Yay Storytime! Music Themed Children's Picture Books for the General Music Classroom Thomas Amoriello, Jr. Flemington Raritan School District thomasamoriello[at]gmail.com
The Yay Storytime! Musical Adventures with Children's Picture Books series has been a popular blog featured on NAfME's Music in a Minuet during the last two years attracting social media attention via Twitter and Facebook. The author invites the NJMEA membership to visit the series via the NAfME.org site and check out a sample here and the following links!
Author Moira Rose Donohue who states, "Though a disability stunted his growth and left him with a hunched back, William Henry "Chick" Webb did not let that get in the way of his musical pursuits. Even as a young child, Chick saw the world as one big drum, pounding out rhythms on everything from stair railings to pots and pans. His love of percussion brought him to the big time as an influential big band leader. This picturebook biography details the life of black American jazz drummer Chick Webb, who in the 1930s led one of the big bands of the swing era, earning him the nickname the "King of the Savoy." Stompin' At The Savoy, How Chick Webb became the King of Drums was released in January 2021 and would make a great addition to your virtual or in-person classroom.
Scatting, swing, jazz clubs, live music, battle of the bands, and "found sounds" cover the musical literacy aspect of your book about jazz drum figure Chick Webb, can you envision a teacher including Stompin' AT the Savoy in a lesson plan? What could you imagine as an elementary class lesson plan to look like? I have no background in education, so I can’t offer thoughts on a lesson plan. But I think there are lessons that can be gleaned from Stompin’ at the Savoy in several different subject areas. HISTORY (Great Depression)—Clubs like the Savoy where Chick Webb played were very popular in the 1930s. Why? At that time, people wanted to escape the struggles they faced after Great Depression and the stock market crash of 1929. Many people were out of work and couldn’t afford food and shelter. (Jim Crow Laws) Jim Crow laws permitting racial segregation were in effect back then. Black people were not allowed to go to clubs that were for White people only. But Moe Gale’s Savoy Ballroom was different - people of both races were welcome to dance on the same dance floor at the same time! CREATIVE WRITING - Stompin’ at the Savoy uses the literary device of onomatopoeia throughout the story. Students can identify uses and also try to come up with words to describe other musical sounds. Students can also look for instances of alliteration in the story. It helps to make the words sound more musical. MUSIC - Students can try out a drumming rudiment— paradiddles - that they can practice with pencils, hands or drumsticks. RIGHT-left-right-right, LEFT-right-left-left. It takes a bit of practice to be able to do it fast! DANCE - The Lindy Hop was the favorite dance of the time. Dancers like Frankie Manning and Norma Miller danced the Lindy Hop at the Savoy. It’s derived from a dance called the Charleston. Students can learn a basic Lindy Hop step (stepkick, step-kick).
TEMPO 28
OCTOBER 2021
