This month’s spotlight as we dig a little deeper into the resources we have available to our component school districts in our warehouse is…..Guitaleles!
 
Guita---what?

​In an effort to make sure that all of our educators in the CABOCES region can find something of use in our warehouses, we’ve been attempting to add more music and art kits as the music and art standards are being revamped. So....bring on the guitaleles!

We now have 10 Yamaha GL1 Guitaleles in our warehouse. Half guitar, half ukulele…100% fun. This is a unique mini 6-string nylon guitar that is sized like a baritone ukulele (17” scale) and plays like a standard tune guitar. The guitalele’s tuning is pitched up to “A” (or up a 4th) at A/D/G/C/E/A.
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This is a student pleaser. It is small enough for Pre-K students to play. The nylon strings make it easy on the fingers and the neck size is great for smaller handed players as well as regular sized hands needing a break from the thicker necks of standard-sized guitars.
 
Take a look at our warehouse and give our guitaleles a try!

By:  Alexandra Freer, CA BOCES Learning Resources

CA BOCES offers a collaborative music library with over 215 music charts for borrowing. Thirty-two charts have been checked out this fall for band concerts making this a well utilized resource.  Music teachers in participating districts send purchasing requests to Catherine_Dunkleman@caboces.org who then orders the music through an approved vendor.  Upon receipt, Cathy catalogs the charts into Insignia.  With a simple search, music teachers may view a chart's summary, select "Click here to watch" for the score, and  easily book an item for delivery and use for a semester or school year.  When returned to Learning Resources, inventory is taken and any missing or damaged sheet music is replaced per copyright law.
For those curious to see the music collection, visit resources.caboces.org and log in.  Search by selecting call number and type in ML.  Searches may be narrowed by categories located in the left column of the web page.
Some choral teachers have expressed an interest in having a similar collection.  If your school is interested in joining this service, contact Amy_Windus@caboces.org  or  Cecelia_Fuoco@caboces.org

By Cece Fuoco, CA BOCES Learning Resources

The motto at Delevan Elementary is “We are in this together and better collectively than we are separately.”  The Common Core Learning standards have been a guiding force in instruction as well as a learning process for ALL K-4 teachers including special area teachers, who have made a significant contribution to the movement.  “Common Core and the six instructional shifts methodology does not silence the creative voice; it enhances the aesthetic process and provides opportunity for higher level thinking skills” (engageny.org).

The special area teachers at Delevan have seamlessly and consistently integrated both the Common Core ELA and Mathematics standards into their curriculum.  In both art and music classes, students create, explore, build vocabulary, and complete written reflections/self-assessments aligned to the CCLS Writing standards.   To hook the students into a new unit, visuals and technology resources are used along with historical background that aligns to the CCLS Informational Reading standards.  Students are provided with weekly experiences that provide Career and College Readiness skills along with the 4 C’s in 21st Century Learning; critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity.  “The Common Core Learning standards act as a thread that helps knit together a well-rounded learning experience for every student while supporting colleagues cross- curricular” (www.engageny.org).

In the library media center, lessons are aligned to appropriate grade level Common Core Reading and Writing Learning standards.  Students in Grades K-4 are exposed to reading and writing across a variety of genres including narrative, expository, and persuasive text.  Students learn about author’s purpose, characteristics of nonfiction and fiction, text features and text structures.   Students in the class learn how to collect information from multiple sources and compile it into a short research paper.

Physical Education is a place where students bodies are participating in physical activities, while their minds are critically thinking at the same time.   Students participating in physical education classes are engaged in literacy infused lessons on a daily basis.  Students are responsible for problem solving  and peer collaboration.  Thematic units that align with school wide literacy efforts are implemented.  For example, K-4 students participated in an Olympic games unit that correlated with the school’s reading celebration, titled “Go For the Gold”.   Also, students in K-4 had a reading competition.  For each book read and Accelerated Reading quiz completed, students earned a gold, silver or bronze medal.   Each grade level chose a country and created a flag to display in the gymnasium.  All medals earned were displayed near the flag.  The physical education teachers were instrumental in making this school wide literacy effort fall into place. 

When students attend special area classes, they are” rocking the Common Core” by participating in the arts as readers, writers and thinkers!


By Colleen Root, CA BOCES and Pioneer Central School

Online courses can help students pursue specialized interests and their meet graduation requirements. Chelsea Halbert at Genesee Valley CSD who has a strong interest in Music is currently taking Online Music Appreciation. An extremely accomplished young lady who can play eight instruments Chelsea enjoys learning more about music online. Chelsea currently plays Tuba, Trumpet, and Bari Saxophone in Genesee Valley's Band and Jazz band. She is presently pursuing an Advanced Regents Diploma. Her online course and her band courses are helping her meet her required number of Music credits for an Advanced Regents Diploma. She enjoys taking an online class because she can work on her own schedule. She likes that she has the freedom "to choose what notes to take and when to work". She recommends that students seeking to take online courses take subjects that they "are really interested in."