 | Students used blocks to learn what makes wooden instruments resonate during a recent kindergarten class at Lincoln Basset School. Working with students Tah/Janay McKnight (left) and Diamond Robertson are (from left) Class of 1957 members John Shaw and Gus Kellogg and keyboard instructor Jean Lawrence. |
Topics that combine music and science -- such as the question of why wooden instruments resonate, the relationship between pitch and an instrument's length and ways in which the form of butterflies could be related to music -- were explored in an event that brought together Connecticut educators, Yale alumni, elementary schoolchildren and members of the media in the Law School's Levinson Auditorium on May 20.
The gathering showcased the ways in which music education is being integrated into the elementary school core curriculum at New Haven's Lincoln-Bassett School as part of an outreach project funded by the Yale College Class of 1957.
Called the Music in Schools Initiative, the project is operated by the School of Music and coordinated by Denise Meyer. The gift from the Class of 1957 enables music to be at the core of the curriculum at Lincoln-Bassett, where it is used to develop and reinforce cognitive skills, beginning with the Special Needs Preschool and Head Start programs and continuing into the upper grades.
Through the Music in Schools Initiative, every child in the school receives music instruction four times per week. Lincoln-Bassett introduces the youngest children to music and movement classes. Kindergarten students begin to study keyboard and general music, integrating motor skills, ear training and interpretative lessons that reinforce both math and reading. In third grade, students are introduced to strings, and in fourth grade, they may begin wind and brass instruments.
At the Law School, the kindergarten classes explored the resonance of wooden instruments, while first graders investigated the relationship between pitch and an instrument's length, and third graders related the form of butterflies to music. Student musicians also performed for faculty and guests. A three-hour symposium titled "Advancing Music -- Advancing Minds: Music as a Core Curriculum" was also held for Connecticut educators and Class of 1957 alumni. It featured a keynote address by Clifford Madsen, a professor at the Center for Music Research in the School of Music at Florida State University.
The Music in Schools Initiative will expand to other schools in New Haven and become a regional -- and then national -- model. The Yale Class of 1957 will establish an endowment as their 50th reunion gift in 2007 to support the program in perpetuity. The initiative currently funds two instrumental teachers, instruments, supplies, professional development activities and consultants.
As part of the initiative, graduate students from the School of Music serve as interns at Lincoln-Bassett and three other public schools, giving small group lessons and assisting with after-school programs. Yale students and faculty perform outreach concerts and coach chamber ensembles.
Immediately preceding the Class of 1957's reunion in 2007, the School of Music will hold a two-day symposium on music education to celebrate the dedication of the endowment.
For further information on the Music in Schools Initiative, visit the program's website at http://musicinschools.org.
T H I S
Project funded by Class of 1957 is adding
music education to city's core curriculum
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