Buchanan's Outreach Choir Visits Oakview Place

On June 5th our Grade 4/5 Outreach Choir visited the residents at Extendicare Oakview Place. It was a wonderful morning! There was singing, visiting, laughing and a good time had by all! Check out the video of our visit below!

This journey has been an excellent learning experience for our students! Take a look at our journey and what we have learned:

The Big Idea:

How can we reach out to members of our community through music? 

Students responded to this question, and most of them suggested singing at a local nursing home.

I sent emails to all of the homes in our area, and received responses from two homes that were interested in partnering with us. Because one of our other classrooms in the school was already partnering with one of these two homes, we chose to partner with Oakview Place. 

In preparation for this project, students had several learning activities:

1. 1)  They worked with their classroom teachers to write letters to residents, telling them about themselves as well as asking questions about the residents and their music preferences. 
    
2. 2)  The choir watched several videos on the effects of music on elderly people from the documentary “Alive Inside: Music and Memory” (http://goo.gl/BaFhP). Through these videos, students learned about alzheimer’s disease, and the amazing effects music had on the memories of patients. They saw how music that was familiar to and loved by the residents brought back memories, emotions and enjoyment to these patients, and wanted to do the same for Oakview residents. 
    
3. 3)  As a group, we read the responses from the residents at Oakview Place, and singled out the music they requested for us to sing for them. We began practicing the following, as requested:

• Waltzing Matilda

• Jesus Loves Me

• Kumbaya

• You Are My Sunshine

• Toora Loora (An Irish Lullaby)

4. 4)  Students also noted that they would like to share one of the other songs we had been working on called “Chanda Mama (A Lullaby from India). 
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6. 5)  Due to unforeseen circumstances, we needed to remove Jesus Loves Me & Kumbaya from our repertoire
   
   6) We also added "Born To Make Music", "In This House Tonight" and "Hard Times Come Again No More"
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8. Music Curriculum Connections

9. Several outcomes from the Manitoba Music Curriculum were met through this project:
    
10. Students will:
    • demonstrate appreciation of music as a means of experiencing and exploring our own and others' lives (e.g., feelings, beliefs, stories, events, cultures)
    • demonstrate appreciation of music as a means of experiencing the world and understanding the perspectives of others
    • demonstrate understanding of the multiple roles and purposes of music in society (e.g., for enjoyment, persuasion, social commentary, mood creation, spiritual experience, dancing)
    • perform, listen to, describe, and compare music representative of different times, places, social groups and cultures (include: music from past and present and from global, Canadian, and Manitoban cutlures)
    • respect and acknowledge that individuals may have different interpretations and preferences regarding musical works and experiences
    • respect and value a wide range of music and music-making experiences
    • demonstrate understanding of ways in which music reflects and influences the identity of individuals and groups
    • demonstrate awareness of the meanings and/or purposes (e.g., for relaxing, working, dancing, celebrating) of music encountered in own performance and listening experiences
    • demonstrate awareness of general characteristics of music within groups (e.g., cultural, social, historical, contexts)
    • identify, share, and talk about examples of music experienced at home, at school, and in the community
     
11. Overall this was a fantastic experience for students. Following our performance, we received a card from Oakview Place:
     
    
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