A Better You, A Better Me!

Producing a grade-level musical is no easy task when you have 200 students, 12 teachers and 8 different classrooms working together on the same project. These six songs - A Better You, A Better Me; Expect Respect; Trust is a Must Blues; Fight Fair; I Will Care For You; The CitizenSHIP - have been swimming around in my brain for many months. Next week, I will conduct this show eight times over the course of two days. The performance schedule is grueling, but in the end, this Herculean effort on the part of all of us is worth it. Creating life-long memories in the lives of our children is what it's all about!

I began teaching the music to the students back in January.

Our art teacher finished the set last week and "dressed" the stage for the performances.

My sound technician has spent hours with his meter trying to "dial us in" on the sound board.


It has been a frenetic week of working with props, practicing transitions, delivering lines and remembering lyrics.



"A Better You, A Better Me!" is up and running and we are very excited to present this program next week. The performance schedule is as follows:

Tuesday, June 1 at 6:00 p.m. Phillips, Pinchot, Lopez-Sinclair and Launey
Tuesday, June 1 at 7:30 p.m. Tillis/Smith
Thursday, June 3 at 6:00 p.m. Constande/Cole/Bass/Ciupak
Thursday, June 3 at 7:30 p.m. Evanko/Tsengas

The Chets Creek Recorder Club will perform pre-show music 30 minutes prior to each program.

Please make plans to join us!!

Until next time...

Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb

HAND, HAND, FINGERS, THUMB by Al Perkins is a text I use with my kindergarten classes each year. If read properly, it is filled with rhythmical patterns that can be easily transcribed into rhythmic notation.

Rhythmical books make teaching rhythmic patterns much simpler. When the cadence of the text can be translated into rhythmic notation, it can be read much easier than trying to decode the rhythmic pattern alone.

Take a look at the following picture.

On the board, I have written three patterns. Each of these patterns aligns with one page of text from the book. They are written in random order on the board.

First, I read the text from start to finish. Then I ask the students to play the patterns on the board on their "lap drums." I demonstrate the pattern; then say, "Pattern 1, ready, play" and they tap it out for me. Once they can play it fairly proficiently on their laps, I give each student a hand drum. I re-read the text. Every time I read a page that has a matching pattern on the board, I point to the notation on the board and everyone plays.



Assessment is done at the end of the class. I play the patterns on the board in random order and ask which pattern did I just play? If I have 80% accuracy on the assessment, I am very pleased.

Aural, visual and kinesthetic modalities are all used in this lesson and the students are actually reading simple rhythmic patterns which have now been tied to speech. Aligning the visual cue on the board with the aural cue from the book is good for ear-training. It is Orff instruction at its core.

"hand, hand, fingers, thumb; dum-ditty-dum-ditty dum, dum, dum - Pattern 1, Ready, Play..." Give it a try on your lap drum and see how you do!

Until next time...

Recorder Club and TPC at JIA

Today was an exciting day for The Chets Creek Recorder Club. We took a field trip to Jacksonville International Airport to perform for crowds of golf officianados passing through the airport on their way to the Tournament Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach. The students were very excited to see Paul Azinger (PGA Professional) autographing golf gloves and copies of his new book under the TPC tent.


We have been preparing for this musical adventure for the past eight weeks.

We've been rehearsing after school and working on the art of improvisation in one of our jazz pieces (a new and sometimes challenging musical skill). We showcased four soloists today (a first for us!) and the audience seemed to really enjoy our choreographed number. Have you ever seen "recorder digs?" :)


Waiting for our turn to perform.

Our fan following included moms, dads, grannies, grandpas and a little old lady from South Carolina that made her way over to me at the conclusion of our performance. She wanted me to know that she had driven down to Jacksonville to drop someone off at the airport and had no idea that she would get to enjoy "live" entertainment on her trip! "Marvelous Marvine" even dropped by to lend her support!




Miss Lambros returned to assist me with the trip today and conduct one of the pieces in our program. I am always very grateful when Miss Lambros can show up for the fun!

