Creative Learning Journey Teacher ResourcesMusic of the Forest

Stages ES1 1

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IntroductionThese Creative Learning Journey Resources have been prepared to help you get the most out of Music Of The Forest. These resources are full of activities and inspiration to prepare your studentsbefore coming to see the performance, what you can do on the way, what you can do at theSydney Opera House and then unpacking the experience back in the classroom.

You should adapt these Resources to suit the student age and stage of your class and thecurriculum foci and outcomes used in your school. These Resources are written as a creativedocument for you to bring to life. If you have questions about exercises or provocations please feel free to make contact to talk it through. We are always open to feedback, comments and working with you to assist and learn from you. Contact details are on the back page.

Some websites are suggested throughout this resource. It is recommended that you first visit the sites and assess the suitability of the content for your particular school environment before setting the activities based on these.

Performance Descriptionand SynopsisA unique and intimate classical music experience

Venture through the fern-filled and leaf-littered forest paths of the Frugal Forest, an installation made entirely from salvaged materials, and listen to the stories the forest people have to share. Deep in the forest stands a clearing where kids will find themselves immersed by a unique and intimate classical music experience.

Featuring iconic music from renowned composers (including Wagner and Messiaen), this incredible music experience will introduce kids to the instrument families and the ways in which music can be used to capture the sounds of an envi-ronment.

Presented by Sydney Opera House and Frugal Arts

Sydney Opera House Creativity FrameworkThese Creative Learning Journey Resources have been written using the Sydney Opera House Creativity Framework as the pedagogy. This Framework underpins much of what we do in our work with schools. More information can be found at the Sydney Opera House website. In short the Framework aims to define the creative process in a way that educators can use to teach and be inspired by.

At a glance this Creativity Framework is:

Prepare: Tools and PathwaysPreparing mind, body, space, materials and time.

Buy in: Presence and EnthusiasmConvincing students that they want to be there.

Imagine: The Fertile UnknownExploring a subject through arts practice.Using form to uncover content. Allowing uncensoredexpression to reveal new ways of seeing a subject.

Question: Analysis, investigation and revelation Creating new understanding by analyzing what justhappened when honing the imagination.

Make: forging form from contentPutting shape to content and moving towardsa project; scripts, composition, choreography,project design.

Show: Commit, frame, judgementPerforming and presenting the work.

Reflect: Remembering, Processing, exitingCreating understanding and healthy memories fromthe creative process and product.

Creative Learning Journey Resource Notes Conceived and illustrated by Lilly Blue

Lilly Blue is a visual artist, educator (BFA, Dip Ed) and publisher with a background inphysical performance, installation and community arts. She edits, curates and publishesBIG Kids Magazine together with dancer/writer Jo Pollitt, which features the work of children and artists side by side. Lilly worked as Head of Creative Learning with The Red RoomCompany and travels Internationally delivering arts residencies, professional development, creative commissions and exhibitions, as well as designing programming for young audiences drawn from a rigorous personal practice. Lilly Blue is one of the Sydney Opera HouseTeaching Artists and was instrumental in developing the Creativity Framework.

http://www.bigkidsmagazine.com/

New NSW Syllabus The existing NSW K-6 Creative Arts Syllabus

Music of the Forest

Early Stage 1

Outcomes Content General capabilities and cross-curriculumpriorities

Creative Arts Music MUES1.4A student: listens to andresponds to music.

Listening.

Creative Arts Drama DRAES1.4A student: responds to dramaticexperiences.

Appreciating.

Stage 1

Creative Arts Music MUS1.4A student: responds to a range of music, expressing likes and dislikes and thereasons for these choices.

Listening.

Creative Arts Drama DRAS1.4A student: appreciates dramatic work during the making of their own drama andthe drama of others.

Appreciating.

Stage 2

Creative Arts Music MUS2.4A student: identifies the use of musical concepts and musical symbols in arange of repertoire.

Listening.

