Archive for the ‘music’ category

Connecting Music & Sports

July 16th, 2022

It’s Saturday, July 16, 2022, and time for Music at ClickSchooling!

ArtsEdge: Touchdown Songs

(www.kennedy-center.org/education/resources-for-educators/classroom-resources/media-and-interactives/media/music/music-and-football/)

Grades 7-12, with parental supervision

This lesson plan from The Kennedy Center ArtsEdge archive examines the connection between music and football.

Audio presentations narrated by composer Tom Hedden thoroughly explain how music and sports are intertwined. Listen online or download as MP3s to listen at your leisure on your computer or portable MP3 listening device.

These 12-15 minute presentations are broken into three parts:

  • Fight Songs – Where did they start and what makes a great song?
  • Half-time Sounds – How has halftime become an American institution and brought us marching band music uniquely American?
  • NFL Film Music – What does it take to write music that makes you think “football”?

Under the videos, there are Comprehension, Critical Thinking, and Reflection areas. Don’t miss the “For Educators” tab near the top.

You don’t have to be a football fan to appreciate this engaging mini-study.

Spanish for Kids!

June 25th, 2022

It’s Saturday, June 25, 2022, and time for Foreign Language at ClickSchooling!

Rockalingua

(rockalingua.com/)

Grades 2-12, with parental supervision

Kids can learn basic Spanish and vocabulary structure with free samples at this commercial website.

While this is a subscription website, there is a load of free content for visitors to use. It appears that this site is geared toward elementary-aged students, but the content can most certainly benefit the older student. When arriving at the website scroll down a bit to review the icons for:

  • Videos
  • Games
  • Songs
  • Worksheets
  • Picture dictionaries

After your selection has been made browse through the page to locate available free content. For example, when we browsed the videos page we found free videos to learn:

  • Greetings/Daily Routines
  • Animals
  • Colors and Numbers
  • Parts of the Body
  • Family Members
  • Seasons
  • Rooms of the House

Games included learning colors, numbers, parts of the body, and rooms of the house. There were loads of free songs with downloadable lyrics and images. Worksheet options included numbers and colors, animals, rooms of the house, transportation, parts of the body, and more. And don’t leave this site without checking out their blog for loads of teaching ideas.

The colorful images, witty songs and music, and fun games will make this site a great supplement to any Spanish language program.

Music Playlist of Colonial and Revolutionary America

June 18th, 2022

It’s Saturday, June 18, 2022, and time for Music at ClickSchooling!

YouTube: Music of Colonial and Revolutionary America

(https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp35KhnpWUYVQoTyKeE6n1fYE_SaGxYrS)

All grades, with parental supervision

This large YouTube Playlist pulls together an assortment of musical renditions of songs from the colonial and revolutionary times in America.

Many of the videos present the music played with similar instruments traditionally used during the time period and some videos are from a variety of re-enactment fairs or locations.

Because this is a playlist and a selection opens in a new window, once you have watched the video, use the left-hand side list to either return to the playlist page or select another video in the collection. Please be aware that video suggestions under the playlist on the video page may contain content that may not be appropriate for your family, so it may be best to monitor use of this page.

Please also note that because the list currently contains 270 videos and is added to regularly, we were not able to view every video, but the ones we did select were fine and quite pleasant. Parents should always preview any YouTube video prior to allowing children to view them.

This playlist could add a bit of interest to your history studies as well as provide an overview of what colonial American music was like.

Language Learning Made Fun!

May 28th, 2022

It’s Saturday, May 28, 2022, and time for Music at ClickSchooling!

Duolingo

(www.duolingo.com/)

Grades 5-adult, with parental supervision

This free website for language learning uses fun interactive technology to learn and practice a foreign language.

When arriving at the link, select the language you would like to learn. Available languages include:

  • Spanish
  • French
  • German
  • Italian
  • Korean
  • and so many more!

