Learning With Jazz

By Lucille Renwick
Walk through the halls of Washington Rose Elementary School in Long Island, New York, and you find yourself enveloped by the sights and sounds of jazz. Pictures of famous jazz artists and time lines chronicling the evolution of jazz adorn the walls. The strains of jazz flow from Faye Nelson's second grade classroom, where it's played from the moment the students walk in the door until they leave at the end of the day. Teachers at Washington Rose, along with others in two Pemberville, Ohio, elementary schools, and in a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-area elementary school, are proving that teaching jazz music and its history is no longer limited to the music curriculum. Standards-based lessons in language arts, social studies, and even science can spring from this unique American music form.

The use of jazz in each of the three schools began with a similar two-part goal: to enrich standard curricula and to raise students' understanding and appreciation of a music form widely recognized for its rich cultural heritage rooted in the African-American experience. Each found success in various ways: student confidence soared; student interest increased; and, in some cases, student achievement improved. Many of the teachers noted an added benefit — their students came to appreciate the influence of jazz on the music they listen to, such as pop, rock, and hip-hop.

In each school, teachers presented lessons focusing on different jazz artists and/or different types of jazz music — blues, be-bop, swing, Dixieland, New Orleans jazz. They matched a book about a jazz musician with that artist's music to give their students a multisensory experience with the artist and his work. The teachers usually followed these lessons with activities such as theatrical performances and art projects. "The children are challenged in so many different ways ... but they're not intimidated by the work because they're so excited," said Paulette Taylor, a first grade teacher at Washington Rose.

Geographical Jazz

Students at Washington Rose Elementary have been studying jazz and its origins for the past three years as part of a pilot program called "Jazz Sampler." The "Jazz Sampler" project is a joint venture between Washington Rose Elementary and a Long Island-based non-profit organization called "Friends of the Arts." The program was developed to provide teachers with art- and literacy-based activities that meet New York State standards, and which they could incorporate into their lessons as they saw fit. It was also an effort to expose the predominantly African-American student body to another part of Black History.

Each year of the project has focused on a different type of jazz; this year it is Latin jazz. The project stresses literacy, but has also focused on social studies, geography, and science. For example, during a recent social studies lesson, Nelson's second graders learned how, during slavery, African drums were brought from Africa to many Caribbean and Latin American countries. Slaves played the drums to send messages. The drums remained an important part of the culture after slavery ended and, over time, influenced the music of the region. Today, drums are widely used throughout much of Latin music, including Latin jazz music. (Just try to imagine Desi Arnaz without his famous conga drums!)
http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/music/jazz.htm