STEAM Activities

Commercial Jingle Project Using a Green Screen The Commercial Jingle Project started as a Quaver lesson, but it morphed into an incredible collaborative adventure that will forever change the way I teach music. The 5th grade commercial jingle project in the Quaver Curriculum was such a fun learning adventure for my 4th graders this spring. It started out simple, but as you will see, it grew in complexity. Instead of creating a jingle for a randomly imagined product, I gave my 4th graders the task of coming up with a product – either real or made up – connected to a state or region of the United States. My goal was to connect music to their year-long curricular geography study. Little did I know how this simple project would open our eyes to collaborative learning like never before. The inspiration came from several sources. Inspiration Everywhere One of the glorious benefits of presenting around the country is meeting innovative music educators who inspire me to dream, who ignite a passion for deeper learning, and who have the uncanny ability to make the complex look simple. Amy Burns, a dear friend and one of the most innovative music educators I know, inspires me in every way, but especially with her cross-curricular projects. It’s fun to dream and bounce off ideas with Amy, but what I love about her is how she challenges me, by example, to dig deeper and integrate technology with integrity. She keeps me grounded in my dreams yet provokes me to soar! 🙂 Katie Wardrobe, another friend and amazing musician to emulate, inspires me through her instructive blog posts and on-line training resources. What a delight to finally spend time with her at TMEA 16 where she demonstrated how students can make their own film scores. Such an approachable and  gifted teacher,  Katie inspires me to believe I can do what seemed impossible before. And I can’t help but be motivated by Quaver curriculum because of the many innovative resources that my kids (and I) love.  So many ideas… so little time! Yes, inspiration is everywhere and what fascinates me most are the stories of how projects allow students to feel creative as they end up with something unique and completed to share with friends and family. I wanted to try a cross-curricular project like Amy, I wanted to be brave and bold to try new things like Katie, and I wanted my students to think I’m cool and clever like Quaver. That’s how the Commercial Jingle Project Using a Green Screen got started. Steps to the 50 Nifty Commercial Jingle Project Develop a product Students worked in small groups to develop a fictional product and brainstorm descriptive words for the advertisement. While brainstorming ideas for products, students researched their selected regions of the United States to make their products believable. Write the ad Students wrote their advertisement copy as a persuasive writing assignment. The Quaver curriculum guide was very helpful in this section and gave practical but fun examples and prompts to help the students. Some students just wanted to “wing it,” but we all found that in a 60sec commercial, every word and action matters and must be chosen carefully. Create a Jingle Teams had to come up with backing music and an ending jingle. Together, we researched how to make an effective jingle and what makes an ear-worm. We discussed backing music and how the genre needs to match the product. In the original Quaver lesson, the students were to create backing music using classroom instruments. I should have followed the directions!!! Creating backing music on the iPads proved problematic as the Garageband app updated right in the middle of this project; and if you know anything about Garageband, you know what a mess that was! As a result, the backing music was de-emphasised as too many new things were happening all at once. I will do a better job preparing and guiding them next year. Design a Logo In Art class, students learned about advertisement and how to design a logo for different purposes.  Each team member created his/her own logo for their product and the best was chosen. The students enjoyed sharing their logo design and the meaning of the details to their classmates. Commercial Jingle Project using a Green Screen Animation? Although limited animation was possible with the DoInk Animation app, students had to imagine how they wanted to use animation in the commercial. What magical action did they want and how could we do it using green screen technology and the animation app? The wheels started turning! Lessons in teamwork Amazingly, our 4th graders took this project and ran with it. They worked together during class time, during recess, and even called each other on the phone after school. At first, students struggled to agree on a believable product and how to describe it creatively. In a week’s time they were finalizing the wording of the ad, and bringing in handmade props and costumes. All of the teachers involved were amazed at the focus that this project created. (This was my first time ever working with a team of teachers on a project!) The children went far beyond what we could ever imagine and the planning process was a great lesson in teamwork. However, it wasn’t without the occasional hurt feelings and tears, so there were opportunities for life lessons in listening and working together to find a solution. Film the Commercial using a Green Screen The twist to our commercial came when we decided to film it using green screen technology because students also had to create or choose images to use in the background as well as costumes and props, etc., for a 60-90sec commercial. After about two weeks of planning, filming began before school, during recess, during class time, and after school.  Some teams had students who wanted to be in the background filming while others wanted to take charge. It was amazing how engaged ALL of the students became during this project. While waiting their turn to film, some students would be rehearsing or helping with props or costumes, while others wanted to actually run the camera or just say, “Action!” Since this was our first green screen project, it took all