Sound Discoveries

Music Integration Residency

The Sound Discoveries School Residency program brings weekly music instruction into schools looking for increased arts access and integration. Each residency is customized to address each school’s individual learning goals.

Partner School Stories

Hays-Porter School (Residency school since fall 2016)
Every week at Hays-Porter, third and fourth graders meet with CSO Teaching Artist Liz Wu to explore how music integrates with math and technology. As a CPS Vision 2020 High Tech school, Hays-Porter’s Sound Discoveries students use tablets, composition software, video design tools, and audio recording equipment to discover how music and sound is used in various projects, settings and fields.

Teachers have indicated overall student improvement in attentiveness, patience, curiosity and excitement to learn. Students also saw an overall improvement in retention of music fundamental skills throughout the residency.

VIEW STUDENT WORK 2017-2018

Rothenberg Preparatory Academy (Residency School since Fall 2018)
Music classes in grades 2, 4, 5 and 6 join CSO Teaching Artist, Liz Wu, to explore how sound is created in both music and the world around us. The students learn about instruments and sound production through hands-on activities including making their own craft instruments, completing experiments to witness sound and vibration, and creating music through electronic composition.

Pilot Programs

During Spring 2019, Sound Discoveries led pilot programs with Oyler School and South Avondale School. Both groups learned about how sound is produced both in and outside the orchestra. Students at South Avondale extended the pilot over several weeks and used classroom percussion equiment to dive deeper into the concepts of rhythm and sound. They also created their own "ringtones" using electronic audio software.

LISTEN TO STUDENT CREATED RINGTONES 2019

Meet Our CSO Teaching Artist

Liz Wu

CSO Teaching Artist

Liz Wu is a professional musician, CCM graduate, fitness instructor and published children's book author who has combined her love of music, movement and language into fun, engaging programs designed to maximize learning on many fronts. She spends her days teaching fitness for adults and seniors, her mornings and afternoons teaching music to all ages, and her evenings playing in the band Acarya. If she has a spare hour, you might run into her at a farmer's market, hiking in the woods, volunteering in the community, or enjoying the arts!

FAQs

: Sound Discoveries may be implemented for any grade of students between K-12. The school will identify which grades would benefit most from participating and there is no minimum requirement or capacity restriction set by the CSO.
: Sound Discoveries can include any number of students that the school and CSO teaching artist see fit to participate. Depending on school preference, the weekly residency class can serve as a small break-out group of students or be implemented into the general classroom to include everyone.
: Sound Discoveries is scheduled based on the school’s preference and availability. The residency is year-long, typically spanning 20-28 weeks, however the school can decide on the size of the curriculum unit.
: Each Sound Discoveries school principal will meet with the CSO teaching artist and education staff to determine learning goals and curriculum.
: Residency schools are carefully selected by the CSO but we prioritize schools who demonstrate the capacity and commitment to effectively host a residency and those who demonstrate a need for increased arts access for their students. Contact Education Programs manager Becky Spiewak to inquire about your school: [email protected].

Sound Discoveries Gallery

4th and 5th graders at Hays Porter build a Bose Speaker using BOSEbuild Speaker Cube and learn to manipulate sound elements

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Students learn the anatomy of the vocal chords and use a voice simulator to experiment with voice sound production

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Students work together to create ringtones using electronic audio software

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