was not as bad as I feared. I was able to sing along.

Resources

ABC song books, Take off with Jazz with Davis Splitter(Lesson plans), Jozz beat (published music)

Dance: Elements of Dance

What are the elements of dance?

Learning in dance involves students using and understanding the elements of dance. (Creative Arts K – 6 Syllabus, p.17)

Today in the lecture we looked at the elements of dance

• Space – (This element looks at Shapes: Is it symmetrical & asymmetrical?/ Levels: Is it high, medium, low?/Dimension: forwards, backwards, up, down, left, right /Pathways: curved, linear, zigzag /Personal or General/Environment)
• Time – (This element looks at Tempo /Metric pattern/Duration/Rhythm/Beat)
• Dynamics – (This element looks at Movement quality/Energy/Force/Effort actions: Is it strong, sudden, sustained or percussive?)
• Action –(This element looks at Shape/Style)
• Relationships – (This element looks at relationships within a Solo/Duet/Small group/ Ensemble/ Whole class/prop )
• Structure – (This element looks at form and unity within the dance composition)

Focus Questions

 

We also looked at the following focus questions that can be used as an appreciation assessment of the learner’s understanding of the dance elements.
.
• Identify 3 symmetrical shapes in the dance.
• Identify 3 interesting and original asymmetrical shapes in the dance.
• Are any of these shapes repeated throughout the dance?
• Have any of these shapes been varied throughout the dance?
• How does the dancer use space (direction, level, and dimension) in the dance?
• How do the dancer’s movements relate to the beat and rhythm of the music?
• How would you describe the way (quality of movement) in which the dancer performs the actions?
• What were the interesting shapes?
• What concepts could we add to the movements?

 

The following video was put together by our tutor based on our work of the day.

 

 

References

Board of Studies NSW. (2006). Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus. NSW: Board of Studies NSW.

Music in Education

 

Everybody can sing, if you find out how and practise- anonymous

What is music?

Music is sound organised over time and space that is dependent on the recipient’s ears for perception (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.110).

What are the beneficial aspects of the music (Gulbenkian Report as cited in Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p. 112-113)?

As per Gulbenkian Report (1982) music contributes to

• Developing the full variety of children’s intelligence
Music can be used to express ideas, moods and feelings. So by using children can utilise additional avenues of learning.
• Developing capacity for creative thoughts and action
As music involves experimenting with sounds and rhythms, it stimulates creativity.
• The education of feeling and sensibility
Music has the power to affect moods and emotions. Soft music relaxes while fast music stimulates and excite.
• The exploration of values
Specific cultural/societal values and norms can be revealed through music.
• Understanding of cultural change and difference
Since each culture and ethnic group has its own unique music, study of music will encourage appreciation and respect for diversity.
• Developing physical and perceptual skills
Teachers often use music for entertainment- fast tempo to alert students to an activity that require high physical energy , while slow music is used to settle a class

Today we started our music lessons. We were introduced to a lot of musical instruments, some of which I’ve never seen or heard of. This session introduced me to the musical notations for first time. I tried my hand at learning how to read music for the first time as well. I played a metallophone which was my first one as well.  Today was a day of first experiences for me. And I’m thinking of how I can translate these experiences into a classroom. If I had any access to musical instruments at all getting them acquainted to its sounds would be the first lesson I would plan. Failing that we would have to make our own instruments (like coffee beans in a jar, salt in a jar etc.)

We looked at the rationale for including music in the curriculum-Music provides a means for personal expression, creative action, enjoyment and aesthetic pleasure. It stimulates imagination and emotional response. More than words the following video captures the essence of musical pleasure where 3 year old Jonathan is conducting to the 4th movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony.

                                            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0REJ-lCGiKU

 

Musical Skills

• Performing-(singing, playing, moving)
• Listening-(for a purpose-sound awareness, discrimination, memory, sequencing, imagination (no  right or wrong answer)
• Organising sound(composing steps-improvising, imitating, arranging, composing, notating)

Learning in music is most effective when learning experiences in listening, organising sound and performing are integrated and the learning activities are based on needs, interests and developmental levels of the students.

Some good questions to set you track for music appreciation

• Does this piece have any significance for you or remind you of a time/event in your life?
• What effect is this music having on you?
• Can you name the piece/artist/composer?
• Describe any features of the music which you particularly notice (instruments, style, mood)

Integrating music into the curriculum –Ideas for teaching (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.125-126)

Mathematics
Through strategic use of music teachers can improve mathematical skills in measuring, counting (rhythmic songs) ,fractions(can you lower the sound by half?) , time and pattern (using visual symbols to reveal the structure of music).

Literacy
Read, create and explore forms of poetry, rap etc and experiment with the rhythm of words and structure of poem. Experiment with dynamics, pitch, tempo and tone colour to spice up the delivery of the work. Explore the sound effect that can be added to various narratives to enhance the experience of the story telling.

