Title:	Location	K-4	5-8	9-12	Description	Discipline
1997 MusicFest Activity Guide	Kitchen	-	X	X	An adaptable 20-activity Unit of Study

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Week 1: You, Music, and CafeMuse

Monday: CafeMuse Scavenger Hunt (Orientation Activity)

1. Fire up your computer, connect to the Internet, and go to the Kitchen's Online Recipes/Lessons.

2. Select the appropriate Scavenger Hunt Activity. You'll explore each of the Five Virtual Rooms in CafeMuse and learn to use the Search Function to find cool stuff. Who knows? You may even meet the Muses and win a prize!

3. Journal Reflections – Pick one item to write about in your Kids Create! Journal:

• write down the three basic questions about sound, noise, and music
• write down your impressions of the Kickoff BBQ
• write down your impressions from the Scavenger Hunt

Tuesday: Kids Create! their own web pages

We've created a brand new web page for each of you!

1. Fire up that computer, connect to the Internet and check out the Kids Create! Gallery

2. You need to create some info that we can put on your web page. Tell us about yourself in a poem or paragraph. Include your:

• age, things that interest you, ways that you like to express yourself (through art? talking? singing? dancing? writing poetry?)
• musical instrument(s) you play, or would like to learn to play
• music, musicians, and musical instruments that you like to listen to
• important! Select a quote that expresses something unique about you for the bottom of your page (every page in CafeMuse has one!). You can do this by visiting the CafeMuse Resource Room and selecting the link to the Bartlett's Book of Quotations (under Table#2 - Additional References). Or use your own resources.

3. Submit all text, images, and sounds (via email) to the webteam@cafemuse.com. We'll post them to your web page. Look for it to be online by Wednesday afternoon!

Just for Fun!

• use a computer drawing program to create your self-portrait
• use another medium to create your self-portrait, like create a sculpture, or a sound file

Wednesday: Making Music Activity #1: Create Your Own Instrument

1. Fire that computer up, connect to the Internet, and go to the SoundGarden (Materials are provided in the kit).

2. Pick one of the instrument-building activities:

• Winds
• Strings
• Percussion

Use your imagination, go completely nuts (OK, well not completely)! We'll be giving out prizes for things like best instrument design, loudest instrument, silliest instrument, best performance, and best original composition. Your instrument will be very important in assisting you with other activities coming up, so do your very best here.

Just for Fun!

• can you create a simple melody? Can you sing or whistle along with it?
• can you create a simple rhythm? Can you sing or hum along with it?
• can you make up a set of lyrics for your song or rhythm?

Thursday: Listen to Music Activity #1 - Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture

1. Listen to your tape (in your CafeMuse Kit), Side A is the 1812 Overture.

2. Try this:

• hum, sing, or clap along.
• dance or move to the music if you'd like.
• what kinds of images did you think of when you were listening?

3. Write your reflections in your journal. Did the cannons scare you? Did they sound cool? Does the music make you feel like dancing or moving or singing along or playing your instrument along? What other feelings do you have?

4. Does this composition fit your definition of music, noise, and sound? Are the cannons noise or music?

Just for Fun!

• find out more about the composition and composer or listen to sound files by the composer. Go to the Resource Room
• make up lyrics to a theme or section on the tape that you like best, sing along (write them in your journal)

Friday: Week #1 Journal and Email Reflections: What is music? What is noise? What is sound?

Hey it's Friday! The first week is coming to an end.

1. To finish our intro to CafeMuse and music first, review in your journal the answers you wrote on Sunday or Monday to each of the above questions about noise, sound, and music (don't worry... there's not one correct answer!).

2. Then check out the Frequently Asked Questions in the CoffeeShop to see what other people think, or use the Search Function in CafeMuse (upper left corner of every page). You may find some opinions that guide your thinking. Now write your definitions again. If you don't know for sure then write down the questions, you have!

3. Finally, be sure to check out your CafeMuse Penpals Week #1 web pages.

4. Send your penpals some encouragement and your impressions via email to kids@cafemuse.com. You may need your parents help for this one. For example, what do you like best about it? What would you add to it? Did it make you laugh or feel silly?

