This is a guest post by one of our teacher-authors, Katherine Miller.
Overview
‘Tis the season for The Nutcracker! Besides being one of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s most famous compositions, The Nutcracker holds a special place in many holiday traditions in the community and probably in your music classroom too. The only thing that could make this beloved ballet even better might be finding ways to incorporate technology into this yearly tradition.
Here are 8 ways you can make this holiday season a little more delightful using technology to enhance your exploration of The Nutcracker with students. Keep your eyes open for the special gifts I’ve created (as notated by ????) to sweeten the season for you too!
1. Performances
If you can’t travel to see a live performance, bring a performance of this famous ballet to your classroom by viewing a recording of the complete story with your students. My favorite performance to share is the 1993 performance featuring Macaulay Culkin, a holiday tradition in his own rite. You can also find so many amazing performances online including this one from the Russian State Ballet on YouTube.
2. Play Alongs
Become one of the musicians who bring this story to life by playing along with the famous themes. There are a variety of options including using Boomwhackers, classroom instruments, and bucket drums available on YouTube. ???? Here is a link to a playlist that includes some of my favorites to try.
3. Interactive Listening Maps
Another great way to experience all of the famous pieces included in The Nutcracker is by viewing an interactive listening map like this ????. Listening maps can help to reinforce students’ understanding of instruments, form and other elements of music in a fun and engaging way.
4. Explore the Form
Students can create their own map of sorts by exploring the form of some of the popular melodies from The Nutcracker. For instance, “The March”. Students can utilize icons to notate what they are hearing and extend that into creating their own movements to perform during each section. ????You can access this activity and the accompanying student worksheet by clicking here.
5. Digital Listening Logs and Storytelling
Want to tap into your student’s creativity? My colleague, Jared Ziegler, begins by only telling students the story of The Nutcracker up to a certain point, and then has them create ideas for the next part of the story based on embedded music from the ballet and a picture. This is a great opportunity to reinforce students’ musical knowledge as well as tap into their own creativity to be the composer of a programmatic work based on what they are hearing. Here’s an example of something to try:
6. Composing Using Chrome Music Lab
Students can try their hand at composing like Tchaikovsky using the Songmaker on Chrome Music Lab. There are a couple of options for doing this based on your students’ musical learning:
- You can begin the melody for students and have them complete it as it was written for the ballet.
- You can have students continue to add melodic features to create a variation on the famous theme.
- You can have students add unpitched accompaniment to enhance the texture of the melody.
- You can have students make choices about the tempo and instrumentation.
???? Here is an example of the Russian Dance (Trepak) that can be shared with students by choosing “Save” in the bottom right corner of the Songmaker screen. Once you have clicked this button, it will give you a unique link to share with students to begin their own composition from what you have started.
7. QR Code “Write the Room” Activity
“Write the Room” is a great activity for kinesthetic learners! It allows students to get up and get moving throughout the room. In this case, students can utilize their devices to hunt for some of the famous Nutcracker themes around the room by embedding each theme into a QR code.
Simply create a code for each theme you would like students to listen to. I love using each of the dances from “The Land of Sweets” because they are all so unique and have all sorts of different delicious treats associated with them to serve as a clue to what students might be hearing!
Then, print the QR codes out to hang in different areas of your classroom. Give each student a recording sheet before they begin to hunt around the room for each card and write down their guess about which song belongs to which dance. ???? Here is a template to get you started with this activity in your own classroom!
8. Virtual Music Hall
Remember the virtual classroom craze? What about a virtual concert hall? You can collect all of your favorite digital Nutcracker resources and make them available to students to explore on their own by adding them to a Google Slide presentation. Here are some beautiful examples I found shared on some Facebook groups:
Are you curious about how to create your own? Check out this webinar about Google Slides for Music Teachers. At 28:16, Katie shows the basics on how to create an interactive classroom which can be used to get you started.
Whether you incorporate a song, an activity, or the entire ballet, remember that the spirit of The Nutcracker is bringing the enchantment of music and dance to everyone! What traditions do you have in your classroom in December to capture that excitement and awe? Please leave a comment below.
Download your copy
Would you like to take a copy of this with you? Click the button below and a copy of this will be sent directly into your inbox.
About Katherine Miller
Katherine (Katie) Miller holds a Bachelor of Music in Education degree from Otterbein University (Westerville, OH) and a Masters of Educational Leadership from Antioch McGregor Midwest (Yellow Springs, OH). She has 15 years of professional musical experience as a music educator and performer.
She is currently employed by the School District of Waukesha in Waukesha, WI, where she teaches K-5 General Music and serves as a district model tech classroom. She was recognized in 2018 as a WPT Education Innovator by the Wisconsin Public Television Education team. Twitter: K8TMiller
Looking for More Resources for Music Teachers?
Hello! I’m Katie Argyle – an Australian music technology trainer and consultant with a passion for helping music teachers through my business Midnight Music.
I’m a qualified teacher but no, I don’t currently teach in a school. I help teachers through my online professional development space – the Midnight Music Community – where there are tutorial videos, courses, links and downloadable resources.
I like to focus on easy ways to incorporate technology into what you are already doing in your music curriculum through a range of creative projects. I also run live workshops and have presented at countless conferences and other music education events.
If you want simple, effective ideas for using technology in music education, I would LOVE to help you inside the Midnight Music Community.
2 Comments
If you and your kids are looking for more outdoor activities to do together, try geocaching. This game involves finding hidden treasures in various locations around the world. With over 20 million participants, geocaching is the world’s largest outdoor treasure hunt. It’s a fun and challenging game that combines GPS tracking with adventure. With over three million geocaches scattered around the world, it’s not hard to imagine that there are some hidden boxes in parks and urban areas.
Music has been changing technology for over a decade. From the invention of a gramophone to AI music innovations, it has always been entertaining us. Technological innovations in music have made significant progress at an exponential rate. Now the future of music is developing at a faster pace. Today we will learn about the end of the music experience and what new trends can exist in the future. So let us find out different future music trends.