Science
Rainforest- Explore through sounds( Listen to B’ttuta)
Use music to enhance the learning of weather/climate (using instruments to replicate sounds of rain, wind, thunder etc.) and studying and matching the sounds of insects through the use instruments etc., developing soundscapes  of the forest etc. These activities can be altered to the study of a variety of environments.
Forces
Studying forces through the instruments- what kind of force is used to produce sound in an instrument?
Seasons
Vivaldi’s four seasons
Recycling
Using recycles materials to make their own musical instruments and developing soundscapes

HSIE
Studying different cultures through their history of music, cultural festivals etc.

References
Gibson, R., & Ewing, R. (2011). Transforming the curriculum through the arts. Palgrave MacMillan: Melbourne

Dance : Exploring shapes

What is dance?-my version

Our tutor asked us to define what dance is and the answer I have come up with is as follows. To me dance is a way of expressing myself in the chaos in and around my world through expressions and movements, allowing me to losing myself in the moment and  in doing so finding the stillness and silence from within  me thereby discovering  a part of my real self.

What is creative dance?

Creative dance involves using the body to express and enhance inner thoughts and feelings using different techniques and sometimes incorporating aspects of different art forms. It requires the involvement of physical, emotional, intellectual and aesthetical aspects of self (Gibson & Ewing,2011, p.35).

Why creative dance?

It would enable the children to

·       Enjoy creative movement

·       Understand their bodies, feel comfortable with it and confident in their own skin

·       Express ideas and feelings through individual and collaborative movements

·       Apply artistic elements like time, shape, energy and structure to their movement.

-(Gibson & Ewing,p.38)

In today’s tutorial we examined the following videos:

Dance like your ol’ man – Chunky Move, Hyundai car advertisement – Pilobolus dance company, Rock Lobster – school performance. And we went through the following questions to analyse the dance elements in it.

·       How were the elements of Dance used in each piece?

·       What was the style and purpose?

·       How would you describe the quality of the movement of the female dancer?

·       What shapes did the dancers use?

·       What is the intent of the piece?

Today we did warm up exercises( to physically prepare the body and focus the mind on the upcoming lesson) and experimented with concept of musical statues with guided improvisation, an action created from stimulus- with two feet no hands, 2 hands one foot, no hands no feet, and making free letter shapes using the body. This had a focus on the element of SPACE, in particular –shape i.e., shape of the group and the individual dancer. We discussed whether the movements were light and effortless? Or whether it included pushing, swinging, turning or rolling actions?

Ideas for teaching

Taken further the lesson of exploring shapes can be extended to explore geometrical shapes, levels, contrasts etc.

References

Gibson, R., & Ewing, R. (2011). Transforming the curriculum through the arts. Palgrave MacMillan: Melbourne.

 

Drama: Story Telling

In the art of storytelling, the story teller is unconstrained by the narrative text of the book and free to speak directly and spontaneously with the audience and watch for their response (Ewing & Simons, 2004, p.72). Effective oral story telling is reliant on expressive use of voice (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.65).  The non-verbal aspects of storytelling (gesture, facial expression and body language) are also essential for breathing life into a story (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.66).

In the story telling workshop, as a warm up activity we did vocal tennis in pairs where we played with our voice-its tone (angry, cheerful etc.) ,pitch(high ,low), volume(loud, soft) by throwing whatever name of the fruits, vegetables, names of boys and names of girls at our partners that came to our mind. This warm up activity encourage the students to explore the nuances of volume, pitch and tone (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.65). A teacher can structure this activity by giving students categories to choose from and the vocal quality that need to be experimented with.

Image of a selkie

After this we started to experiment with the process of linear story telling (7 parts-orientation or setting which outlines the problem/suggested solution for the problem/what happens next/unexpected scenario/tension(critical moment)/climax/resolution) by developing the story of selkie between the pairs by following the two basic commands ‘advance’ and ‘detail’. One person would start off with the story, and with advance command would go forward  or proceed with the story, but with detail command  would pause with the story and describe whatever was asked to describe like the skin, selkie, their dancing, chest, house, fisherman etc.(eg, fisher man- What did he look like? What was his hair/eye/skin colour? What kind of skin/face/hands did he have? Was he tall/kind faced/bald/handsome/old/young? etc.). By thinking about details, (colour, shape, size, sounds, smells, taste, touch, emotional qualities of a character, atmosphere mood etc) we make our own personal connections with the story.

We made up our own endings for the story. My ending to the story was that the selkie returns to the sea on finding the skin, but comes back to her mortal family with her husband’s apology and promise to never again interfere with her decision to return to the sea to visit with her sisters whenever she felt like it. Victoria recalled some of the story endings that the children came up with in her workshops. One ending I really liked was of the one where the selkie hangs up the skin alongside the jackets and announcing it was going to stay there to use whenever the she felt like it. Another ending I found thought provoking was the one in which the children would find their food all set out on the table like it used to be when they came back from the school every day and find the bed turned down before sleep every night even though they couldn’t see their mother.  Victoria made a remark that in these endings we could see a glimpse of the children’s experiences and I found that to be true. Anything that we express out there in the form of art always reveals a portion of ourselves.

Victoria talked about the importance of developing the oracy skills of children as a means to express themselves rather than bottling their feelings and thoughts which may end up being expressed in a physical manner later on. The development of oracy skills has the potential to be converted to excellent writing skills. This kind of use of drama in the class room exposes the children to different points of view which expands their thinking and imagination.

