Showcase MARCH 2015
Table of Contents 1 THIS SATURDAY: SPRING FLING! 2016
5 K2 GETS MOVIN’!
2 STUDENTS ACCEPTED TO NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA
3 SOUNDS OF MUSIC INTEGRATION AT CONSERVATORY LAB
4 4TH GRADE CELEBRATES AMERICAN REVOLUTION EXPEDITION
• Don’t forget to buy your tickets for Spring Fling! 2016 today! Click here to purchase them! • Your donation helps to bring remarkable educational opportunities to our inner city students! • Questions? Comments? Email us at csoriano@conversatorylab.org
A LETTER FROM DIANA DEAR FRIENDS OF CONSERVATORY LAB, Since the founding of our school, we have been committed to the belief that the intensive study of music is beneficial to and enhances the cognitive and overall development of children. Over the last 16 years since we opened our doors, we have progressed in our approach to making music relevant in every part of our students’ learning. With the advent of the El Sistema program into our curriculum beginning in 2008, the majority of our students have made enormous progress in their music, academics and social/emotional development. We believe in the words of El Sistema’s Founder Jose Antonio Abreu who has said: “Music has to be recognized as an… agent of social development in the highest sense, because it transmits the highest values - solidarity, harmony, mutual compassion. And it has the ability to unite an entire community and to express sublime feelings.”
During these last weeks, the students are discovering in an ever more potent way that music is a dynamic pathway for teaching and learning across content areas. I am grateful to all of you, our supporters, for enabling us to provide this type of dynamic education to all our students. I am also reminded of another of Dr. Abreu’s quotes: “Teach the children the beauty of music and the music will teach the children the beauty of life.” Warmly, Diana Lam
SPRING FLING! 2016 IS THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 9! THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 9 IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST days of the year at our school: it’s Spring Fling! Here is all the information you need for the event: Tickets will be sold to adults and children older than 12 for $15 UNTIL THE DAY OF SPRING FLING. Tickets sold on the day of the concert, whether online or at the door, will cost $25. You can buy your tickets in advance by clicking here: bit.ly/springfling_2016
If you would like to volunteer on the day of Spring Fling, please contact Ramika Smith at ramikasmith@gmail.com Once you’re at Spring Fling, be sure to buy your tickets in the raffle to win a beautiful basket! The baskets are all full of great food, activities, and gifts for you and your family to enjoy. With themes like Fun in the Sun, Food Around the World, and Family Night Out, you won’t want to miss out on winning these great prizes! Tickets are 3 for $5, and 25 for $20. Raffle tickets are available at the theater on the day of Spring Fling!
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CONSERVATORY LAB STUDENTS ACCEPTED TO NATIONAL ORCHESTRA This year, four students from Conservatory Lab were accepted into the national Take A Stand summer program at Bard College. Mark Anthony (bass), Junior Fuentes (cello), Arianna Rodriguez (french horn), and Anthony Vega (french horn) will be taking part in the program, which is a gathering of students from different sistema programs all over the country. The program, sponsored by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Bard College, is a one-week national youth orchestra experience for students, and is the first national youth orchestra founded on the principles of El Sistema. Many congratulations to these four hardworking students! To find out more about the program, click here: http:// www.laphil.com/press/los-angeles-philharmonic-developsnational-take-stand-festival
YOU ARE PART OF BUILDING A VIBRANT SCHOOL COMMUNITY.
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SOUNDS OF MUSIC INTEGRATION AT CONSERVATORY LAB At Conservatory Lab, music is a dynamic pathway for teaching and learning across content areas. This year, creative collaborations between between El Sistema resident artists and classroom teachers have generated innovative ways to infuse music in math, science, ELA, and social studies. Singing Across the Curriculum When you enter our primary school, you are greeted by the joyful sounds of students singing. Many of their songs are original compositions by resident artist Leah Hennessey, with lyrics that echo student talk about their learning. From songs that retell Eric Carle stories, to songs that give new meaning to our five crew qualities— perseverance, responsibility, empathy, cooperation, and reflection—to songs that give an important message about healthy eating and exercise, music helps students synthesize knowledge and animates the learning process. Musical Math Music is mathematical. Its rhythms, melodies, beats, and tempos are built on mathematical patterns and sequences. First graders learned to associate note shapes with numbers right from the start. “In this way, they not only practiced addition and subtraction, but reading rhythms in orchestra,” explains Ms. Hennessey. Adding and subtracting with musical notations “captivated first graders in a different way than the usual math lesson because it was connected to something they care deeply about—music,” observed teacher Alison Babb-Brott.”
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Science of Sound As part of their “It’s a Material World” expedition, first grader scientists investigated the questions—How do instruments make sounds? Why are some sounds high, and some sounds low? To answer these questions, students explored vibrations, pitch, and volume. They simulated a sound wave and made rubber band boxes, comparing rubber band shapes and sizes to put them in order so they sounded from low to high, just like their own 4-string instruments!
In Ms. Schibuk’s science class, 7th and 8th graders designed, built, and programmed visual metronomes to blink an LED light at a specific frequency to match the tempo of popular songs. Our middle school engineers performed the songs, in time with their metronomes, for an enthusiastic audience of elementary orchestra musicians.
Musical Conversations with History In their immigration expedition, “Define American,” fifth graders interviewed family members about the music that shaped their youth. In the process, they discovered how music creates a sense of community and belonging, connecting people across continents and time. Based on the interviews, each 5th grade class created a listening list of music with songs that illustrate the rich and diverse musical soundscape in which our students have grown and continue to develop. Listen to their playlists here and a family interview here.
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This fall, 7th and 8th grade historians investigated the enduring power of spirituals during their study of slavery. Guided by resident artist Kat Jara, students performed “Amazing Grace,” integrating spoken-word verses that voice Frederick Douglass’ stirring depiction of his bondage and escape to freedom. At the close of the school year, students will again perform their version of “Amazing Grace,” this time to an audience of Roxbury residents celebrating the city of Boston’s plan to construct a monument to this iconic leader in their community.
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4TH GRADE CELEBRATES MONTHS OF HARD WORK On Friday, March 25, the 4th Grade celebrated their study of the American Revolution! For months, students have been studying the American Revolution, and their learning culminated in some seriously creative work! They made maps and models of what things were like during the Revolutionary period. Each student wrote historic fiction journals, and shared them with parents, who came to celebrate with them. To end the celebration, the students sang a rousing rendition of Free America, written by their favorite hero of the Revolution, Doctor Joseph Warren.
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K2 GETS MOVIN’! On Wednesday, K2 visited the Beacon Hill Athletic Club with Ms. Chamberlin as part of their expedition on exercise. She gave them a tour of all the exercise stations and led a fitness class that the students got to participate in.
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