To the Geneseo Band Students – it’s “The Brazil Project”

Okay Honors Band members, here it is.  The Brazil assignment.  This will be known as “The Brazil Project”.  These are the parameters of the project:

1. You will keep a daily journal of things you observe and learn about music in Brazil.  You must make one journal entry each day that I am in Brazil.

2. There will be no journal entries for the travel days, March 12 and 21.  I will arrive in Brazil on Saturday, March 13, and will leave on Saturday March 20th.  So you should have one journal entry for each day, from the 13th through the 20th.

3. The information for your daily entry should be based on what you learn from the Brazil Blog.  Incidentally, when you go there, the picture of the open stick bag on the main page is my stick bag!  Our journalist, Abby Rhodes took the picture at the last rehearsal.  The mallets with the green felt belong to GHS.  Don’t worry, I’ll return them.

4. Each entry should be a half page, 14 point, times new roman, double spaced, 1 inch margins.

Your entries should consist of the following elements:  1. What is the most interesting (to you) musical fact, experience, insight that you read about today?  WHY?  2. What is something new you learned about Brazilian music today?  EXPLAIN.  3. Take a characteristic about Brazilian music, and compare or contrast it to the music that you play or listen to in your every day life.  (it doesn’t have to be your band music).  4. Describe something about the Brazilian culture that you learned today.  5. On who’s Brazil Blog did you leave a response on today?  WHY?

5. Remember, you are encouraged to read numerous peoples’ blog entries every day.  This is not designed to work for you if you only read my entries.  Regarding the responses, as you are perusing the different band members (or directors’) blogs, each day you must pick one person’s blog entry and leave a response for them.  It can be me or anyone else on the tour.  So while you’re reading, if you have a response in your head, click the button and make the entry.

6. Your journal entries can be based on observations of writing, still pictures, videos, or audio recordings.

7. So it’s a project that earns 5 points per day, over an 8 day period, so it’s a (5×8) 40 point project.

8. How will this project be graded?  During the week after I return, beginning Monday, March 22nd, I will collect your journals during 1st period.  For that week, during your assessment time, I will read your journal and give you your grade as your assessment grade for the week.  Therefore, you will not come in for an assessment during that week.

9. Be sure you understand the question and answer expectations of this project.

10. Enjoy the process.  As a student, I’ve never had a project that required me to click from one blog to the next on a well-organized site, read interesting stories about live musical experiences, see pictures, listen to music, and learn about another cultures music.  Treat this as a rare opportunity, that will certainly not occur again.  Enjoy the process.

11. TO CONFIRM THAT YOU READ ALL OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS, LEAVE A VERY BRIEF RESPONSE TO THIS ASSIGNMENT ON MY BRAZIL BLOG BEFORE THE END OF THE DAY THIS FRIDAY, MARCH 12TH.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS WHILE I’M GONE, SEND ME A MESSAGE ON THE BRAZIL BLOG.

THE GENESEO HIGH SCHOOL HONORS BAND “BRAZIL PROJECT”.  DO YOUR BEST, YOU’LL BECOME BETTER MUSICIANS.

ATE LOGO, TCHAU!