Month of March: Teach a March

I had to make a "March Bullitan Board" So I decided to teach about a march, in turn, Philip Sousa "The March King!"

I taught this 1-5th grade, just slightly altered my verbage for each grade, respectively.

First Played the "Thunderer" in class and had the students listen without any direction from the teacher. At the completion of the song I asked, "What did that song sound like to you?" 
Answers:

• "The circus"
• "Football Game"
• "Scary"
• "Very Loud"
• "Important"
• "Like a...a...parade thing."

We decided it was "Marching Band Music." Where do you see a a marching band?

• "on TV"
• "At the...football field?"
• "THE CIRCUS!"
• "Fourth of July"
• "Parades..."

"What instruments did you hear?"

Answers:

• "The big one...you know the big one." (translation, TUBA)
• " The recorder thing..." (Translation, FLUTE)
• "Piano?" 
• "The baton." (no translation.)

I wrote all their answers on the board and put different symbols next to the instruments that corresponded with their music family grouping. 

Then a student shouted out, "They're a patter-in!" I laughed, "Yes there is a pattern, what is the pattern?" (this is a great cross-curricular activity by the way, finding patterns, having students discover patterns on their own? Good stuff.) The students eventually figured out that they represented the musical families. I then added that key to the bottom of the board. 

Example of my board: 

((obviously this is NOT my actual board, I painted this on my computer. But, it looked very similar to this...))

I then asked, "Which family is missing?" 

• "The SELLLOs" (Translations, Cellos)
• "Vio...vio-los...no...violins!"

"Well...The strings, but good guesses! Now what musical ensemble has all four?" This started a short discussion on the differences between a Marching band, Concert Band, and Orchestra. Directly following that I began a dialog about the Thunderer itself, adding a few details about Sousa and what made him famous. 

Finally, I had the students listen to the following bio on Sousa from Classics for Kids. They LOVE these short bio clips because they play excerpts by the composer throughout. Sousa BIO. 

After they listened I asked the following Questions:

1. Sousa's parents were what? (Immigrants) follow-up Q: What does that mean?
2. What instrument did Sousa master? (Trombone)
3. Sousa tried to run away with the_______? (Circus)
4. But he was caught by his father and forced to join the ________? (Marine Band)
5. How long did he play with this band? (7 yrs)
6. He started working for a theater and met someone special, who? (his wife, she was a singer)
7. He wrote how many operettas? (15) Follow-up Q: What is an operetta?
8. He returned to Marine Band, not as a Trombone player, but as a what? (Conductor)
9. His favorite type of music to write was...? (Marches)
10. He started his own band, what did he name it? (Sousa Band)
11. This was not a marching band it was a...? (Concert Band)
12. The Sousa Band did a really cool thing in 1911, what was that? (went on a world tour)
13. Sousa's most famous piece? (Stars and Stripes forever.)
14. During WWI Sousa joined the ______ band to conduct. (Navy)
15. John Philip Sousa titled the....? (March King)

After this we discussed what the role of the conductor was: to keep the beat and guide the ensemble through the music. 

Discussion Questions:

1. What is a guide? 
2. Why would an ensemble need something like that?
3. What do you think the conductor's movements would look like if he was directing a march?

Finally I taught the students how to conduct in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time signatures. 

This lesson took about 35 mins and we spent the last 10 minutes reviewing our concert songs.