Morgan+&+Courtney

=Lesson Overview: Practicing and Persistence= Our lesson is geared toward late elementary/early middle school students who are just starting out on a new instrument or are joining a choir for the first time. The main goal is to introduce students to the idea of practicing and not giving up on an instrument or on singing because it is "too hard." The original copy of our lesson plan is attached here:



To expand this lesson, we wanted to incorporate more literacy examples of how practicing is beneficial. We found two books that provide a great launching point for this expansion: //The Bat Boy and his Violin// by Gavin Curtis, and //I, Vivaldi// by Janice Shefelman.

//The Bat Boy and his Violin// by Gavin Curtis
//The Bat Boy and his Violin// is the story of Reginald, an avid violin player, and how his playing impacted the luck of his father's baseball team. The story is set in 1948; the beginning of integration in baseball. Reginald's father is the manager of the Dukes, "the worst team in the Negro National League." This season for the Dukes has been very tough; the best players of the African-American league are leaving to go play with the white teams. Reginald does not care about baseball, and he spends his days practicing his violin. Reginald's Papa is much more concerned with the Dukes's losing streak, and he decides that Reginald would benefit from being the bat boy for the team. Reginald is worried that being bat boy for the team will make his practice time suffer, and that he will not be ready for his recital. A deal with his Papa makes Reginald agree to his Papa's request, and he joins the team for their game against the Buckeyes. Reginald uses every opportunity he can to practice, and he fills the dugout with Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. The Dukes luck began to change, and they stopped losing to the other teams because of Reginald's practicing. For the last game of the season, Reginald's Papa announces that the team is playing the top team in the league, the Monarchs. Despite Reginald's playing, the Dukes lose by one point. Although sad, Reginald's Papa realizes the gift that his son has for playing the violin, and assures Reginald that even a baseball game would not change the fact that he loves his son. The story ends with Reginald's recital for his proud parents and the entire baseball team with their wives.


 * Why We Like It:** We like this book because it is an inspiring story about how music emotionally influences and impacts people. It brings sports and music together into one story and gives a unique view on practicing. This book shows how practicing yields many benefits to the players (for example, beautiful music, an outlet for emotional stress or happiness, and so forth).


 * How We Would Use It:** This book could be used as a follow-up to //Mole music// in the original lesson. The students woul be able to see practicing in action, and they could be introduced to the idea that music benefits the player and the listener. The book could also be used to show how Reginald did not give up when the Dukes lost the final match and did not get discouraged by his father's initial disapproval; both great examples of persistence. This book is an excellent launching point into a discussion about applying the concepts of persistence and practicing to other fields besides music (like sports).

//I, Vivaldi// by Janice Shefelman
//I, Vivaldi// is the story of Antonio Vivaldi's childhood. The book is written as if Vivaldi himself is telling the story. It starts off with the day Vivaldi was born. He almost died because he could not catch a breath. Vivaldi's mother made a vow to God that if Vivaldi survived, then he would become a priest. Vivaldi survived, but his mother's vow would cause a lot of trouble. Since he had breathing troubles, Vivaldi could not run and play with the other boys. Instead, Vivaldi became interested in music. Through lessons his father, Vivaldi learned to play the violin. Every day he practiced, and he got better and better. The young Vivaldi became convinced that God wanted him to become a violinist, not a priest like his mother vowed, which caused a lot of tension between him and his mother. When Vivaldi was seven, his father took him along to one of his rehearsals. At the beautiful Church of San Marco, Vivaldi joined his father in his rehearsal. Vivaldi loved it; he forgot everything but the music. When they finished, the maestro (conductor) tells Vivaldi's father, "Giovanni, you have a most talented soon." Vivaldi makes a vow that music would be his life. The years pass, and now Vivaldi is fifteen and ready to beging studies for priesthood. He and his mother get into a row, in which Vivaldi makes it clear that he would rather die than give up music to become a priest. Vivaldi's father tells him that he must keep his mother's vow, but he could practice after his studies. Vivaldi began his studies, but they did not come first. He composed music and played his violin. Three more years passed. Finally Vivaldi was ordained as "the Red Priest" because of his hair, but he still had music on his mind. His fame as a violinist grew, and music just flowed into his head. Vivaldi makes a "confession" in this book that he once left during a service to go write down the music he had in his head before he forgot it. He said that he could not breathe again until he wrote the music down on paper. When the bishop at the service scolded him, threatening to tell the cardinal, Vivaldi said "Then tell him, Your Excellency, that I do not wish to say Mass again. I wish to make music." The Cardinal excused Vivaldi from saying Mass and gave him the task of teaching violin to orphan girls. Vivaldi was so excited; now he could fully devote his life to music! Not only did he teach violin, he also conducted an orchestra and wrote music for the orphan girls. He says that the girls inspired him to try a new kind of composition that makes musical pictures. This was his famous piece, //The Four Seasons//. The girls gave concerts in the chapels, and people from all over Europe (including kings) came to hear them. Vivaldi's mother and father were so proud of his accomplishments, even if they were not exactly what they expected.