A big "Thank You!" to Ms. Debbie Jones (Community Relations Administrator at JIA) for believing in us and inviting us back for a command performance! We played there in December as part of the airport's "Holiday Fest" and she is always a most gracious host.

Many thanks to our parents who gave up their morning to help transport kids and equipment. Without their assistance, musically enriching experiences such as this would not be possible.

Until next time...

Cultural Arts Week

Cultural Arts Week showcases THE ARTS using a variety of media including visual arts, dance, performing arts, drama, story-telling, and music. All 1300+ students have a piece of artwork they created on display somewhere in the building.


There are assemblies each day for our students to experience "live" performance on our stage and the week culminates on Friday evening at "Arts Extravaganza" - a two-hour family fun event where you can come and create artwork to take home with you. Visual artists will be on-hand displaying and selling their work and musicians will be on-hand performing throughout the building.

On Monday and Tuesday evening, parents are invited back to school to view the student gallery in the lobby and purchase a framed piece of their child's artwork (Kids Art Fairs, Inc.)


On our stage, "Sugar and Spice" kicked off the week using puppets, pop music and magic tricks to engage the students.


On Tuesday, a percussion duo from the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra performed.


On Wednesday, Glenis Redmond from North Carolina shared the power of poetry with us.


On Thursday, Orisirisi African Folklore shared African drumming and song with our students. This duo performed at EPCOT for many years before taking their program into schools all over the Southeast.






On Friday, Project Listen (the educational outreach program of Riverside Fine Arts) brought Alan Dalton to us to play banjo and share his love of Bluegrass music with us. An impromptu clogging demonstration was also presented by me!!





The week closed out with Arts Extravaganza on Friday evening with Matthew Olsavsky entertaining us on the steel pan drum and a recorder quartet playing old standards and jazz favorites. It was an absolutely incredible week!!


Until next time...

Faculty Fun!!

Today, the Chets Creek Crab Shack opened for business! It is only open one day a year and it is by far, my favorite "faculty fun" thing to do! My youngest son asked me if we really ate crab and I had to tell him, "No - it's fried grouper, but it's just as good!"

The Crab Shack is southern redneck at it's core. We dine on fried fish, cheese grits, cole slaw and rolls. We drink gallons of iced tea and slop up home-made banana puddin' for dessert. We get to go fishin' for a prize. (One of our community business partners provides the gift cards). We listen to country music and cheer every time the next group walks through the door. It is hilarious!

Me and Mrs. Phillips. I gave her that crab hat years ago!

My principal hollers atcha when you walk in..."WELCOME TO THE CHETS CREEK CRAB SHACK, MRS. TAMBURRINO...COME ON IN!!" She's from South Carolina and sounds like it. She slaps that bait bucket in yer face and says, "time to go fishin'!" Today, I won a gift card from Starbucks, but could have won a gift card from WalMart, Target, Office Max, Subway, Ritas, Chick-Fil-A, an iTunes gift card, gummie worms, goldfish crackers or a real-live fish in a fish bowl. The "whale of a prize" was an iPod Nano or an iPod Shuffle!

I think a new tradition was begun today when Mrs. Phillips asked one of our born-and-bred Yankees if she had tried the cheese grits. She said, "No, no way!!" Mrs. Phillips told her that if she would eat a bowl of cheese grits, she would give her a special prize. We all watched and cheered as this poor soul gagged down a bowl of cheese grits, washing every bite down with a gulp of iced tea. (She was told she had to keep them down or she would lose her prize.)


Talk about blind faith...she endured this heckling not knowing what the special prize was going to be! Turns out, Mrs. Phillips offered to trade jobs with her for a day. She gets to be principal while Mrs. Phillips teaches her second grade class. My only regret is that her husband was not there to witness the ordeal.

Until next time...

Spring Spectacular

As I write to you from the mountains of western North Carolina, I am currently experiencing a grown-up version of the "3 R's." No...I am not practicing my reading, writing or my arithmetic. I am resting, relaxing and re-grouping. Spring Break comes at just the right time for a music teacher; right between the "Christmas Crazies" and the "Spring Spectacular!"