Tandem story telling

Here we had to recall an anecdote from our childhood and tell it to our partners, who would then own the story by adding/subtracting his/ her own elements to the story. Then we had to get up in front of the class and take turns in retelling the story to the audience convincingly. The audience would then guess whose anecdote it was by filtering the performance through a set of criteria like

• voice-tone/pitch/volume
• gesture
• facial expression
• senses evoked through the portrayal of story by invoking in the audience the images, smell, touch, taste, emotions, responses etc.
• pauses
• development of a relationship between storyteller and listener
• eye contact

To get the children engaged and develop their literacy skills I can see the art of storytelling as a valuable tool in my arsenal. Victoria suggested keeping a file of these named personal stories to use in the lessons in a future term which has the added advantage of capturing the immediate interest of the children and making them feel valued. Combined with still images, sculpting, readers theatre, improvisation etc. this is another strategy we can use to develop the outcomes of various KLA’s.

Ideas for teaching

Story telling can be used as a tool to explore important themes and issues. Various drama strategies can be used to facilitate critical thinking, problem solving and literacy development (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.69). Oral storytelling and subsequent discussions helps the participants to explore their thoughts, perspectives and perceptions through interaction, questioning and interpretation of different perspectives.

References

Ewing,R. & Simons, J.(2004). Beyond the Script-drama in the class room.PETA:Newtown,Australia.
Gibson, R., & Ewing, R. (2011). Transforming the curriculum through the arts. Palgrave MacMillan: Melbourne
Selkie image from Google images

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visual Arts: Art Appreciation

Does art lend me wings to fly?

In and out, in a world of plight

Does art make my heart light?

Does it take me on a flight?

For a feast of senses that sets my imagination alight;

To  a world that swirls with colours,rainbows  and flowers bright.

Today’s class was on learning how to appreciate an artwork through  the four steps of Feldman’s Inquiry method, describing , analysing, interpreting and evaluating. We used it to study an artwork “Self portrait as a dreaming man by Douglas Prince”.

Self portrait as a dreaming man by Douglas Prince,1979

Describing-First we had to look at the photograph and list all the things we could explicitly see in the work. This tends to engage the observer’s attention to really look at all the elements of the image. We looked at the picture and listed the things we could see like a partially submerged naked man, rocks, water, house etc.

 

Questions that can be considered (Mulder-Slater,2011):

• Describe what you see.
• Describe the artist's use of colour. How many colours have been used?
• How has the artist applied the paint?
• Describe the texture.
• Describe the lines in the work

 

Analysing- Then each table group was given the task of describing each of these components. Our group had to describe the expression on the face of the man and we came up with words like” a pale young man with a tranquil expression “. This process involved collecting evidence to make a judgement on what we saw.

 

Questions that can be considered (Mulder-Slater,2011):

• Is your eye drawn to any particular area of the painting?
• Is there an element that stands out in the composition?
• Is the composition balanced?
• Does the work make you think of movement? How does the artist show movement?
• Does the painting look flat or does it give a feeling of depth or space?
• Where might the artist have stood while painting this picture?

Interpreting- This involved asking questions like “why is the man submerged in the water?”, “How did he get there?”, “Did he achieve this end on his own?” or “Was someone else responsible for his state”?  and putting together a story about the picture or discovering the meaning behind the work. We came up with scenarios like he was indulging in a religious baptism, doing water meditation, bomb victim etc. Questions that can be considered (Mulder-Slater,2011):

• What kind of mood or feeling do you get from the painting?
• If you could imagine yourself within the painting, how would you feel?
• What sounds would you hear?
• Why do you think the artist choose this particular subject to paint?

• What part of the landscape, building, person, animal etc. most interested the artist? Why do you think so?

Evaluating – In this last and final step we had to make a qualitative judgement. This involved each person asking questions, did I like it? What did I like about it? Is it giving a valuable message?

 

After this exercise, we looked at the above picture and compared it to the first one, based on various elements such as background, clothing, play on light, setting and so on to find contrasts and similarities.

Claes Oldenburg. Pastry Case, I. 1961¬62.
Enamel paint on nine plaster sculptures in glass showcase.
20 3/4 x 30 1/8 x 14 3/4". The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection. ©Claes Oldenburg
 

Next we had to analyse an artwork by Claes Oldenburg “ The Pastry case” (given above) using the following Art map compass (courtesy of the Ministry of Education, Victoria).

Feldman's Art Map Compass for artistic criticism

We had to write something about the art work answering the questions in the compass and arranging our answers based on the alphabet A..Z. Eg. A-assemblage, B-banana split, C-Claes Oldenburg, D-desert, E- everyday  objects, F- fake food etc.

 

This art appreciation workshop has given me a new perspective of looking at artworks and given me confidence to introduce the same in a classroom.

 

References

Art Map Compass. Art Map: Ministry of Education (Schools Division) Victoria

Mulder-Slater, A.(2011) How to look at art. Retrieved from http://www.kinderart.com/artspeak/artart3.shtml