The Creslane Choir was able to perform its winter concert but missed out on its spring concert and other events after schools shut down in mid-March.
For Creswell Middle School band and choir, and Creslane Elementary choir and music students, “it has been quite an adjustment to have distance learning in music,” CMS choir director and Creslane music teacher/choir director Erik Telfer said of the impact of spring school closures.
But, while disappointed at losing performance and competitive opportunities – “Our CMS students were taking it to a new level and ready to show off,” said instrumental music director Sandi Green – students did adjust, even managing to have some fun doing it.
While Green worked with CMS band students, Telfer focused on CES music and both school choirs. And quickly hit some snags.
“Singing is such a social, interactive part of our culture, and to recreate that virtually is difficult,” Telfer said. “I have a lot of good singers who rely on each other when they sing but become very self-conscious when asked to record themselves singing. I attempted a little bit of this but didn’t get very far.”
So, Telfer – like many other educators this spring – thought creatively and shifted attention to his choir “community” as a whole.
Through online music activities, choir students were encouraged “to create and compose music and experience different aspects of interactive music,” he said; via Zoom, they played games together, including Scattergories, Music Bingo and Music Scavenger Hunt.
For Music Bingo, Telfer put themed songs (e.g., Disney songs) on four bingo boards and created a Spotify playlist from them. As he shuffled the playlist, students looked for each song on the bingo boards. For CMS choir he included pop songs – “some of which we sung, and others that would be considered choir anthems,” he said.
Music Scavenger Hunt asked students to find various music-related items – for example, something that makes a low, high, long or short sound, or no sound.
“My favorite was to find a cassette tape,” Telfer said. “It surprised me that there were quite a few students who didn’t know what a cassette tape was.”
The goal was to keep students listening, singing and moving to the songs.
“It has been a joy seeing what activities resonated with the students, and there has also been greater parent involvement with their music,” said Telfer, who also created a “virtual talent show” video of choir students sharing various talents. (Watch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2sRYjc0OTE.)
During weekly music lessons, Creslane students explored Google Chrome Music Lab and Google Mix Lab, completed simple composer reports and designed playlists based on questions asked.
“In Chrome Music Lab, I had fifth-graders create songs with Songmaker,” Telfer said. “It was great hearing their compositions.”
Fourth-graders learned note names on the treble clef staff; third-graders discovered emotion in music; second-graders were introduced to meter in three with “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and to performing an ostinato (a musical phrase or rhythm continually repeated throughout a composition).
First-graders learned about the quarter rest and made their own rhythm using it, experienced songs involving motion and were introduced to Saint-Saens’ “Carnival of the Animals.”
Kindergartners made instruments, playing them to a new song Telfer introduced, and practiced songs for their virtual Teddy Bear Picnic.
All classes experienced music-themed Google doodles that Telfer pieced together on an interactive slide.
While challenging, distance learning had positive takeaways too: “There were great individual connections with students; the challenge would be how to pull those connections back into the school setting,” Telfer said.
Still, “Nothing replaces being with our students in a real, non-virtual setting,” he said. “I miss our students and can’t wait to be with them in person and making music together.”
