Roots of American Music residencies provide a rich, engaging musical experience for students to help them recognize the relationship between the past and present. ROAM programs are aligned with Ohio Department of Education Standards in areas such as math, social studies, English and the arts.
ROAM artists connect specific periods of American history and social change with folk, jazz, blues, gospel, bluegrass and old-time country music. Students gain an enhanced awareness of American history, increased understanding of racial, cultural and ethnic differences and a sense of pride for the contributions made by their own culture. Also dedicated to the sheer joy of music, ROAM artists provide students with the opportunity to sing and play music, create musical instruments and write their own songs, creating a memorable lesson that is fun and engaging. Residencies conclude with a final performance by students of songs they have written for an all-school assembly. Professional CD or DVD recordings of student performances are available.
Taking Charge of My Cash, the primary objective of this new arts-integrated program is for students to grasp and retain the applications of math standards and benchmarks to real-life money management. Students in grades 3-6 will cover math benchmarks for these grades in a CMSD-approved curriculum. For higher grades, the “Taking Charge of My Cash” program gets more in-depth about life skills and shows students how to budget money, getting the most out of checking and savings accounts. It also demonstrates the financial traps involved in short-term “payday” loans, rent-to-own programs, and credit cards. In order to retain these lessons, students will write and record songs about wise and foolish ways to manage money. The music aspect will draw on many forms, including blues, rhythm and blues, rock, and rap. This program is aimed not only at helping students pass the OGT, but also at providing a lifelong basis for making wise financial decisions. (Recommended for Grades 3-6)
American Heroes, is a multi-disciplinary program which examines how individuals from all economic, social, religious and cultural backgrounds emerge as ‘heroes.” The program addresses benchmarks in Reading and Social Studies. The student’s definition of hero is expanded beyond that of the modern day sports, music and television celebrities. The program helps students realize that, although uncelebrated, they are surrounded by “heroes” and excellent role models in the form of their peers, teachers and parents. Musical instruments including guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica, violin and bass violin as well as home-made instruments such as the washboard, jaw harp, diddley-bow, washtub bass, kazoo and percussion shakers will be introduced. Students hold a final performance of their own songs with a ROAM backup band. (Recommended for Grades 4-8)
The Great Community Mystery, encourages inner-city youth to celebrate their community, its people and its history while they develop skills in map reading, geography, multimedia technology and music performance and appreciation. The project concludes with student recording sessions and an all-school assembly, reinforcing the meaning of community and instilling pride in the students’ neighborhood. (Recommended for Grades 2-3)
OHIO (Only Happened in Ohio), includes activities that focus on Ohio’s waterways. Students learn about the importance of rivers and canals, the Great Lakes and the historical significance of these bodies of water. Through the use of maps and timelines, students discover how Native Americans and pioneers used Ohio’s waterways. This residency culminates in a Saturday night square dance and performance of student-composed songs. (Recommended for Grades 3-6)
Unchained: From Slavery to the Civil Rights Movement, for 7th and 8th grade students, teaches about the turbulent time in US history beginning with Slavery, through the Reconstruction and up to the Civil Rights Movement. Highlights of the individual classroom activities will be shared on our website and on a complementary CD to be taken home by each individual student. Students experience live music, learn songs and stories, write original lyrics to traditional music forms, and perform. (Recommended for Grades 6-8)
People on the Move, Students will learn about the movement of people from the old world to the new, from east to west, south to north, country to city, oppression to freedom, through exploration of uniquely American musical genres, such as folk, blues, jazz and rock. Robin Pease will engage students in singing, clapping out rhythms, writing new words to old songs as well as write an opera backed by ROAM musicians. Students will play simple instruments.They will come to understand the oral tradition, the mixing of cultures to create new genres, the influence of social conditions and technology on the transmission and experience of music. They will also learn about pitch, tempo, dynamics, melody, harmony, verse and chorus, rhythm and rhyme.
Jug Band Jamboree, Addresses, Music and Language Arts in a residency which asks - What did people do for entertainment before TV, radio, CD’s and MP3’s? A hundred years ago jug bands featured instruments made from everyday objects, such as washboards (played with thimbles), washtubs, spoons and jugs. In this residency children try traditional jugband instruments, make instruments from discarded bottles, create new songs from old, and make music with objects chosen from a basket of “junk.” They develop listening skills, pattern recognition, vocabulary and phonemic awareness (does a washtub bass go “thunk” or “thump?”) (Recommended for Grades Pre-K - 2)
I Live in a City, Addresses Social Studies and Language Arts benchmarks to ask - who and what make up a community? Children participate verbally and kinesthetically in songs about community helpers, diversity, occupations, transportation, and the natural environment, and write, arrange and perform a song about their own community. Along the way, they experience traditional American song forms, such as call-and-response, story songs and work songs. They practice and develop listening skills, pattern recognition, vocabulary, comprehension and phonemic awareness. (Recommended for Grades Pre-K - 2)
