Post-Session
Notes for
Wyoming
Music Educators Association
Monday,
January 16, 2012
Evanston,
WY
STORYTELLING,
PICTURE BOOKS, LITERATURE AND MUSIC
Thank
you for your enthusiastic participation in our
storytelling/picture
book workshop last Monday.
We know
that there are many folks who worked to make
our
visit possible, and we thank all of you, but we would
like to
give a particular thanks to Pamela Schweigert who
was
quite thoughtful, thorough, gracious and fun to be
with as
she took care of us before and during the conference.
Below
are notes about all the workshop activities
The
post-workshop notes for our Dance/Singing Game workshop are at
http://www.amidonmusic.com/NotesWyomingDanceJan2012.html
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To
get on the Amidon mailing list (notices 2-3 times
a
month on upcoming music teacher workshops,
choral
singing workshops, new publications, and
new
choral arrangements (both treble voice and
SATB),
please send an email to
saying
you would like to be on the Amidon mailing list.
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MEET
OUR BOYS:
Stefan
(with his band ÒThe Sweetback SistersÓ)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btpUPk6ldwE&list=PL106068EE434419C7&index=3
Sam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R19BBsMvwQk
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AMIDONS
SUMMER WEEK-LONG 3-CREDIT COURSE
RICH
TRADITIONS AND NEW CREATIONS: DANCE, SONG, STORYTELLING AND LITERATURE IN THE
MUSIC CLASSROOM
(or
ÒEverything we knowÓ)
We do
this every summer. Our next course
is
Monday
- Friday, July 2 - 6, 2012.
Hartt
Summerterm, West Hartford, CT
general
info:
http://harttweb2.hartford.edu/summer.php
The
foundation of this class is the wealth of songs, dances, singing games, and
folktales that spring from the Anglo American/African American oral traditions.
Each participant will write a song and tell a folktale.
Contact: Dee Hansen * 860-768-4128 * dehansen@hartford.edu
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AMIDONSÕ
SESSION NOTES FOR Wyoming Music Educators Association
Storytelling, Picture
Books, Literature and Music
Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night (p. 2 in handout)
This is on the AmidonsÕ FaerieÕs Gift CD
What great language in this song, right from the
start: ÒHe had many a mile to go this nightÉ..The ducks and the geese are kept
thereinÉ..He grabbed the grey goose by the neck and he flung a duck across his
backÉ..Old Mother Tippertopper jumped out of bed and out of the window she
cocked her head crying, ÒJohn, John, ÉÉThe fox, he said ÒI better flee with my
killÉ.Then the fox and his wife without any strife, they cut up the goose with
a fork and a knifeÉ.Ó If children
get involved in the story of this song they will memorize this great poetry very
quickly. Make up your own story
introduction to this.
This
traditional classic has great language for children. I created a storytelling introduction that, like our other
storytelling song introductions was gleaned from the details of the song
itself. Try creating your own.
Picture
Books Session One
(see Bibliography, pp. 8 - 9 in handout)
Day is Done sing the song with the children
We All Went on a
Safari Mary
Alice played a drum and
read the
book, with all of us echoing the English numbers
and then
the Swahili number.
Somewhere Over the
Rainbow using
recording of Judy Collins
Storytelling
Children
need to hear stories, they need the classic folktales as
a way
to help sort out their emotional lives.
The archetypal
characters
that inhabit folktales: the kings, queens, princes,
princesses,
ogres, giants, witches, wise old women and men,
and
everyman Jacks and Marys are, according to one of
my
storytelling mentors, Donald Davis, all part of our own
inner
selves. When a prince marries a
princess at the end of
a
folktale, Donald Davis goes on, that marriage represents our
male
self marrying our female self; a healthy emotional integration.
There
are depths of meaning of these wonderful folktales that
we will
never fully plumb, but whenever we tell folktales to
children,
it is wonderful to see them uncover endless and
often
surprising new meanings.
FairieÕs
Gift traditional
Irish folktale told by Mary Alice
Here is
a transcription of Mary AliceÕs telling of the
folktale,
including the songs she made up:
http://www.amidonmusic.com/FaeriesGift.pdf
Sayback
Simply have the
children say back any words
or
phrases from the story, all at the same time, like a shower
of
story images.
