Flipbooks finished

Here's a video of two of the finished flipbooks. And that great music in the background? Composed and performed by the students themselves!

Week 6 Classes 11 and 12

The flipbook-making continued this week, and I love the variety of ideas students have had! Basketball, demolition & construction, Olympic events, a sunrise, gardening, etc. I can't wait to see the finished products!

Week 5 Class 10 - Flip Books

Today the students at AOE began creating a Flip Book composition. We looked at examples and brainstormed themes and ideas. Eventually the students began to storyboard their ideas. Students will begin their flipbooks starting next week.

Check out an example flip book that inspired the students:

Week 5 Class 9 - Fundreds

Today the students at Academy of Excellence made their contribution to the FUNDRED project. The Fundred project is and innitiative to:

"Help make safe the lead-contaminated soil in U.S. cities that puts thousands of children at risk for severe learning disabilities and behavioral problems. New Orleans is one of the most lead-contaminated cities in the U.S.–this is where the solution starts."

Check out the Fundred Website and create your own Fundred!

http://www.fundred.org/

http://asuartmuseum.wordpress.com/2010/02/19/fundreds-closing-event/

Week 4 Class 8- Gamelan

Today we learned about one of Ethnomusicologists' favorite kinds of music: Gamelan from the island of Java in Indonesia. This music is created mostly from a variety of metal percussion instruments. After learning a little about the structure of the music, we composed our own complete gamelan piece and performed it with Mr. Ben playing the Indonesian Kendung drum.



After this we had an open jam session. It wasn't authentic Indonesian music, but it was fun nonetheless!

Week 4 Class 7- Architecture Parlantes, Part 2

Today we finished up our Architecture Parlantes, adding color and short descriptions of the location and purpose of the buildings. In the end we had a great variety of buildings, including a Phoenix Baseball Museum (complete with bating cages!), a music-themed hotel in Paris, a couple recording studios, and a mixed-use flowershop/observation deck (if you're willing to climb up the spiral staircase!), among others. Students had great ideas on how to make even the most commonplace buildings, such as banks and factories, creative and exciting.

Week 3 Class 6 - Architecture Parlante

Architecture Parlante or speaking architecture was the focus of today's class. Since the students had a chance to learn about ethnomusicology, Mr. Ben's area of focus in school on Tuesday, we took today to learn about Mr. Adam's area of study, architecture. After a brief presentation introducing the students to different types of architecture, the students worked on creating their own architecture parlantes, which are buildings that resemble what they are used for. Some examples include:

Check back next week for the student's Architecture Parlantes.

Week 3 Class 5 - Ethnomusicology

The focus of this week is to learn a little more about the instructors for Academy of Excellence. In today's class Mr. Ben spoke about Ethnomusicology, the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts. Students listened to music native of South America. They were then given instruments and learned various rhythms. We then practiced and performed various rhythms.

Week 2 Class 4 - Self Expression

On Thursday we had students express themselves on a small canvas overlaid by a transparent portrait. The final results were fantastic, and will be displayed at the "Formed of Matters" exhibition that will be held at the Step Gallery at ASU in February.