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BLAST Elementary Thematic Program

(October and November 2011)


Music is All Around Us

Recommended for grades K-2

Birds chirping, children laughing, flies buzzing... these may be ordinary sounds to us, but to many musicians, these sounds are pure inspiration. During this interactive program, students will explore different types of music, rhythms and sounds and will have a chance to do a fun music activity!

Music Books:

Gollub, Matthew
The Jazz Fly

What's the buzz? It's a fly who speaks jazz, and he's asking different critters which way to town. "Rrribit," replies the frog. "Oink," says the hog. The fly, although baffled, hears music in their words, and that evening he stirs up a jazz solo that sets the dinner club a hoppin'.


Weinstein, Muriel Harris
When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat

oooba lee coooo

oooba lee cat

blow me a bubble in

bubble gum SCAT

This joyful tribute to Louis Armstrong and scat is downright contagious!


Weatherford, Carole Boston
Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane

Young John Coltrane was all ears. And there was a lot to hear growing up in the South during the 1930s: church songs, preachers praying, music on the radio, the bustling of the household. John was surrounded by all kinds of vivid noises that shaped his own sound as a musician.


Cunnane, Kelly
Chirchir is Singing

Chirchir just wants to help. But she drops Mama's water bucket, spills Kogo's tea, and sends Baba's potatoes tumbling down the hill. Everybody has a special job to do. Isn't there something that Chirchir does best?


Music That Tells a Story

Recommended for grades 3-5

Music is important to many people, but have you ever heard the story behind the music? In this interactive program, students will explore the stories behind the music and listen to the unique soundsof original folk tunes. A hands-on (noisy!) activity is included.


Sullivan, Sarah
Passing The Music Down

A young boy travels to the hills of Appalachia to meet the old-time fiddle player whose music he admires. "Will you teach me all your tunes?" the boy askes, and thus begins a friendship that will forge a bond between generations as the boy assumes the mantle of tradition, learning the music that came before him and promising to pass it on.


Winter, Jonah

Dizzy Gillespie was a real cool cat who must have been born with a horn in his hands. The trumpet was his ticket on a train to better days, and he left his hard life in a small town for New York, and the hottest band around. But did Dizy stand straight and play right? NO! He hit high notes, low notes, never-been-heard notes, acted silly, played around, puffed his cheeks out like a clown... a created a whole new kind of music: BEBOP. This is a story about a boy who breaks all the rules and ends up head of the class, top of the heap, the ska-diddley dee bop! Prince of Jazz.


Pinkney, Andrea Davis
Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa

Ella Fitzgerald began her life as a singer on the stage of the famous Apollo Theatre when she was just seventeen years old. Her rich voice and vocal innovations brought her international fame and a remarkable career that spanned over half a century.