After selecting your language, you are able to choose to begin with “Basics” or take a short placement test if you are already familiar with the language. Interactive lessons include vocabulary, grammar, and more. Be sure to have your sound on. There are hundreds of lessons broken down to focus on specific language skills. You need to complete certain skills to open new skill/lesson levels.

In order for your lessons to be tracked (and to continue very far into the lessons) you will need to create a free profile. Once you have created your profile you can review words learned, practice with flashcards, check your activity on the program, and more. There is a language discussion board available so parents will want to monitor their students if they do not want them to participate in the board. While working through the lessons, students earn lingots, the Duolingo virtual currency. Lingots can be used in the virtual store for things such as a “Heart Refill” which “allows you to regain one heart lost during a lesson”, “Streak Freeze” which allows your activity “streak to remain in place for one full day of inactivity”, and more program-related bonuses.

From the website:

“In a recent independent study, professors from the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of South Carolina found that when using Duolingo for 34 hours, students learn the equivalent of one university semester of language instruction.”

And this program is also available as a free app so you can take learning on the go. Learning a new language can be fun using this website that appeals to different learning methods.

Listen! Historical Recordings from the Library of Congress

May 21st, 2022

It’s Saturday, May 21, 2022, and time for Music at ClickSchooling!

Library of Congress: National Jukebox

(www.loc.gov/collections/national-jukebox/about-this-collection/)

All grades, with parental supervision. NOTE: See warning below.

The Library of Congress provides a “National Jukebox” that makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge.

This exhibit transforms your computer into a gramophone featuring more than 10,000 78rpm disc recordings issued by the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1900 and 1925. You can listen to a broad range of songs including marching band music, novelty tunes, hits from musical theater productions, dance tunes, and opera arias. You’ll also find spoken recordings.

When you get to the site, you’ll see information about the collection and near the bottom of this page you will see the following information:

WARNING: Historical recordings may contain offensive language.

These music selections are presented as part of the record of the past. They are historical documents which reflect the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of people in a very different time period. For that reason, they may contain content that is offensive to users. As always, PARENTS SHOULD PREVIEW THE SITE and supervise all Internet activity.

  • Browse the featured content found here for look at the menu of featured playlists in the left margin which includes:
  • Browse all Recordings – Search by language, target audience, record label, date range, composer, lyricist, performer and genre.
  • Artists – Browse the artists from A-Z. Find recordings by music greats such as opera singer Enrico Caruso, Broadway legends Al Jolson and Fanny Brice, whistling virtuoso Charles Kellogg, composer and band leader John Philip Sousa, and thousands more.
  • Genres – Find a wide selection of genres of music including classical, opera, religious, popular music, blues, ethnic music, humorous songs, etc.

This is an AMAZING musical resource that takes time to explore. Bookmark it to return often.

Learn To Play Drums Today!

April 23rd, 2022

It’s Saturday, April 23, 2022, and time for Music at ClickSchooling!

Doug Kleiber: Learn Drums Now

(www.learndrumsnow.com/the-plan/learn-to-play-drums-in-4-weeks)

Grades 4-12, with parental supervision

Learn how to play drums with the lessons available at this website.

The lesson plans follow the creator’s, Doug Kleiber, methodology he calls H3 (Head, Hands and Heart). The student first practices without using a set of drums to learn to think about the drum beat. The next step has the student practicing the lessons on the drums while playing musical selections for background. Lastly, the focus is on learning to “feel” the music. If your student is young (5-12), Mr. Kleiber provides suggestions for using his lesson plans in the blog post – Teaching Kids to Play Drums.

There are four weeks of lessons in the plan. The topics include:

  • Learn To Play Your First Song
  • Playing with Sticks
  • Learn To Play the Parts of a Song
  • Learn To Play Drum Fills

Lessons are textural but be aware that there are affiliate links to sale sites for music supplies, so as always be sure to check the pages prior to allowing students to visit.

These lessons appear to be a good starting point for your budding musician who is interested in the drums.

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