Just for Fun!

• put yourself in the composer's place. How would Tchaikovsky answer the above questions (in the context of someone who lives in the year 1880)?
• use another medium (like a drawing, poem, melody, or song) to answer the questions.

Week 2: The Basics of Sound Perception

Monday: What is pitch? Activity

1. Write in your journal your own definition of pitch. If you have other questions about pitch, write them down too.

2. Then, go to the SoundGarden to select the Pitch Activity.

3. As you go through it, write down your answers to the questions asked in your journal.

Just for Fun!

What are some different ways to describe sound?

• Snap your fingers, click your tongue, whistle, hum, sing, tap your foot, clap your hands, drop a pencil, pick up the pencil.
• How would you describe the sounds these things make? High, low, skinny, heavy, bright, dull, sharp? What other words or terms would you use to describe these sounds?
• Make a list and compare them to a friend's.

What's the difference between a music, sound, and noise (write your answers in your Journal)?

• what is your definition of a music?
• what is your definition of sound?
• what is your definition of noise?
• listen to these mystery sounds. Do they fit your definition of a musical sound and noise?

How do you define musical sound now? How do you define noise now?

What other experiments might you try to determine musical sounds compared to noise?

If you have time, check your email and email back your penpal in response to their comments on your Week #1 web page.

Tuesday: What is loudness? Activity

1. write in your journal your own definition of loudness. If you have other questions about loudness, write them down too.

2. then, go to the SoundGarden and select the Loudness Activity.

3. as you go through it, write down your answers to the questions asked in your journal.

Just for Fun!

• What are some musical ways to describe loudness (sound intensity)?
• What is the loudest sound you ever heard? What is the softest sound you've ever heard? How loud do you think the big bang was?
• how would you describe the usable range of loudness (sound intensity) for making music?
• listen to these musical excerpts. How do they use changes in loudness for expressive purposes?
• how would you define musical dynamics now? What other ways are there to use dynamics for musical expression? [ HINT: how do many songs on the radio end? ]

1. Go to the SoundGarden and try the Middle Ear activity.

2. Write the questions in your journal and then the answers you come up with after you do an activity.

Just for Fun!

• can you wiggle your ears without moving your eyebrows?
• draw your own ears, write a poem about your ears?
• what other animals, cartoon characters, or people have unique ears?
• how does your hearing, in terms of loud/soft and low/high sounds, compare to someone in your family?

1. Go to the SoundGarden and select one of the four Illusion Activities.

2. Write the questions in your journal and then the answers you come up with after you do an activity.

Just for Fun!

• what kind of a dog do you think it was? Write it down in your journal.
• email your CafeMuse Penpal and compare your thoughts or ask them questions or tell them what you thought was cool, etc.

TGIF! Another musical week flying by! To finish up this week,

1. Write in your journal what you think the definitions to the basic three questions about sound, music, and noise are this week (remember... there's not one correct answer!). If you still don't know for sure and you have questions, write down the questions, too! You can check what you wrote during Week #1 to compare.

2. Be sure to check out your CafeMuse PenPal's web page and send them your thoughts on what you find there. It's OK to talk about the weather or what you had for lunch, or something musical too! (Send your email to kids@cafemuse.com.

Just for Fun!

• check back with the Coffeeshop (Frequently Asked Questions) to find out how other people have answered the question (http://www.cafemuse.com/coffeeshop/faq.htm)
• look to other resources (books of poetry, musical lyrics, etc.) to find out how other people have answered the question.
• use another medium (like a drawing, poem, song) to answer the question.

Monday: What is rhythm, meter, and tempo?

1. First, write in your journal your own definition of rhythm. If you have other questions, write them down too.

2. Then, go to the SoundGarden at and select Musical Math I: what is rhythm, meter, and tempo?

3.As you go through it, write down your answers to the questions asked in your journal.

Just for Fun!

• can you clap, tap, or drum a simple rhythm?
• can you create a silly rhythm? can you create a marching rhythm?
• try to create your own notation with crayons, inks, or pencils for one of your favorite rhythms.
• Can someone else play it? What does their interpretation sound like?

