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Teens Explore Classical Music!

February 19th, 2011

Hi! It’s Saturday, February 19, 2011 and time for Music at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Classical Chops

Age Range: 13-19

Classical Chops is a free, online community for young musicians to express themselves while also learning from pros in the business!

Designed by the Creative Kids Education Foundation, the site offers the opportunity to “learn about current classical music trends, music composition, orchestration, famous musician’s history and advice, and communicate about what is happening in musical communities through blogging and video.”

When you get to the site you’ll see some icon images with descriptions. Click on any one to watch a video performance of classical music or an interview with a classical musician, composer, or singer.

Then, use the menu at the top of the page to find out how to participate and share with this online forum including:

*Reporter at Large – Watch video interviews about all things classical music. Then learn how you can create videos and submit them to be reviewed and possibly featured on the site.

*Musician Chops – Watch videos of other musicians playing classical music and upload videos of your own performances to share with visitor to the site.

*Our Favorites – Watch selected videos from YouTube and other parts of the web featuring some of the best classical music performances.

*Composer Chops – Watch video interviews and interactive lessons on music composition.  
 
This site is fairly new. The content is somewhat sparse but promises to be a terrific archive as more teens with classical music chops use and contribute to the site.

Oh! And don’t miss the “Resources” tab at the very top of the home page. It contains links to some great sites where you can learn about orchestration, how to write a song, theory, ear training, music careers, and get free printable sheet music and staff paper. You’ll even find a few resources for music schools and music scholarships.  

Enjoy!

 

Diane Flynn Keith
for ClickSchooling
http://www.ClickSchooling.com

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Online Visual Dictionary

February 16th, 2011

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, February 16, 2011 and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
The Visual Dictionary

Age Range: All (with parental supervision)

This site was recommended on my Unpreschool Yahoo Groups discussion list – but it’s for learners of all ages. 

It offers a free online Visual Dictionary. It’s different from a regular dictionary. Instead of just word definitions, it provides colorful visual images that enhance the meaning of the words and concepts you explore. Concise textual definitions (in three languages) are included, but it’s secondary to the images.

When you get to the site, you’ll see an icon menu of the list of topics that are in The Visual Dictionary. I suggest you click on “List of Topics” on the menu tab because then you can see each topic area with a drop-down list of what it covers as follows:

*Vegetal Biology – See images (with text) that define and describe plant cell structure, structure of a leaf, leaf shapes, types of roots, flower germination, diagram of the stages of mitosis, fruits, vegetables, and much more. 

*Animal Biology – Learn about the structure of a bacterial cell or an amoeba or paramecium, find out about the anatomy of an earthworm, starfish, jellyfish, snake, frog, fish, shark, fly, bee, cricket, spider, bird, bat, cat, dog, deer, gorilla and more.

*Human Biology – Explore cells, muscles, skeletal system, finger nails, parts of a tooth, nervous system, eyes, ears, nasal and oral cavities, digestive system, respiratory system, human heart, reproductive system, and more.

*Music – Discover a wide variety of instruments from around the world including Europe, India, China, Africa, and South America. Get info on percussion, wind, brass, and string instruments. Learn about music notation.

*Transport – Learn all about automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, trains, boats, planes, hot air balloons, and rockets. Get details on engines, air filters, brakes, shock absorbers, tires, and more.  Explore roads and bridges.

*Clothing – Everything you ever wanted to know about clothing and accessories including info on cultural differences in styles. Check out uniforms and costumes too!
 
In addition to the visual images in this dictionary, you’ll also find some videos that promote learning.
 
This is a great reference tool. Just exploring The Visual Dictionary is sure to springboard interest in a wide variety of topics. Bookmark it to return often.

Enjoy!

 

Diane Flynn Keith
for ClickSchooling
http://www.ClickSchooling.com

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Music Theory Lessons & Activities

February 12th, 2011

Hi!  It’s Saturday, February 12, 2011 and time for Music at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
MusicTheory.net

Age Range: 6 and up (with parental guidance; non-readers will need assistance)

At this deceptively simple site you can learn music theory and more for free!  If you have a passion for music or just want to get the hang of it, you’ll enjoy the activities, many of which contain audio clips to enhance learning.

When you get to the site you will see tabs for “Lessons,” “Exercises,” and “Tools.”  Choose the “Exercises” tab to jump right to the activities and quizzes where you can learn and/or test your knowledge about:

  • Notes
  • Key Signatures
  • Generic & Specific Intervals
  • Chords
  • The Keyboard
  • The Fretboard
  • Interval, Scale, & Chord Ear Training

Each exercise can be set to the most basic level or customized to your preferred level.  Take the quizzes to test what you know. For example, try and identify the scales by ear.  If you get too many wrong answers on the quizzes, you can go to the lessons and study to learn more. Then try the quizzes again.

Music students of all ages will enjoy the ”Tools” section that lets you create music pieces and then run an analysis to tell you what you have done.  Fun stuff!

