I just got caught up with posting some new composer lapbooks to the Color In My Piano shop!
As you may recall, I teach a Music History Class for homeschoolers each week. I started creating my own music history curriculum after I was unable to find anything quite like I was looking for. I ended up using the lapbooking format for my curriculum, because it is a visual, interactive way to learn historical facts and information. It has been quite a success so far! I am constantly impressed with how much information my students are able to absorb each week.
I call my curriculum The Great Composers & Their Music. Each $10 pdf download includes all the pages you will need to print for each student to create their own lapbook, as well as a printable biography booklet, and a few pages of extra information for the teacher. The license for this curriculum allows you to print as many pages as you like, as long as you are using the materials with your own students.
The curriculum is a pretty flexible. I teach each composer over three class periods, spending about 20-30 minutes out of the class on the lapbook. (We do other activities during the rest of the class time.) If you wish to use these lapbooks for a one-time class, you can probably cover the whole lesson in 60 minutes (or maybe 45 minutes if your students are junior high or older). A lot of it depends on how much time you devote to listening to excerpts of the composer’s music (a link to a YouTube playlist is provided).
Here is a peek at the 4 newest composers that have been added to the Color In My Piano shop!
Here is a picture of the assembled Debussy lapbook and the accompanying biography booklet. I think my students’ favorite part about studying Debussy was seeing some examples of Impressionist artwork and learning how it relates to Debussy’s music.
Here is a picture of the inside of the Beethoven lapbook. We listened to his most famous compositions so that we would be able to identify them by name upon hearing them, and then we talked about his three periods of compositional style.
The highlight about studying Saint-Saens, was listening to all the movements from Carnival of the Animals! My students loved learning about the musical jokes that are embedded in that work.
Our study of Scott Joplin brought about a discussing of ragtime music and syncopation. We also listened to some of Joplin’s most well-known piano rags and analyzed their forms.
These four new composer studies are now available in the shop for $10 each! Click here to view a page showing ALL of the composers currently available, and then click here to visit the shop.
These are beautiful. I can’t wait to purchase Beethoven to use in our homeschool. I was wondering if you could tell me a about some of the other activities you do in your music history class for homeschoolers. I’m always looking for fresh ways to do composer study. Thanks!
I’ll be sharing more about my homeschool classes soon, Shannon!
I am really interested in how you came to teach this Music History class. I’ve tried to get into the homeschooled realm in the past, but with little success. Any tips?
Hi Sara! I’ve been getting lots of questions about my homeschool class lately, so I am going to write up a full blog post soon! 🙂
Great job on this–I love the all around flexibility and the big picture it creates for students. Music would have made much more sense like this when I was young. Sadly I am not a music teacher, but this would be great for a homeschool co-op. Thanks for making it available.
Thanks, Anna! Yes, it would definitely be perfect for a homeschool co-op!
Love, Love, Love these! having taught at a Private school for 8 years, I too ended up creating my own curriculum. Wish I had thought of this “packaging” idea! I can’t wait to utilize and promote to my homeschool connections! Thank you!
Thanks, Valerie! I appreciate it!
Joy these look awesome!! When I have a need for these (either in my studio or with my own kids) and a little more spare cash, I am totally buying these!! You are an inspiration.
Thank you, Joy for these resources. I was planning to do a composer study with all my students this spring on Joplin. (Last year, we did Gershwin.) There are some arrangements by Carol Matz (Joplin for Students, Books 1-3) that I am planning to order so each student can experience some of his music. This study also leads nicely to prepare for our American Music Recital this summer. Just wanted you to know how much you have helped me to get ready for this unit of study. Thanks!