The JackStraw Cultural Center, under the direction of Joan Rabinowitz, asked me and colleague Joan Hsiao to teach a jazz workshop for second graders.
I suggested we learn about the childhood of John Coltrane. Educator Joan Hsiao and I spent 6 class sessions with each of two second-grade classes at McGilvra Public Elementary School. We learned about sound, sound effects, different sounds that musical instruments make. We listened to John Coltrane and Miles Davis on “Kind of Blue” – and we learned about Coltrane’s childhood in High Point, North Carolina.
After learning about Coltrane’s youth, we assigned the children into groups of 4, in order to write radio plays about Coltrane.
Each group was given a theme – either Segregation, Loss of a parent, or moving from the country to the city.
Here are a few samples of their work.
Remember, these children are 7 years old:
SHORT RADIO PLAYS:
ABOUT LOSING HIS DAD AT AGE 13
https://soundcloud.com/steve-rowland-13/10-loss-3
ABOUT SEGREGATION
https://soundcloud.com/steve-rowland-13/12-segregation-4
AND A PERFORMANCE OF “A LOVE SUPREME” WITH QUOTES BY COLTRANE
Hi, this is a comment.
To delete a comment, just log in and view the post's comments. There you will have the option to edit or delete them.