| December
2000: Arts All Around
Check out these interdisciplinary
activity ideas, TV programs,
and online resources you can use to connect the arts
with any discipline. Return in January for content about the presidential
inauguration!
Teaching
Ideas
Making Science
Waves With Classical Music
Do your students know that sound is made of waves? They can observe sound
waves with the following simple experiment. They'll need a clean soup
can with ends removed, a large balloon, scissors, rubber bands, a small
mirror, glue, and a flashlight.
Carefully, have students
cut the balloon and stretch it over one end of the can. Secure the balloon
with rubber bands. Glue the mirror close to one edge of the can, with the
shiny side out, to the balloon. Darken the room. Have the students stand
several meters from a blank wall. Have the student hold the can so that
the mirror faces the wall. Shine the flashlight onto the mirror so that
light is reflected onto the wall. Play a piece of music (such as Handel's
Messiah, available as a MIDI file from http://www.antipas.org/handel/partone.html)
so that the speaker faces the open end of the can. Remember to secure the
can so it won't roll.
Observe the light on
the wall. Ask, "What observations can you make? What inferences can you
make?" Change to a different piece of music. Does the light do the same
things? Does volume affect the light? Will the light be affected if words
are sung? Does temperature affect the light when music is played?
Language Connection:
Have the students develop a hypothesis for one of the above situations.
(For example: The volume of Handel's Messiah will not affect the visible
sound waves.) While observing the visible sound waves, have the students
write down their observations for the different volume levels. Using their
observations as supporting details let the students write a conclusion that
is supported by their observations.
Mathematics Connection:
Have the students graph the differing volumes, as they hear them, for a
specific section of the piece of music using a line graph. See if the students
can determine or predict a pattern in the volume. Compare what they hear
to the markings on the music. (Did you see a piano marking when you graphed
a quiet section? Was there a difference between forte and fortissimo on
your graph?)
Social Studies
Connection: The students could research Handel's other musical compositions.
The students would then develop a timeline showing the year that the other
compositions were written in relation to Handel's birth and his death,
as well as significant contemporary events.
Kwanzaa
Tales
December is the month
in which Kwanzaa is celebrated. This holiday emphasizes seven character
values important to young adults and that are reflective of African tribal
heritage. More information about Kwanzaa may be found at www.OfficialKwanzaaWebsite.org/.
Ask students to design
papier-mâché or paper masks representing different character values. (Directions
for making papier-mâché can be found at this craft site:
www.ktca.org/donnasday/creative/activ14.html.)
Examples of traditional African masks may be seen at www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Face
_Masks/menu_Face_Mask.html from the University of Wisconsin, African
Studies. The students may listen to African tribal music while creating
these masks (you may access free samples of African music at www.putamayo.com).
The students' masks can then be put on display in the school or public
library.
While studying Kwanzaa,
students might also write a play that emphasizes one of the seven character
values that are part of this celebration. Students could design backgrounds
for their play using Kente cloth designs on newsprint or other inexpensive
material. Information about this cloth can be found on the PBS Wonders
of the African World Web site at www.pbs.org/wonders/Episodes
/Epi3/3_cultr2.htm. The students can then perform their plays for
a partner class or parent group.
IdahoPTV
& PBS Programs explore the Arts!
Don't
miss these programs celebrating the arts airing in December!
Artist's
Profile "R. Carlos Nakai"
Airs Saturday, December 2 at 1:00 a.m./ midnight MT/PT
A Navajo-Ute, Nakai blends the haunting traditional Native American sounds
of the wooden flute with modern electronics, synthesizers and jazz influence.
Interviews explore his accomplishments, life and land. Live concerts in
his native Arizona explore his music.
Hands
On Crafts for Kids
Airs Sundays at 11:30/10:30 a.m. MT/PT
December 3 -
Projects from Australia: cave painting, pony bead crocodile, boomerang,
koalas, and woolly sheep
December
10 - Projects from the African Animal Kingdom include: T-shirt
snakes, wild animal puppets, paper chain animals and a lizard shirt.
December 17
- Projects form Egypt, India and Morocco include: wind chimes, batik
shirts, magic carpets pyramid pictures and a clay pull-toy.
December 24 -
Projects from Italy include: mosaic tiles, stained glass suncatchers,
crayon resist pot, cathedral window, and glow in the dark glass.
December 31
- "Home Again" Projects include: travel briefcase, pencil
pals, luggage pocket page, travel memories and around the world game.
Arthur's
Perfect Christmas
Airs Sunday December 3 at 5:30/4:30 p.m. MT/PT and Sunday, December
24 at 7:00/6:00 p.m.
Plans are underway for the holidays in Elwood City. Arthur, D.W., their
family and friends make preparations for perfect gifts, parties and family
traditions for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, even "Baxter Day"
( Buster and his mom's special celebration). But perfection slips out
of reach.