Upon my return from Winter Break in January, I began rehearsing the Third Grade Musical (aka Spring Spectacular) at Chets Creek. Several third grade teachers came to me in the fall and felt very strongly that their spring musical should enhance what was being taught in Character Education both in the classroom and by Mrs. Hall, our Character Ed Resource Specialist. I told them I had just the thing...

Several years ago, Roger Emerson and John Jacobson collaborated on a musical for children entitled, "A Better You, A Better Me." In this musical, the song titles reflect one of the Six Pillars of Good Character. Titles such as "Expect Respect," "Trust is a Must Blues," "I Will Care for You," and "The CitizenSHIP" are reflective of the musical as a whole. I began working on the musical while their classroom teachers were preparing the students for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).

This particular musical not only reinforces what it means to be a "good citizen," it also teaches young people how to be men and women of good character - to be honest, to be fair, to show respect to others, to care for one another. Additionally, I am able to provide them with unique performance experiences through various genres of music including rock, country/swing, the blues and the ballad. It is a "win-win" for all parties involved!

Because this is a grade-level production and there are 14 classroom teachers, 1 music teacher, 2-4 art teachers and a sound tech involved in the planning, preparation, and execution over many months, I work with a "play liason" from the team who helps me disseminate information to the group during their team meetings. This has helped streamline our productions over the years and keeps the stress levels to a minimum while we're "in production." It is truly a labor of love for the kids and I greatly appreciate the effort on the part of the classroom teachers, many of whom are not musically trained.

Costumes must be created, choreography must be written, staging and blocking must be thought through, a stage rehearsal schedule must be prepared so that everyone has equal access to the stage and technical rehearsals are a must. It all comes together during the final dress rehearsals and performances on Tuesday, June 1st and Thursday, June 3rd in our school cafeteria.

The "resting, relaxing, and re-grouping" scene could not have come at a more opportune time.

Until next time...

Tools of the Trade

Have you ever wondered what "tools of the trade" a percussionist might carry around with him?
Check this out!


The carrying case is called a "stick bag" and in it, one can find mallets of various shapes, sizes, colors and degrees of hardness; one can also find several varieties of drum sticks (thick, thin, wooden tipped, plastic tipped); and one can find a metal striker, just in case said percussionist is called upon to play the bells. So began Mr. Winslow's final lesson for his Field 1 class with my first-graders last week.

For his third and final lesson, Mr. Winslow was required to teach what is commonly known as a "critical task" - a lesson that the music teacher must teach to cover a particular music standard. We decided that he would plan a lesson covering the Instruments of the Orchestra and focus his attention on the percussion section, since this was his specialty area.


He presented an overview using a PowerPoint presentation which covered the Strings, Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion families of instruments. Then he taught the sub-categories which relate only to the percussion family (wood, metal, shaker, membrane).

He brought an interesting wooden drum with him called a "cajon" and allowed each student to play it. He also brought a ship's bell as an example of a metal and a roto-tom (tunable drum) to demonstrate what happens to the pitch when the membrane is tightened by the turn of a crank. These instruments were very unusual and my students were fascinated by them.

Nolan with the ship's bell


Teaching the lesson

His assessment included a segment devoted to comparing and contrasting the different percussion instruments and placing them in their respective categories. The lesson concluded with a "matching" game to see whether or not the students could correctly label a wood, a metal, a shaker and a membrane and could properly place it in the correct sub-category. My students were thrilled with this hands-on experience and I was very appreciative of Mr. Winslow's willingness to share his expertise with them.

As Spring semester comes to a close at the University of North Florida, we must bid farewell to Mr. Winslow and his highly-specialized content knowledge. Because he is only here six hours a week and is limited in the number of classes he can teach, I have engaged a percussion ensemble from the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra to come to Chets Creek during Cultural Arts Week and bring the larger instruments like the timpani, the concert xylophone, marimba and vibraphone along with them. They will be performing two 30-minute concerts for our entire student body next month. I can't wait!!

Until next time...