Thorn
Rosa (p. 3
in handout)
This is
in NEDMÕs ÒJump Jim JoeÓ collection.
You can
tell this as a story, punctuated by the
verses
of the song, or as a singing game, as
we did
it in the workshop and as it is described
in
NEDMÕs ÒJump Jim JoeÓ collection.
Marushka
and the Month Brothers
traditional
Russian folktale told by Peter
Here is
a picture book version of this folktale:
http://www.amazon.ca/Marushka-Month-Brothers-Anna-Vojtech/dp/1558586288
And
here is a summary of PeterÕs version of the story:
http://www.amidonmusic.com/MonthBrothers.pdf
Acting
out stories
Children
do this quite naturally; you just
set it
up and, as much as possible, get out
of the
way. After telling a folktale I
give
them
the homework to retell it aloud,
we
might go through a speed through of
the
story or do a quick group map of the
story
or discuss the story (What was the
funniest/saddest/most
scary/most memorable
moment?) Once they all know the story
well,
you are
the narrator, and maybe also the musician
(guitar,
accordion). Pull the characters
(and
human
props) from the ÔaudienceÕ of children
sitting
in a bunch in front of the ÔstageÕ.
All the
action takes place right in the middle
in
front of the audience. The
ÔactorsÕ speak
loudly
so everyone can hear. If they
forget
what
happens next you can feed them a line
as the
narrator: ÒAnd then Arthur asked Sir
Gromer
what the riddle was.Ó
You can
use this method to create a musical performance
with
added instrumental music, songs and dancing, or
just do
it once and leave it at that.
Tree
Song (p. 3
in handout)
in
NEDMÕs Down in the Valley collection
I
introduced this with a story that I made up. Elements
of the
story came from this singing game, the singing
game
ÔRoger is DeadÕ (NEDMÕs Down in the Valley)
and the
traditional song ÔChiney DollÕ (on our
ÔSong
in My HeartÕ CD).
Lorraine
Hammond, who composed this wonderful singing
game,
is a songwriter and musician, and one of the best known
Appalachian
dulcimer players in the country.
She is in the
greater
Boston area. The piano arrangement
on the CD
is
PeterÕs and is available as a childrenÕs choir piece for
young
singers. We find this to be a
calming, centering
dance,
both for the children and for ourselves.
Owl and
the Pussycat in
the handout
on the
AmidonsÕ FaerieÕs
Gift CD
Introducing
a song with a story is a great way
to engage
the children more deeply in the experience
of the
song. Watch out! TheyÕll ask you
for the story
every
time.
Picture
Books Session Two
(see Bibliography, pp. 8 - 9 in handout)
I Miss You Every Day
Goes great with the
Woodie Guthrie Song
ÒMail Myself to YouÓ (on the AmidonsÕ
ÒFaerieÕs GiftÓ
CD).
First Strawberries
Works perfectly with Carlos
Nakai flute music.
Love Me Tender Picture book you can sing with.
What a
brilliant idea, to make this about a father
and his daughter.
Wangari
Maathai and the Trees of Kenya
by Donna Jo Napoli , illustrated by Kadir Nelson, Simon & Schuster books for
young readers
Music
from Mickey HartÕs album ÒPlanet DrumÓ: tracks: ÒMysterious IslandÓ and
ÒBonesÓ.
We had
you act this out as Pamela Schweigert read the text
from
the picture book.
Wangari
Maathai, Kenyan environmental and political activist, founder
of the
Green Belt Movement, and Nobel Peace Prize winner, died
last
autumn. Here is a Youtube of Peter
conducting the choir for
the
Wangari Maathai memorial service at the Cathedral of St. John
the
Divine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVSaei6XD5o
Chiney
Doll (p. 5
in the handout)
We
showed you the picture book and Peter told a bit
of the
story/song. Then we played a clip
of our then
2-year-old
son Sam not willing to sing the song until
he had
told the story. He sort of grunted
through the
story,
not because he did not remember it; he remembered
it
perfectly well. The effort was in
transforming the
images
in his mind into language.
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Your
homework is simple: tell stories to your students!
Best,
Peter
and Mary Alice Amidon
amidonpeter@gmail.com
http://www.amidonmusic.com