Three
Tenors Christmas Concert
Airs Sunday December 3 at 9:00/8:00 p.m. MT/PT
Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti celebrate the holidays
at the Konzerthaus in Vienna with the Vienna Symphony conducted by David
Mallet. They are joined by the Gumpolskirchner Spatzen Children's Choir.
Cowboy Corral
Airs Sundays at 12:30 a.m./ 11:30 p.m. MT/PT
This series from Lewiston blends the poetry, music and storytelling of
the western cowboy.
Charlotte Church:
Dream a Dream
Airs Tuesday December 5 at 7:00 p.m. MT/PT
The Welsh teen soprano performs 10 holiday selections in the candle- lit
interior of Dormition Abbey during her tour to Jerusalem.
Bach Around the
World
Airs Wednesday December 6 at 8:00 p.m.
A one-day worldwide concert on July 28, 2000 honors the anniversary of
Bach's death and his enduring musical legacy.
Joffrey Nutcracker
Airs Thursday, December 7 at 7:00 p.m. MT and 8:00 p.m. PT
Actress Liesel Matthews is the voice of Clara, the ballet's heroine, in
highlights from the holiday classic set to Tchaikovsky's score.
Once
Upon A Sleigh Ride
Airs Friday December 8 at 8:00 p.m.
Enjoy this lighthearted musical documentary about the life and work of
Leroy Anderson. You may not know the name but you know the music, from
"The Syncopated Clock" and "The Typewriter" to "Sleigh Ride." The special
gifts of this wonderful composer are presented by narrator Dick Cavett,
and such guests as John Williams, Elaine Stritch, Seiji Ozawa and Skitch
Henderson. Clips feature Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Steve Allen, Jerry
Lewis, Durward Kirby and Arthur Fiedler, among others.
Magical Century
of Christmas
Airs Sunday December 10 at 10:30/9:30 p.m. MT/PT
Santa narrates this musical extravaganza of holiday songs and dances from
the last century. Students from the Orange County High School of the Arts
perform; the show culminates with lighting the nation's largest Christmas
tree.
Live
From Lincoln Center
"Armstrong - When the Saints Go Marchin In"
Airs Wednesday, December 13 at 8:00 p.m. MT/PT
Beverly Sills is host for this Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra concert featuring
Wynton Marsalis. This special celebrates 100 years of Louis Armstrong.
Wynton Marsalis also happens to be one of the key figures in Ken Burns's
upcoming "Jazz" documentary series.
Mahler's Beethoven
with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Airs Wednesday December 13 at 10:00 p.m. MT/PT
Music director Neeme Järvi leads this performance of Gustav Mahler’s re-orchestration
of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Mahler, who served as the music director
of the New York Philharmonic from 1909 until 1911, worked to repair what
he thought were mistakes Beethoven had made because of his deafness. The
program discusses this trend that was practiced by many music scholars
during that time.
Arthur:
"My Music Rules"
Airs Sunday December 17 at 9:30/8:30 a.m. MT/PT
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma faces jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman at the Elwood City
Library.
Claude Monet: Painter
of Light
Airs Wednesday, December 27 at 7:00 p.m.
Monet's paintings of his gardens at Giverny and the surrounding countryside
are the focus of this special. Footage of the sites through the changing
cycles of seasons is juxtaposed with his canvasses to illuminate the way
he translated his personal vision into paint.
IdahoPTV
& PBS Online Resources: Sites to See
Culture Shock
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/
They inspire, but may provoke. They thrill, but sometimes offend. And often
the same artwork attracts both acclaim and condemnation. This site provides
context that promotes understanding of the history of the arts and controversy.
Duke Ellington's Washington
http://www.pbs.org/ellingtonsdc/
Before there was a Harlem Renaissance, there was the African-American artistic
community in Washington, D.C.; the environment that created Duke Ellington.
They Drew Fire
http://www.pbs.org/theydrewfire/
During World War II more than 100 U.S. servicemen and civilians served as
combat artists. They depicted the war as they experienced it with their
paintbrushes and pens. Their stories have never been told, and for fifty
years their artwork, consisting of more than 12,000 pieces has been largely
forgotten; until now.
The American Experience: The Wizard of Photography
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eastman/
Investigate the story of George Eastman and how he transformed photography.
ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theater
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/
For 30 years ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre has enthralled audiences with
the works of the finest classic and contemporary writers interpreted by
the world's foremost actors. Little wonder it is the longest running prime-time
drama series on American television.
American Masters
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/index_flash.html
The body of work American Masters has created, which includes profiles of
such American artists as Charlie Chaplin, James Baldwin, Helen Hayes, Andy
Warhol, Charlie Parker, Aaron Copland, William Wyler, Martha Graham, Eugene
O'Neill, Billie Holliday, The Group Theater, Philip Johnson, Paul Simon,
Alexander Calder and Leonard Bernstein among others, continues to inspire
and inform site visitors.
*For a complete listing of PBS.org arts-related sites, visit the web
site: www.pbs.org/neighborhoods/arts/.
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