Jingle Bells Video

http://youtu.be/_WVJz-zinS4

Here it is! Hooray~

Last Lesson of the Year!

Hello! It's been awhile! Today we had our last lesson of the year! We recorded Jingle Bells so that the kids could hear where they are at in terms of progress for this year. Jingle Bells was a bit shaky, but we plan to keep working on it when sessions start up again after Winter Break. We hope to revisit the video in the future to see how much the kids have improved. It has been such a pleasure working with them and they have come so far considering that they learned a whole entire song with no prior musical background and no experience on their instruments. We are so proud of the amount of improvement for each of the kids in the one and a half months we've been teaching them!

-Jessica

Working on Jingle Bells!/Google Day

Yesterday, Jessica and I planned out out today's lesson plan. It wasn't as complicated as last times because we already knew what we wanted to do with our kids and have already started to work more independently with our own kids lately. So today we corrected their homework that we gave them last time before the Thanksgiving break and gave them another little quiz on note names! (Which they did wonderfully on!)

I was surprised to hear than both my clarinet students had practiced A LOT over the break and had improved on their tone quality without me even nagging them to! (WAY LESS SQUEAKING!!!) So after teaching a few more notes (A, G, and F) we started working on the first few measures of the Jingle Bells in the Red Book. They were both very excited to start a song that they knew and worked very diligently for the whole lesson. Then I assigned them homework to know the very first line of the song well for next time! At the rate we are going, we should get the song down in no time!

-Sammy

Lesson Day 4/Google Day 5~

Hello! Long time no talk! Today, Sammy and I gave our 4th lesson! Who knew a month could pass by so quickly? Yesterday, during the Google Day, Sammy and I planned what we were going to do for our lesson today. We made a quiz for the kids to make sure they didn't forget the notes that they learned last class: FACE and EGBDF. When we presented them with the quiz, we were thrilled that they did not forget and that they could comprehend everything. Yesterday during the Google Day, we also finalized the piece that we are going to play: Jingle Bells! The kids were so excited when we told them! In the beginning of the lesson, we briefly reviewed rhythms and got straight to playing, as there was lots to do! Sammy and I started out by clapping the rhythm with the kids and then breaking off into our respective groups to learn the notes. I successfully taught the flutes the first 3 notes out of the 5 total notes in the song. Next class, we will learn the last two notes and will be able to play the whole piece! We are so excited!

-Jessica Lee

Second Lesson/Google Day

Wednesday we had our second lesson with the kids. So far, we have been using the standardized "Red Book" with the kids and I have taught my kids three notes already. Then I assigned the very first page as homework.

For our Google day I ordered a music theory book for myself but I brought it to class thinking there was a lot of good material we could teach the kids from the very beginning of the book. So we made a lesson plan and put "FACE" and "Every Good Boy Deserve Fudge" with a fun quiz at the end of the class (fun because we were thinking of getting them little prizes if they answer) Jessica and I have been finding that it is more difficult keeping the lessons educational, but not boring them at the same time. But using our Google day as a planning session, I think we have next week's lesson perfected!

-Samantha Wong

Lesson Day 2/Google Day 4!

Hi everyone! This past Wednesday (11/7/12), Sammy and I had our second lesson! We explained the treble clef, measure, time signature, whole notes, whole rests, and even taught them how to play a couple of notes! We wrote all of the definitions on the white board and went through each of them. We started by teaching them about the treble clef and measures. We then moved on to whole notes. We explained that in 4/4 time, one whole note consisted of 4 beats per measure. To help the kids better understand it, Sammy helped them clap the rhythms while I said "1, 2, 3, 4" out loud. For the last 15 minutes or so, we got out our instruments and divided up the flutes and clarinets. I taught the flutes how to play B flat. We gave them a small homework assignment and are excited to meet them again next week!

Today (11/9/12) was our 4th Google Day! Sammy and I realized how difficult planning lessons were, so we decided to use this time to create a schedule! We put together our whole lesson plan for the next lesson and made sure to go into detail so that we would not be overwhelmed during the actual lesson. We also found them some homework assignments and wrote out our own in-class practice assignments!

-Jessica Lee

Lessons Day 1

Hello! Sammy and I gave our very first lesson today to the kids at Buckman Elementary School! We had five students total: 2 for me and 3 for Sammy. Because today was an introductory day, we started by teaching them the basics. I taught my 2 students how to put together the parts of the flute, including aligning the headjoint with the keys on the body, etc. Then, I told them to remove the headjoint from the rest of the flute, and taught them how to get noise out of just the headjoint. I was so ecstatic when both of the girls made sound! We then put the flute back together and I showed them where their fingers should be on the flute and how to sit with proper posture. After we were done playing, I taught them how to properly clean the flute and how to put it away safely. Towards the last five minutes of class, Sammy and I reunited and showed the five students metronomes, tuners, etc. Overall, it was a very successful class and we are so excited to keep working with them! With a little bit of practice, all of the students will be able to make beautiful music in no time!

-Jessica Lee

WE ARE OFFICIAL

We had our very first music lesson today!!! 5 kids showed up, 3 of them at first wanting to play the clarinet and 2 of them the flute. After one of the boys couldn't get sound out of the clarinet, he switched to flute and liked it a whole lot better. So in the end, 2 clarinets and 3 flutes!

It was a very good day today. It was mostly just introduction, but we taught them how to set up their instruments, instrument care, and how to make noise on the head piece. All the kids look promising!!

