Brandon+&+Peter

= **Welcome to Peter And Brandon's Literacy Wiki Subpage** =

Jazz A-B-Z: An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits
by Wynton Marsalis, Illustrated by Paul Rogers http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-ABZ-Collection-Portraits-Print/dp/0763634344/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323970702&sr=1-1 Review by Peter:

This book is an interesting mix of poem book and teacher's aid. This book by Wynton Marsalis is a fairly comprehensive guide to some of the most influential jazz artists of all time. The poems are really well written, and the illustrations b Paul Rogers are very eye catching (they seem to be in more of an art-decco style). Also worth noting, is the sheer amount of jazz artists Marsalis covers. When I read through it, there had to be at least 25 jazz artists he wrote about. Though the language in some of the poems used some more advanced English words, the material is still very accessible to students grade 2 and up (or even younger grade levels if the work is read to the student. As I already stated, this book was written with the teacher in mind! There is a plethora of good resources in the back of the book which give a more detailed history about each of the jazz artists that are covered. Overall, I really enjoy this book. Not only would I use this book with a classroom of younger students, but also with my own children (when the time comes).

Sweet Music in Harlem
by Debbie A. Taylor, Illustrated by Frank Morrison http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Music-Harlem-Debbie-Taylor/dp/1584301651/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323970737&sr=1-1 Review by Brandon:

Sweet Music in Harlem is a book that teaches about community, history and many of the instruments used in a jazz setting. The plot of the story is about a young "jazzman" named C.J who plays a second hand clarinet. His Uncle Click, a trumpet player, is being photographed for a well known magazine. But, before the photographer comes Uncle Click loses his hat. It's up to C.J to visit all the places his Uncle was the day before in order to find it. Those places include a barbershop, a diner and a jazz club. Every place that C.J. visits does not have the hat, the do however have other items that his Uncle forgot about. Eventually, due to the fact that everybody knows Uncle Click and wants a chance to be in the picture, they all come together and take the picture. At the end of the book C.J recieves a new clarinet from his Uncle for his birthday, and inside the box Uncle Click finds his hat. This would be a great book to use in the classroom. Not only does it give instrumental vocabulary (trumpet, melody, clarinet, bass, vibraphone, drums) it also gives common used words that children may not know (scolded, fidgety, headliner, photographer, muttered, waitress, handkerchief, wedged, jazzman). This book also helps teach about having a strong community. Everybody in the book knew and cared about each other. The history lesson is found at the end of the book. The story was inspired by a famous photo taken in 1958. This photo, taken in Harlem, includes many of the jazz greats. If students wanted to know more, or if you wanted to turn this book into a project where students had to do research on a certain jazz genre, group or person, they could easily find a name right in the back of the book. (The photo is provided.)

The Philharmonic Gets Dressed
by Karla Kuskin, Illustrations by Marc Simont http://www.amazon.com/Philharmonic-Dressed-Reading-Rainbow-Books/dp/006443124X Review by Brandon:

The Philharmonic Gets Dressed is an entertaining book that gives a general understanding of how musicians get ready for a concert. The illustrations in the book may be deemed "raunchy" for certain age levels, but they do serve as a good learning tool. Many of the vocabulary words in the book both instrument related and clothing related. i.e. all the instruments in an orchestra and clothes such as leg garters, cummerbund, etc. What's great about this book is how they describe for younger people exactly what males wear, and what females wear in the orchestra. With all the instruments being covered, the book presents each section of the orchestra (brass, woodwind, percussion, strings). To incorporate this as a lesson one could have students look up each of the instruments and give examples of how they are used in an orchestral setting.

Web 2.0 Resources:
From Peter:

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Noteflight is an interesting new development in collaborative online music composition. In essence, it is a version of Finale or Sibelius which is available for free online. Though the functionality in the free account version is rather basic, it works well for simple music compositions (and also allows for students and their teachers to work collaboratively to reach a polished, final musical work. Also, there are several layers of score sharing with this resource. While you can allow your compositions to be open for viewing and editing by anyone registered for the site, for obvious reasons this is not desirable for an educational setting. You can also set security settings in such a way that only people with a link to your composition can edit it. Even if you're not a music ed major, its worth checking out!

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Google docs was one of the first collaborate project sharing web 2.0 resources to be made available to the public. It is the same concept as noteflight, but it is an entire office suite (with most of the controls you would find in expensive office suites such as Microsoft Office). There is a Word Processor, Spreadsheet application, Powerpoint application, and also a drawing app. Overall, this would be a great resource for students to work collaboratively (in real time) on presentations, documents, and other google supported applications.

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Sound cloud is another collaborative sharing tool, but not in the same sense as the above two Web 2.0 resources. With soundcloud, you can upload sound files which you have made in garage band, or mashups that you have created from other pre-recorded material. Once uploaded, people can comment on, "Like", and download/buy your music files. Although, all of this depends on how you want to configure your security and sharing settings. Bottom line, this is a great web 2.0 resource for collaboratively sharing and getting feedback on one's work. Also, it appears to be the "Youtube" of sound files.

From Brandon:

[|www.bomomo.com] Bomomo is a site where you can use the "draw what you feel" type project. I would first show a video or show an example that i've created to the class, so that way they can get an understanding of how it works and what to do. This is also a way for students to share their work with the rest of the class.

[|www.jamstudio.com]

Jam studio is a site that can help students grasp hold of different musical genres, styles and instruments. When teaching a music related topic you have have students create a short song using this website and then add lyrics to it for a presentation to the class. The lyrics can be literacy topic being taught in class.

[|www.ujam.com]

Ujam is almost like jam studio, except here you can actually record with real instruments and make your own songs. Once uploaded, people can comment on, "Like", and download/buy your music files. As a teacher it can also be turned into a collaborative effort between students.

www.liveplasma.com

Arts/Literacy Web resource Hotlinks:
by Peter:

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This link is to a somewhat unorthodox online presentation tool (similar to google docs). While it only does presentations, its a really neat concept. Check it out!

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Even in intermediate and middle school, we sometimes need to cite our sources. This online bibliography and citation builder makes our lives much easier!

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This online resource is a huge database of music leadsheets, made by musicians and for musicians. It would be a very valuable resource in the music classroom, and also a good way of finding lyrics for some songs (as many of the leadsheets also have accompanying words.

by Brandon:

[] - This link will be in connection to "The Philharmonic gets dressed" It gives a sneak peek into what the life of a World famous conductor is like.

[] - This site is in relation to "Sweet Music in Harlem" it serves as a research tool for musicians in the article.

[] - This site gives teachers a framework idea on how to plan projects for classrooms.

[] - An example and inspiration of how to draw what you feel.

[] - This site keeps you up to date on all things related jazz.