Librarians, Take Note!
March is Music in Our Schools Month
Jump on the Band Wagon with your Music Teachers!
The National Association for Music Education suggested ways schools could celebrate Music in Our Schools Month. This is a great opportunity for collaboration, since like the school library, the music department is often considered a special or non-core area (hmmm … how about en-core instead?) Looking at NAfME’s list with collaborator eyes, here are some things you could try in your library:
Start by teaming up with your en-core buddies … your band, chorus and music teachers. Let them know you’re eager to help them promote their events.
Invite parents to visit your library before and after school concerts, musicals or other performances. Students usually have to arrive early on show nights, so give your families a welcoming place to hang out and see all your great resources.
Set up a mobile library in the concert reception area. A cart of books and a few laptops will grab their attention between performances.
Shake things up: Invite music teachers to hold a rehearsal class in your library in the middle of the day.
Prepare a flyer promoting upcoming library events, your MakerSpace or other activities, and insert it in the concert program. Better yet, team up with the art department to have students create it.
Chances are, many of your colleagues played instruments in school. Secure extra instruments from the band room and invite staff to perform a lunchtime concert in the library. Will it sound great? Probably not … but what a great way to encourage community connections!
Turn your MakerSpace into a recording studio. Have band students record :30 and :60 music beds and create a library of original music for powerpoint and video presentations.
Collaborate with the Art teacher (another en-core buddy) to sponsor a poster or digital meme contest to promote the MIOSM 2017 theme, “Power in Me”.
Collaborate with your social studies teachers to create cross-curricular research on the history of musical styles (Renaissance, The Jazz Age, Woodstock, etc.)
And if you have Media Library ...
- During those long periods before or after concerts, show parents how to download the OverDrive app and access your digital book collection.
- Set up a listening station open to Soundzabound. Have students create playlists around a literary theme (e.g.; Hits for Action Heroes), or find sound effects to correspond to their favorite picture book.
- Partner with your history department to show Drums, Piano, & Guitar: Origins- The History of Everything!, a fast-paced review of these musical instruments.
- In addition to its huge educational rap library, Flocabulary has an excellent guide for teaching students how to write and record their own songs.
Let us know how you celebrate MIOSM at your library!
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Email: tkeyes@wflboces.org
Website: http://wflboces.org/departments.cfm?subpage=80
Location: 131 Drumlin Court, Newark, NY, United States
Phone: 315.332.2100
Twitter: @wflsls