Does this sound familiar? A music teacher is asked during Covid to supply individual instruments to hundreds of students at once on a limited budget. It would take the teacher hours to hand make each and every instrument!
This workshop is for you!
Join us Wednesday August 31 from 3-5pm for our final Summer Show + Tell Workshop, "Make Your Own Music (Supply Kit)" with Michaela Bateman, Music Programs Manager for Chicago based arts education non-profit Changing Worlds. Registration Fee includes snacks and materials $5. Sign up here.
Bateman will guide teachers, teaching artists, or all other age participants in how to construct a "General Music" supply kit for students K-5th grade. She will give everyday instrument replacement ideas that are "pre-made" and durable to last a long time -- and can be found at home or in the CCRx warehouse for free (or close to it!)
For example, the handouts will feature something like this:
Core Music concept: Steady beat and rhythm
General Music Instrument: Hand Drum
Price: typically $20 each on West Music
CW solution: Basic Plastic Deli container with lid (will show off)
Considerations when looking for your own replacement: light lid for sound buoyancy, material for good hand sanitation and quick drying, thickness and durability for use, size and heaviness for small hands and thumbs
CCRX possible finds: ..... we'll see what our participants create!
You'll get a quick overview defining "General Music" and its core musical concepts, how the concepts translate into classroom instruments/supplies, and then see an example of the music kit she made that achieves all those concepts in a more cost effective way. Some DIY instruments will be displayed and discussed, along with challenges to using them for everyday classroom use (i.e. egg shakers filled with rice or beans that then start rotting). Take some time to roam CCRx to find materials to create our own music kits and 20-30 minutes sharing our kit creations with each other! Ta da!
Michaela Bateman is the Program Manager for General Music and Digital Music at Changing Worlds, a Chicago based arts education non-profit. She is a former conductor for the Chicago Children's Choir, and has taught in choir and general music classrooms all across Chicago and New Mexico as both a teaching artist and a state licensed music educator.
Registration Fee includes snacks and materials $5. Sign up here.