Respectfully Singing the Holidays

• Kristin Berger
• Posted 11/16/21
• 1 comments

Music educators are frequently in the spotlight during concerts. The constant presence of cell phone videos and growing awareness of the origins of old favorites means that we, as music educators and performers, have to be mindful of our every move.

If you are planning a wintertime presentation, it is essential to approach the season with respect for all cultures within your school population. This article intends to be a blueprint for learning about and pulling from the cultures in your classroom to create a presentation that does not highlight just one culture nor become overwhelming for the music teacher.

Approaching your students and their experiences with purpose and respect will create an authentic “informance” that is student-driven and a lot of fun to share!

I firmly believe that the work we do inside the music classroom should be inspired by and reflected from our students’ home lives and cultures, and it always needs to include their voices. We have an incredible opportunity — starting the first day of school and then extending beyond the performance date.

Below, I have outlined my approach for my fifth graders this fall. The work we do in each class builds community, trust, appreciation, and musicality within the classroom while also creating an opportunity to share the process as an informance.

Setting the Stage

A little background information: I teach three sections of fifth graders. I see each homeroom once a week for thirty minutes, and my school is composed of and aims to honor many different cultures. The expectation is that the performance will last about thirty minutes, and each student will have an opportunity to participate in a meaningful way.

September

In our first class, students sing with each other and begin sharing our cultures. I incorporate the book All Are Welcome, written by Alexandra Penfold, beautifully illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman. (See lesson sketch All Are Welcome.)

Students sing an accompanying melody that popped into my head the first time I read the book last year. The song is intentionally simple, and the kids catch on quite quickly, singing with full voice by the end of the book.

We add simple xylophone/Boomwhacker™/glockenspiel parts once students are comfortable with the melody, and just like that, the book becomes a review lesson using classroom instruments for my older students. I plan to use this book and arrangement as the first piece for the informance since it will tie everything together.

Click score to enlarge

My school encourages the active celebration of diversity. After finishing the All Are Welcome lesson, I guide a student discussion about what makes the music of our different cultures unique. I take notes during the discussion, identifying students who openly share about their home culture. After class, ask these students if they’d like to share a song that is meaningful to them.

The key to success is to ensure that we pay due diligence to each students’ song suggestions. The following steps will ensure that the song is appropriate for your classroom and enrich your teaching of the song in your classroom:

• Properly researching the song’s history.
• Translating the text if it is in another language.
• Identifying the appropriate cultural context of the music.

It is quite reasonable to reach out to parents of the students who shared to gain their perspective, especially if the song is in a language that you do not speak. This outreach is an excellent opportunity to make connections in the school community!

The Library of Congress is often recommended as a resource to dive deeper into pieces of music, but I have found that it is more of a springboard than a compilation of answers. I find the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings website is a great place to listen to recordings of songs from around the world.

Listening to several versions of the same song provides an excellent opportunity for students to work on their compare/contrast skills, which is a National Association for Music Education (NAfME) 5th Grade Music Standard. The students can then take the song elements that speak most to them and replicate them using instruments available in the classroom.

Another often overlooked resource is IMSLP — the International Music Score Library Project, which houses over 11 million pieces of music that are often copyright-free and accessible for our classrooms. The asterisk here is that not all pieces are copyright-free in the United States, so always check before moving forward with a selection.

October & November

During these months, I have the students teach each other. Students who have volunteered to share a song from their culture help teach the music to their peers. My job as the teacher is to support the teaching students with resources and supplemental information. I also help scaffold the learning for the rest of the class, so they can successfully learn the song.

In September, I notated the music a student plans to share and provided additional materials (websites, musical instruments, etc.) to support the students’ teaching. Have authentic conversations with the students and their caregivers, if they are willing, about the music and the meaning of the songs. If the student is not comfortable teaching the song, I teach the music with the student’s assistance.

December

Finalize the song list — you as the teacher get the ultimate say, but the students will have much more significant buy-in if they choose the songs they are sharing with the audience. Since I have several sections of each grade, I assign one or two songs to each homeroom to lead.

The leaders are responsible for:

• Learning the song in the original language when applicable.
  • Assigning supportive instrumental and singing parts to themselves and the other homerooms.
• The placement of the song in the program.
• Students write the dialogue, including an introduction, explanation, or definition, and citing the song’s origin. I always ensure that I mention that the music the audience is hearing is an interpretation of a song from a culture represented in our school.
• Creating or obtaining props/background decorations they feel are vital in supporting the song’s aesthetic. Frequently I utilize the students in the classes that occur during the middle of the week that hasn’t been disrupted by Monday or Friday holidays and have an extra lesson before the concert.

Concert Day

Enjoy the students’ work for their informance and know that the world is better because of the their learning! If your content is not under copyright, make sure you make a recording (please confirm your students’ media access before posting to any sharing websites). If your content is under copyright, you can still video your concert, but only for evaluative purposes within your classroom. Do not post on social media!

Post-Concert Day

The important work the students have done in your classroom is not complete! If you recorded the event, share it with your students. Evaluate their performance together, with constructive critiques.

• What did they enjoy most?
• What was best received by the audience?
• What did their family members in the audience share with them about the performance?
• What would they do differently if the students were to perform again?

There are many great ways to encourage students to engage with the material beyond the performing event and recognize the work that the students put into the music.

This fall, we all have the opportunity to start fresh. Whether your principal or administration has decided your concert schedule or a pastime you enjoy, consider programing an inclusive and celebratory wintertime concert!

References

Wells, Richard. (2015, March). 2014 Music Standards PK-8 Strand. National Association Music Education. https://nafme.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2014-Music-Standards-PK-8-Strand.pdf