Over the last few weeks I have been finishing up the writing of scripts to some Mini-Musicals (10-15 minutes in duration) for the Classroom setting. The first four titles are "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse," "Dick Whittington and His Cat," "The Musicians of Bremen," and "The Tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff." These stories are very well-known and have been loved for generations, if not centuries. The challenge has been to keep their particular traits intact while giving them a few new twists and turns.
When I taught General Music Classes in school, I always seemed to need a kind of culminating event to wrap all of the curriculum goals into a finished project. So what if we learned some songs and how to read some notation, and play some instruments and learned something about history or culture? Unless we could do a performance of some kind, all of those goals just seemed to fizzle and lose momentum. These classroom Musicals are designed to meet this need on as high or low a level as the teacher desires. They could even be done as part of a Chorus Concert, in a Drama Class, or for a Home School Co-Op Enrichment Activity, or in the regular School Classroom.
When I taught General Music Classes in school, I always seemed to need a kind of culminating event to wrap all of the curriculum goals into a finished project. So what if we learned some songs and how to read some notation, and play some instruments and learned something about history or culture? Unless we could do a performance of some kind, all of those goals just seemed to fizzle and lose momentum. These classroom Musicals are designed to meet this need on as high or low a level as the teacher desires. They could even be done as part of a Chorus Concert, in a Drama Class, or for a Home School Co-Op Enrichment Activity, or in the regular School Classroom.
Each story has an historical setting with songs reflecting the musical style period. The script can simply be produced during class as a Reader's Theater, or the show can be performed with simple costumes, props and scenery in the classroom or on a stage. Each mini-musical calls for a cast of 5-10 characters plus employs the rest of the class as a Chorus with jobs integral to the performance. The actors read and/or act out the lines, but the Chorus kids help sing the songs, play rhythm instruments and provide sound effects within the framework of the narration. Some of the stories teach interesting Theatrical concepts and practices from long ago. Some have comedic action and adventure. Some explore use of dialects and accents. Some provide a stepping stone to studying music from famous composers. Some employ the use of puppetry. They can even be performed with choreography. Besides, these stories are excellent entertainment!
The packets include a Lesson Plan and Student Activity sheets, along with the Teacher's Script, Reproducible Scripts, Lead Sheets to the Songs, and a link to get MP3 files with both Guide Performances and Accompaniment Tracks. Piano/Vocal Scores to the songs are available separately. The scripts are geared to fit two general age-ranges: K-3rd grades and 4th-6th grades.
The packets include a Lesson Plan and Student Activity sheets, along with the Teacher's Script, Reproducible Scripts, Lead Sheets to the Songs, and a link to get MP3 files with both Guide Performances and Accompaniment Tracks. Piano/Vocal Scores to the songs are available separately. The scripts are geared to fit two general age-ranges: K-3rd grades and 4th-6th grades.
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