Arts+Off+Campus+2010

="Jazzy Patterns"=

During the week of May 17th-21st, Wickliffe’s first through fifth grade classes went on an all day field trip called, “Arts Off Campus: 2010.” The field-trip is designed to provide arts experiences that are difficult to reproduce at school. The children are exposed to art forms of Columbus area artists working in their natural arts “habitats.”

This year, our arts habitat was the newly renovated Lincoln Theatre. The space is regularly used by professional artists and is equipped with "top of the line" sound and stage equipment. This same space is used to teach classes in: jazz, music, dance, and theatre.

Our theme for this year was, “Jazzy Patterns.” We used this title because we focused on how "pattern" works within and across the arts and because the music sessions had a jazz focus. Students were exposed to the patterns involved in: recording their own blues song, architectural and design patterns of the theatre, creating African dance patterns in movement with African drums and drum patterns accompanying their dance, and creating percussion patterns while learning about set drumming.

At the LIncoln Theatre, Ms. Heir helped Thiossane West African Dance Institute dancers and drummers move through African dances and information on African traditions and music. This makes sense since the patterns of both rhythm and form found in jazz music sprang from the hearts, rhythms, and songs of African slaves brought to America.

Before the field-trip, during art classes, Ms. Jackson and Ms. Jones looked at patterns and symbols from different cultures. Students focused on Hieroglyphics, the ancient Egyptian picture alphabet, and noticed that the ancient Egyptians did not have as many sounds as we do and that their symbols represented common things from their everyday lives. The students created their own picture alphabet using shapes and symbols. Each fifth grader created a clay sarcophagus with symbol decoration; the third and fourth graders designed a personal symbol including a hieroglyphic border; the first and second graders drew and painted Egyptian cats (honored in old Egypt) and also used hieroglyphics.

At the Lincoln Theatre, Ms. Jackson, along with each class, toured the Lincoln Theatre and noticed how it was decorated in an Egyptian Revival motif. They went on a pattern search where students took a zoomed-in photo of a pattern, found it, and then drew the zoomed out view. Students used scratch art paper to draw and record a favorite symbol or motif in the Theatre; and they learned the history of the Theatre, understanding why the owners chose the Egyptian decoration.

During library time at school, Mr. Stevenson read the book //Jazz on a Saturday Night// by Leo and Diane Dillon, which introduced students to famous jazz musicians including: John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and Ella Fitzgerald. We also listened to music by some of these jazz legends, and we especially liked the "scat singing" by Ella Fitzgerald. During our last trip to the library before Arts Off Campus week, we watched a video describing the renovation of the Lincoln Theater and learned about its history.

At the Jazz Academy (4th floor, connected to the Lincoln Theatre), Mr. Stevenson helped two music educators, Becky Ogden and Cedric Easton, as they led classes through explorations of jazzy patterns featuring percussion. The children especially enjoyed playing the many different kinds of drums and other instruments in the room, and they did a great job of holding increasingly complex rhythmic patterns. The energy in the room was incredible.

In music classes, Mr. Warner and Ms. Deliman listened to blues songs with their classes. Students noticed that the "call and response" pattern used in some African songs was found in the blues, too. They improvised (made up) rhythmic patterns using the keyboards or percussion instruments to fill in the "breaks." They played the 12-Bar Blues chord pattern using the keyboards or bell sets. Once they knew the characteristics of the blues, as a class, they chose a topic then created verses and a melody for their blues song.

At the Jazz Academy, in the Recording Studio, Mr. Warner and Ms. Deliman worked with two sound engineers. Steve Trefnoff and Jim Cantrell helped each class make their blues song sound better. They let each class vote on whether to use a funk, a ballad, or a swing style, to accompany their song. They shared how the sounds and tracks were edited until the song sounds "just right." Then, the children got to watch a high school or college student* improvise another track over the blues song. Usually, the sound engineer and the jazz musician would both share about the role music played in their lives.

Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Boyd, Blues Song .m4a" width="300" height="50" || ===Dr. Eirich's 1st-2nd Graders=== Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Eirich, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" || ===Ms. Giles' 1st-2nd Graders=== Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Giles, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" ||
 * This year, the Columbus area artists included high school or college age students. Class after class got to watch these young jazz musicians recording some improvised music over their blues song. They heard first hand how these jazz students, who were closer to their age, were being successful in the field of music and of what inspired them to get involved with music.Names and days of high school and college students who improvised: Monday, Sam Muccio (Ms Muccio's son) on piano; Tuesday, Rob Dove on tenor saxophone; Wednesday, Dan Griffin (Ms. Reedy's son) on piano; Thursday & Friday, Dan Kolan on trombone and voice.
 * ===Ms. Boyd's 1st-2nd Graders===

Ms. Gill's 1st-2nd Graders
Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Gill, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" || === ===

Ms. Jentgen's 1st-2nd Graders
Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Jentgen, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" || === ===

Ms. Niemeyer's 1st-2nd Graders
Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Niemeyer, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" ||

Ms. Taps' 1st-2nd Graders
Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Taps, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" || === ===

Ms. Walters' 1st-2nd Graders
Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Walters, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" || === ===

Ms. Blair's 3rd-4th Graders
Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Blair, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" || Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Gildersleeve, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" || ===Ms. McCombs' 3rd-4th Graders=== Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="McCombs, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" || ===Ms. Miller's 4th Graders=== Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Miller, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" || Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Nybell, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" || ===Ms. Oberlin's 3rd-4th Graders=== Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Oberlin, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" || ===Ms. Sorin's 3rd-4th Graders=== Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Sorin, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" || Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Glover, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" || ===Ms. Hinkle's 5th Graders=== Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Hinkles, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" || ===Ms. Slater's 5th Graders=== Song Lyrics Song Notation Music (mp3) media type="file" key="Slater, Blues Song.m4a" width="300" height="50" ||
 * ===Ms. Gildersleeve's 3rd-4th Graders===
 * ===Ms. Nybell's 3rd-4th Graders===
 * ===Ms. Glover's 5th Graders===
 * [[image:openning.JPG width="271" height="209" caption="The day began with a welcome, introductions, announcements, & expectations."]] || [[image:lunchmovement.JPG width="283" height="210" caption="During lunch, Ms. Kennedy led us in some movement activities."]] || [[image:reflectionjackson.JPG width="241" height="188" caption="We ended the day with a thinking routine called, "3-2-1.""]] ||