Division 17’s Movement and Music Projects:
The Part of Beecher’s Creek that speaks to our hearts
Division 17 has been exploring sounds in nature at Beecher’s Creek. We have been discussing nature’s found instruments and how we identify with our sense of place as we re-create different areas and sounds in Beecher’s Creek.
Along the way, we also happen to have brought back a slug and an earthworm and a roly poly amongst our leaves and nature findings in our tool kit.
Our class began to ask lots of questions and actively search for possibilities during Explorations to help our living creatures. We have since returned our living things back to nature, but not without becoming scientists in the process as we continue to think to ask questions, investigate further, and look closely at details to help our understandings. We created a song for Slugilee, as we brought it back home.
We began exploring various ways of mapping using found materials, music, and drawings to illustrate our understanding of our special places at Beecher’s Creek. During the musical mapping, many of the students created instruments using natural materials we found at Beecher’s Creek.
This led to us creating songs about the places that spoke to our hearts. While creating our songs, we began to weave movement to help demonstrate what it is that is important to us about our creek. We brainstormed all the different ways we could describe our movements to further deepen our creative capacities.
Photographs of students co-creating their movement ideas…
Our final projects…
Lilly River
Water, Land, and the Sewer
Beecher Creek Store: Where you can go in and explore
Sunny River
All Seasons Around
*********
This year the students in Division 17 have been exploring Beecher Creek. We have been exploring the ecosystem and sonic elements as they evolve and become visible to us during our adventures.
Much of our documentation of these adventures is mapped out in Mr. Yanko’s classroom and in the students main classroom. However, as music is involved photographs, maps, images, drawings, and text cannot capture the learning process and understandings with music. Therefore, we use a blog to capture those audible moments and hope this platform help illustrate the learning that unfolds with Division 17 as they explore Beecher Creek.