Tuesday: How is music like a language (melody)?

1. First, write in your journal your own definition of pitch, now in terms of making music. Look it up in your dictionary, or use the one in the Resource Room. If you have other questions, write them down too.

2. Then, go to the SoundGarden and select Melody: how is music like a language?

3. As you go through it, write down your answers to the questions asked in your journal.

Just for Fun!

• play something on your musical instrument that demonstrates a melody (singing, humming, or whistling is OK too). Can you demonstrate a harmony too?
• if you have time, check your email and email back your penpal in response to their comments on your Week #2 web page.
• lsten to music and try to sing or hum the harmony parts.
• try to create your own melodic notation with crayons, inks, or pencils for one of your favorite rhythms. Can someone else play it? What does their interpretation sound like?

1. First, write in your journal your own definition of dynamics, now in terms of musical pitch. Look it up in the dictionary. If you have other questions, write them down too.

2. Then, go to the SoundGarden and select Dynamics & Expression: how is music like a language?

3. As you go through it, write down your answers to the questions asked in your journal.

Just for Fun!

• sing a song by yourself or with a friend and try to make parts of it louder or softer. What happens when you change the dynamics abruptly? or smoothly?
• can you demonstrate changes in dynamics on a couple of different instruments?
• try to create your own dynamics notation with crayons, inks, or pencils for one of your favorite rhythms. Can someone else play it? What does their interpretation sound like?

1. Listen to Side B of your Making Music tape (The Nutcracker Suite).

• listen for changes of pitch and loudness.
• listen for melody, harmony, and rhythm.

2. Record in your journal how you felt and what you thought about while listening. Did it remind you of anything?

3. Try to play some of the music on your instrument, what works? What doesn't work? Do you need to redesign parts of your instrument? Then do it!

Just for Fun!

• listen to other kinds of music and listen for changes of pitch and loudness, and for examples of rhythm and harmony
• play your way-cool instrument along with the tape.
• listen to music and tap or clap out the rhythms that you hear.
• listen to music and try to sing or hum the harmony parts.

1. Create another set of answers based on what you've learned so far to the three basic questions about sound, music, and noise.

2. Brainstorm and create a way to express or demonstrate it at the MusicFest (you can team up to do this!). Here are some ideas:

• show and tell what you've learned by creating a poster or by using another medium.
• perform a musical composition (original or existing) .
• create and perform a skit that uses some of the things you've learned.
• create and perform a dance that uses some of the things you've learned.
• ceate and recite a poem that uses some of the things you've learned.

3. Submit your ideas to the webteam@cafemuse.com so we can gather them all and make sure we can accommodate everyones' creative ideas.

4. Last but not least! Be sure to check out your CafeMuse PenPal's web page and send them your thoughts on what you find there. It's OK to talk about your day's events, sports, or what you had for dinner, or something musical too!

Weekly Reminder: If you have any questions that you can't answer be sure to Ask the CafeMuse Experts! via email for assistance.

Week 4 (putting it all together!)

Monday: Tchaikovsky at the Mann Music Center, Philadelphia

6 p.m. BYO picnic dinner, concert starts at 8 p.m.

Tuesday: Journal and Email Reflections Finale

1. Write your impressions of the concert in your journals. How did the performance make you feel? How did the compositions fit with your definitions of music, noise, and sound? What stayed the same, what changed?

2. Complete any unfinished business from weeks 1-3.

3. Have you checked your email today? You never know what you might find!

Just for Fun!

Write about any of the things you've studied in relation to the concert:

• pitch
• rhythm
• dynamics
• instruments
• feelings

1. Finish up any unfinished business from weeks 1-3.

2. Create and practice your show and tell presentation!!!

Making MusicFest! - Saturday, July 26 (rain date Sunday, July 27)

Bring your MusicFest portfolio (journals, drawings, poems, instruments, melodies, show and tell materials, etc.). Perform your show and tell. We'll help to publish all relevant items to the kids' web pages during the week after the Making MusicFest. All kids will be able to access their pages from home, school, or a friend's house.

Have fun and thanks to all!!!