Garage Band and Flight in Grade 5/6


In February, students were in for a treat! January finished off well with our drumming unit, grade 1/2's telling stories through drum and sound effect, grade 3/4's playing a multitude of games, and grade 5/6's applying their knowledge of new rhythms to create their own jam session in small groups.

This coming month, students in grade 5/6 will connect directly with the Air and Aerodynamics and Flight units in Science as they explore classical music and the connection to birds of flight. They will apply their knowledge of themed musical composition to a piece they will compile on Garage Band. I say good luck to them, and good luck to me! as this the Garage Band program for some reason makes me the most nervous of any.

Don't get me wrong, I have been to my fair share of Garage Band workshops, but with the server issues and student lack of solid technology experience, I have tended to shy away from it. But not anymore!

Let me break down this new musical endeavor a bit more:
  • Students today were exposed to several videos related to birds of flight and artists' interpretations of them. We went through the process of: What do you notice? What questions does it make you ask?
  • The idea is to spark interest in birds and how artists represent them in their work, naturally leading to how we will interpret them in music.
  • I have slowly been collecting classical music CDs from wherever I can get them. The next step is to have them listen to these CDs and see if they can connect with a song that reminds them of birds or flight and have them share it. 
As this is a new format I'm trying of smaller posts rather than the larger finished product, I will update you on how this project is going

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