Are there any other music teachers out there?

[Allegra]

School is starting for my elementary students in just one week! I was wondering if there are any other classroom music teachers on the forum that would be interested in participating in a music video program we've been doing with our students for two years. We started with two 1st grade groups from two different buildings in our district who were already penpals in their regular classroom. Each class made a music video to their penpal class at the other school twice during the school year. The other music teacher and I coordinated so some of the songs and dances on the video were the same so they could "sing along" and others were different so they could see new music. The following year, our fourth graders created a video of five American folk songs and dances and sent it to several schools around the world. We were disappointed that we didn't get much of a response, but then in the following fall, we discovered that a video had arrived from a school in Kenya that had eight authentic Kenyan songs and dances. At that point, the students who'd made the video were 5th graders and they began writing and communicating with the students from Kenya. The younger children were frilled to get to see the video and learn the songs from Kenya. I was hoping to continue this program this year and maybe get one or two other schools on board. It would be nice if the schools were from a country outside of the US, but it wouldn't be necessary. If anyone on the forum has a school, class, or knows someone who does and would be interested in this project, please PM me and I will give you my contact information.

[lssanjose]

Originally Posted by Allegra

School is starting for my elementary students in just one week! I was wondering if there are any other classroom music teachers on the forum that would be interested in participating in a music video program we've been doing with our students for two years. We started with two 1st grade groups from two different buildings in our district who were already penpals in their regular classroom. Each class made a music video to their penpal class at the other school twice during the school year. The other music teacher and I coordinated so some of the songs and dances on the video were the same so they could "sing along" and others were different so they could see new music. The following year, our fourth graders created a video of five American folk songs and dances and sent it to several schools around the world. We were disappointed that we didn't get much of a response, but then in the following fall, we discovered that a video had arrived from a school in Kenya that had eight authentic Kenyan songs and dances. At that point, the students who'd made the video were 5th graders and they began writing and communicating with the students from Kenya. The younger children were frilled to get to see the video and learn the songs from Kenya. I was hoping to continue this program this year and maybe get one or two other schools on board. It would be nice if the schools were from a country outside of the US, but it wouldn't be necessary. If anyone on the forum has a school, class, or knows someone who does and would be interested in this project, please PM me and I will give you my contact information.

Google ukelenny. He's my brother, a musician/music teacher, in Oakland, CA. He's kind of all over the internet, so he's not hard to miss. Maybe you guys can think of something, which I hope comes true, as your project is admirable.

[Allegra]

Originally Posted by lssanjose

Google ukelenny. He's my brother, a musician/music teacher, in Oakland, CA. He's kind of all over the internet, so he's not hard to miss. Maybe you guys can think of something, which I hope comes true, as your project is admirable.

Thanks. I will look him up!