Enjoy!

 

Diane Flynn Keith
for ClickSchooling
http://www.ClickSchooling.com

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Amazing, Engaging Math Videos and More!

January 10th, 2011

Hi!  It’s Monday, January 10, 2011 and time for Math at ClickSchooling!
 
Recommended Website:
Vi Hart

Age Range: All (As always, parents should preview the site to determine suitability of content.)

Vi Hart calls herself a “recreational mathemusician.” She writes and performs music and integrates it with her hobby which is “mathematics with special interests in symmetry, polyhedra, and surreal complexity.”  Her website offers engaging videos that illustrate fascinating ways to think about and use math.

When you get to the site you’ll see a selection of recent posts to her blog. At the time of this review, there is a terrific video that offers a new rendition of a classic Christmas carole called, The 12 Days of Christmath. Don’t miss it! :)

Use the menu on the left side of the screen to explore Vi’s work including:

*Math Doodling: Enjoy a series of delightful videos that emphasize the joy and benefit of doodling in math class.

*Mathematical Food: Slice apples into platonic solids or arrange candy corn into Sierpinski’s Triangle.

*Balloons: Make a tetrahedron with balloons.

*Paper Instruments: Make working musical instruments out of paper including a recorder, didgeridoo, flute, xylophone, and more!

*Music Box: Make a music box with a mobius strips.

*Beadwork: Have fun making hyerbolic beadwork.

You can also listen to Vi’s musical compositions, and read her papers that include:

  • Symmetry and Transformations in the Musical Plane
  • Computational Balloon Twisting: The Theory of Balloon Polyhedra
  • Using Binary Numbers in Music

Vi also offers a weekly podcast called, Storia: Fantastic Fiction and Magical Music. As explained at the website, “Each episode is written, composed, and performed by Vi Hart. Most stories are kid friendly (but check the description).”

And for Harry Potter fans, there are excerpts from Vi’s original classical composition, Harry Potter Septet, that includes seven movements, seven voices, inspired by the seven-book Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling.

NOTE: There is a lot of content on the site, and I was not able to review it all. Because it is not specifically designed for children, AS ALWAYS, parents should preview the site to determine suitability of content for their own kids.

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Symphony Orchestra for Kids

January 8th, 2011

Hi! It’s Saturday, January 8, 2011 and time for Music at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
DSO Kids – Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Age Range: 4–12 (Grades PreK-6)

DSO Kids is the educational music site for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra located in Dallas, Texas. The site offers a wide variety of free music appreciation games and activities. You’ll find an introduction to famous composers and their music, a virtual tour of the symphony hall, lessons that teach you how to build your own instrument, practice tips for playing instruments, and the following interactive games:

•Time Machine – The goal of this game is to correctly place 42 composers into the time period in which they composed their music. Students learn music history and terminology.

*Beethoven’s Baseball – This trivia game is in baseball format where you and your team of five composers try to score the most runs. Each trivia question answered correctly advances the runner on base. Skills taught are musical history and terminology.

•Music Match – This is a memory style game that teaches note and symbol identification. There are three levels; beginner, intermediate and advanced.

•Picture Paint – This game lets you paint different musical objects such as a French horn, banjo, etc. Students learn music vocabulary.

There is also a great teacher resource section on the site that includes a huge database of archived music appreciation lesson plans for grades PreK-6 that you can download and print out for use at home. 

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Open Source Literary Works & Lessons & More (CSAW)

December 1st, 2010

Hi!  It’s Wednesday, December 1st, and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Open Culture

Age Range: All (There’s something for everyone here.)
 
Wow! Wow! Wow! Would you like access to “the best free cultural and educational media on the web”?  Your wish is my command through today’s amazing website. 

OpenCulture.com offers “free, high-quality cultural & educational media for the worldwide lifelong learning community.” You’ll find enriching, intelligent literary and cultural works delivered in a variety of ways to suit every learning style. 

When you get to the website simply use the menu to access a terrific selection of free:

*Audio Books and E-Books – Enjoy fiction and literature, non-fiction, poetry, and get access to an amazing list of audio book podcast websites.

*Online Courses – Take over 250 free courses in Literature, History, Math, Science, Engineering, Economics, Political Science, Philosophy and more.

*Movies – Access free movies online, “intelligent video sites,” “smart YouTube collections,” and university videos.

*Foreign Language Lessons – Learn Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish and more.

You’ll also finding an archive of free resources to learn about Music, Art, Science, Technology, and much, much more!

Developed in 2006, by the Director & Associate Dean of Stanford University’s Continuing Studies Program and some terrific techies, this site is dedicated to “bringing relevant, perspective-changing information to large audiences.”

This is a terrific library of resources that you can use again and again. Bookmark it to return often.  Open Culture earns a ClickSchooling Award (CSAW) for excellence in providing free educational content via the World Wide Web.

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