Still one concern is rentals. We have 2 flute players who are now currently renting, but everyone one Jessica and I just emailed asking if it was something the parents were able/willing to do.

-Sammy

Day 3

Tried the high school's instruments! Surprisingly, a majority of them we could use! I also got a few more emails from parents expressing interest in playing the clarinet! So far, all the kids want to play clarinet so we are hoping we can get a few to switch over to flute for Jessica!

-Sammy

Google Day 3!

Sammy and I got the chance to test out some instruments that we were able to rent! Each of us played about for four clarinets and flutes, respectively. We each chose the three instruments that sounded the best! Our lessons start next week so we are very excited!

-Jessica Lee

Finalizing!

As Sammy mentioned in her previous post, we didn't get a chance to play in front of our target audience, which was the fifth graders,, who were supposed to be there today. But, we did finalize our schedule! We decided to start on Oct. 31 so the students interested in the program will have enough time to rent instruments. We can't wait to start!

-Jessica Lee

Oh No!

Today after school, Jessica and I went to Buckman again to promote our program. This time we were suppose to see the choir kids and speak with them after class. But miscommunication occurred about the time we were suppose to arrive and we were told 4:30 when actually their class ended at 3:30! Soooo...we played for the few kids and parents there were left. And a few parents were interested. Yesterday definitely went better than today...But on the plus side! We have finalized our starting date to October 31st and will be continuing our classes until winter break! If we have enough students we may even start up another session after break until March.

Finally!

Like Jessica said in her last post, we finally got the program running! We arranged for today and tomorrow to present out program and see if any of the kids were interested! THEY WERE. So far I've already received 2 emails from parents asking further questions and saying that their children were excited about learning how to play an instrument! (both interested in the clarinet so far :) ) And we have arranged the final time of Wednesdays at 3:25-4:25. This is us from today, the first day of promoting EFM! So excited about tomorrow's presentation

-Sammy

Settling down.

After much deliberation, Sammy and I finally set a schedule with the Buckman Elementary School! We are going to be teaching the students once a week for an hour. Sammy printed out fliers and sign-up sheets so we are looking forward to seeing the students sign up! Today, the two of us went to Buckman and had a chance to see the kids and staff. We talked about our instruments, explained the parts to it (mouthpieces, head joints, etc.) and performed a short duet of the "Star Spangled Banner". We were thrilled to see that the students seemed to be genuinely excited and eager to learn! When we asked them if they had ever seen or heard of our instruments, almost all of their hands shot up in the air. We were so relieved that the kids seemed interested and are looking forward to getting started on the lessons!

-Jessica Lee

Day 2: Figuring Things Out

I never realized just how difficult this Google Project would turn out to be. Jessica and I STILL aren't 100% sure where we can host our program. Since Day 1 there has been countless phone calls between organizations and it seems like everything is proceeding very slowly. But, nonetheless, still excited about what we are trying to do! I got a call from a school saying that they MAY be able to have us and that when asking the kids about it some of them were really interested! I will be calling them again tomorrow to finalize the days we will be able to come and teach, hopefully the slow progress will pick up speed and we will be able to actually teach kids soon!:)

Google Day 2

            For the past couple of weeks, Sammy and I have been reaching out to multiple organizations that we could work through to teach children about music. We remained undecided about whether we were going to teach at Buckman Elementary School in the SUN district because there was already a music program running there. So, Sammy was able to gather some information about another non-profit group created by her clarinet teacher. However, the Buckman Elementary School contacted us today and said that most likely we would be able to teach at their school.
            Today during Class, Sammy and I created a worksheet that we could use to teach the children the basics of music. Because these children have no prior experience or knowledge in music, we started with simple notes and rhythms. The worksheet contained how to read notes through concepts such as FACE and Good Boys Deserve Fudge (G, B, D, F). Also included on the worksheet were explanations for different beats and rhythms. We explained how one hole note equals 4 beats, and one half note has 2 beats, etc.
            Sammy and I are excited to say that we will probably have a definite answer from the SUN district about us teaching by the end of this week. Let's cross our fingers!

-Jessica Lee

Google Day 1

Hello musicians! Welcome to EFM (Educating the Future Musicians). For our Google Project, Sammy and I (Jessica) decided to reach out to underprivileged children in Portland through the SUN community school program and teach the students about music theory. Sammy and I will also be teaching them how to play the clarinet and the flute, respectively. We hope to see bright futures for these children and many young musicians!

                         -Jessica Lee

Day 1: The Birth of Our Program!

Greetings! 

My name is Samantha Wong and my classmate Jessica Lee and I are planning on educating students through the SUN program of Portland, Oregon. Schools Uniting Neighborhoods program offers low-cost, educationally enriching after-school and before-school classes; day camps on many no-school days; community gatherings and social support coordination for struggling students and families. So what we hope to do is start up Clarinet and Flute lessons once a week, after school for absolutely free. This will create the opportunity a lot of the kids wouldn't have gotten before to experience working with, and let alone just being exposed in general, to music. I personally volunteer with the Buckman SUN program and volunteer twice a week after school helping kids with their homework (how we came across the SUN organization.) Since Buckman elementary school has already started their programs for the year and have their schedule already created, we have to see if the other SUN schools who have not yet begun their school year programs would be interested in what we have to offer. There is also the concern of how many students we can accommodate and if we need to think of a rotation system or rent more instruments... Crossing my fingers that they get back with us ASAP and all goes as planned! Jessica and I are both extremely excited for this Google Project! 

-Samantha