 * Why We Like It:** This book is a great introduction to the composer in a way that is connectable to students. The story is a bit lengthy, but it is written with a lot of "Vivaldi" personality. We also see this book as being a great launching point about culture in Italy at the time and how religion played an important part in Vivaldi's life. This book is a great example of the benefits of practicing, and also how not giving up can get you where you want to go.


 * How We Would Use It:** This book could also be used as a follow-up to //Mole Music// in the original lesson. The students would be able to see a real-life example of how practicing can have long-term benefits. Through Vivaldi, the students would be able to watch his journey from just beginning on the violin up through writing his most famous piece, //The Four Seasons//. The book would have to come with a warniong about not being too close-minded, but the story offers a unique look at practicing.

Hot Links:
1) This link leads to an ArtsEdge article aimed towards students about surviving school chorus. Chorus can be a scary thing if you don’t know what you are doing, and this article gives basic pointers to choir, gives tips and answers to some problems beginning students may worry about (like getting lost in the music and the music is too hard), and introduces some basic musical vocabulary. A useful source to keep beginners motivated! http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/students/features/making-art/surviving-chorus.aspx#Overview

2) This link leads to a podcast about being persistent in promoting yourself in voice acting. A lot of the concepts mentioned in this article can be applied to practicing music and becoming successful in the music field. []

3) The article in this link talks about how persistence is present in every aspect of our lives. If persistence is needed in other subject areas and careers, why not apply it to music? http://miccontrol.com/#/micblogs/persistence-leads-to-success/

4) This link leads to a webquest for students called //Practicing Perfectly Webquest: Discovering the Best Ways to Practice//. It focuses on band practicing (but can be applied elsewhere) and is a discovery of how to practice and how to practice well. Included is a guiding PowerPoint describing the webquest (with links for students to follow for their research), a sample practice log and assessment, and a video of Benjamin Zander's speech on music and passion. []

5) This link is to a website called Just One More Book which has podcasts discussing children’s books. This link in particular is about The Bat Boy and his Violin (described above). []

6) This link is a TED video entitled //Jose Abreu on kids transformed by music// and talks about how a youth orchestra system has transformed thousands of kids' lives in Venezuela. This is a good video for showing perseverance and the story is inspiring. This would be a good video to encourage students to keep at it because they could end up like some of the kids in this video. []

Web 2.0 Tools:
1) __OurStory__: M ake a timeline, collaborate with family and friends. This site allows people to make timelines and share them with selected people. You could have students create their own practicing timelines with photos and captions and share them at the end of the year/semester, or you could have them reflect on the timeline at the end. This can be useful for marking students progress and helpful for students in remembering what they did during the time, like a portfolio is a reflection of everything you learned/have collected. []



2) __Dropbox__: Easy way to store, sync, and, share files online. We have used dropbox before and it is a very handy tool. It’s free to download (or you can use the site and access from other computers) and people can share files with all who are invited to a specific folder. Students could submit practice logs and/or weekly reflections into their own folders by saving them right to the dropbox folder. You (The creator) can create assignments and specific folders for each student or for specific items (a folder for reflections, a folder for practice logs, etc.) It also can be downloaded onto your iPad (if you have one). A great tool! []