Creative Arts Drama DRAS2.4A student: responds to, and interprets dra-ma experiences and performances

Appreciating.

Stage 3

Creative Arts Music MUS3.4A student: identifies the use of musical concepts and symbols in a range ofmusical styles.

Listening.

Creative Arts Drama DRAS3.4A student: responds criticallyto a range of dramaworks andperformance styles.

Appreciating.

Classroom Context andCurriculum LinksThis performance provides the classroom teacher withmany opportunities for learning activities that linkto the following curriculum

Music of the ForestLearning Resource Activities

Write a list of every single thing you can think of that ends up wasted during your school day.

Cut up all your lists and make a long whole class poem that is a mish-mash of everyones individual lists. Think about rhythm, repetition, and alliteration.

Learn the list poem off by heart and perform it at assembly.

mandarin peelchalk dustcoffee cupspaper

broken pencilsrubber rubbingstoilet rollspaper

breathstrawswatertimebottle topspaper

As a class brainstorm all the waste created at your school every day.Think about pencil shavings, practice sheets, paper cups and food scraps. Ask office, canteen, library, custodial and sports staff about the things they have noticed being thrown away.

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Less is More

When we use waste to inspire creativity and play we challenge the idea that those materials are useless and without value. Recycled materials are often perceived as imperfect and not precious (unlike expensive art materials) which means they are the perfect objects to inspire radical creativity and open-ended play.

Collect as many clean waste materials from around your school and homes as you can. Cardboard boxes, toilet rolls, empty containers, paper cups, woodoff-cuts, bags etc. Make sure all the materials are clean and safe to use.

Create an installation in your classroom of found objects so that when the children arrive to school they are met by carefully orchestrated and curious sculptures balanced all over their desks, the floor and other surfaces. Invite students to enter the classroom in silence with the instruction to explore, create and play quietly with the objects. As they begin to become immersed and follow their imaginations put on some music to create a particular ambiance. Facilitate their imaginations as they explore by adding random things from your existing resources that they might need to bring their imaginings to life.

Create a sound sculpture using only found and recycled materials. Invite stu-dents to form ensembles and perform short compositions for the class.

Make bouquets or a garden of flowers using bottle tops, cardboard, paper, wire and off cuts. Display them in vases or on walls as reminders of the po-tential beauty and usefulness in materials we discard.

Look out the window and notice as many things as you can that are part of the natural world: trees, grass, sky, flowers, sunlight, wind, birds what else?

Play I spy with my little eye only using things you can see that were made by human beings.

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Explore The Royal Botanic Garden.

Take your shoes off and feel the grass between your toes.

Lie down on your back in the shade and look up into the trees for a long time. Even when you feel like getting up stay a little bit longer. Imagine you are sinking into the ground or floating up into the branches. Breathe. Keep breathing. How do you feel?

Follow the poetic pathways to find poems hidden by poets from The Red Room Company throughout the gardens. Find the map below.

Visit: New Shoots Poems inspired by plants.

Reflections

How did your body feel when you walked into the forest?

What adjectives would you use to describe what you noticed?

Can you remember the very first thing you saw in the forest?What do you think it was made out of?

What was the tiniest thing you discovered?

Did something surprise you?

What did you hear? How do you think the sound score in the forest was made?

Were you able to recognise any salvaged and recycled materials?

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https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/RoyalBotanicGarden/media/RBG/Learn/PDFs/New-Shoots-Map.pdf

Drawing feelings

Close your eyes and think about how it felt to walk through Music of the Forest. How did your heart feel? What do you think your brain might have looked like while you were exploring the artwork? Do these feelings have a colour? Would you draw these feelings with soft swirly lines, or bright fast lines, or strong straight lines?

Choose a palette of 3 coloured pencils that look beautiful or interesting together and do an abstract drawing expressing the way you felt walking through Music of the Forest.

Using a new palette of colours draw everything you can remember from Music of the Forest.