Happy Birthday, Bach!

Thursday, March 21^st, we will be celebrating the birth of Johann Sebastian Bach. Join us with some of these fun ideas....

Language Arts: 

Johann Sebastian Bach biography by Mike Venezia. Venezia is a great biographer. I like anything by him. Talk about the biography genre in literature and have each child choose a person they admire and have them write their own biography.

Music: 

The Story of the Orchestra by Robert Levine

Learn about the lives of great composers while listening to their music. Take time to study the different types of instruments that make up an orchestra and sort them into “families” (winds, strings, etc.). You can end with a field trip to the local orchestra.

History & Art: 

Color the Classics is one of my favorite series. Each book comes with a CD. You read the excerpt from the life of the great composer, the kids color a picture as you read, and then you listen to and discuss the music by that composer. It's simple, easy and liked by all.

Math: 

Math and Music go hand in hand more than one might think. As you listen to one of Bach's compositions, count the beat with your children. Teach them about measures and how music is organized on paper. Time signature is a great thing to introduce as well. Listen to several pieces of music and have the children figure out the time signature of each song.

Science:

The Science of Music website is a great resource for information and has some fun interactive elements. Have the kids write their own music with “Dot Mixer.”

Here is a really fun science experimenton sound.