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I hosted two Family Songwriting workshops this summer, one at the Bethlehem Library and at the Guilderland Library. Both of the programs drew a variety of ages, though most children were in the younger age brackets. I attribute the high attendance of them to the wonderful article in the Times Union. I was so excited to be interviewed about this program and about Out of the Box!
These workshops were funded by a grant for local history, and what a wonderful way to preserve a slice of the community than through these family songs. Through a 'mad-libs' style of fill in the blanks, families wrote in their families history, customs and life. Then every family was recorded singing their song. The cds were given to the libraries with the understanding that they would make a copy for all families involved.
I look forward to doing more of these types of preserving family history projects in the future because they are so much fun!
Rebecca
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What an amazing camp! I can't believe it's over, after all the research and excitement everyday. My favorite parts were making the silent film, The Charleston, "Hello, My Baby," "Tea for Two", Michele's Einstein lecture, our discussion of Charles Ives, making Prohibition brew, the ads for smoking, and the final Speak-Easy and Jeapardy. Of course, everything was fun because of the great group I had: both the other counselors and the kids. The ideas are beginning for next year..
.sites.google.com/site/2009americanoriginal/
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What an amazing class! From ages 7 - 13, these kids each wrote a real, scripted play made for radio. I was curious what type of subjects they would write about, they were so imaginative: a time machine buried in a young genius' backyard, touring a cursed Egyptian pyramid, a soccer player that was more interested in clothes and snacks, dissillusionment of tv superheroes, aliens abducting Johnny Depp and more.
The critiquing process was both effective and empowering, and the recordings were hilarious. There are several kids in the class (Kate...) who could become professional voice actors. Parents told me their kids started finding "sound effects" all over the house, tapping everything to make cool sounds.
Unfortunately, time ran out before we could put in all the sound effects as a class and finish the editing process. That's what happens when I do a class for the first time; I never know how long something will take. This means I will be meeting with the kids seperately in the next month to finish up their recordings before putting them up on our podcast. The first play we recorded, "Brunhilde the Gross" is up there now. And I hope by July all the plays will be completed and podcasting.
The class website was a good idea, but because most of the kids are still not on the internet alone on a regular basis, and I don't have all their emails, it didn't work as well as I hoped. Several kids midway said they didn't even know there was a class website (where I had been posting homework!) Going through parents works for somethings, but online has to be direct with students in the future. I think I will only create class websites as a resource page, or the class site with older students who use the web as a main form of communication.
I want to thank Amy for being there and stepping in for a couple of voice acting roles , all the kids for working hard, and Michele for letting me use (and continue to use) her computer.
Rebecca
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