Who: Park Century School, Private School
Teaching Artist: Beth Sussman
Program Dates: April 2009
Staff: Clare Schulberg

Skirball Artist-Teacher Partnership Residency Program at Park Century School

Park Century School in Culver City is a private school that is highly committed to arts education. Serving 83 students, grades 2-8, who are “learning disabled students of average to superior intellectual potential,” its varied arts programs and field trips are supported by the generosity of the parents. A visual arts teacher and a media teacher are on staff. To supplement those disciplines, the school partners with arts organizations such as the Music Center: Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County, which since 1992 has provided Park Century with artists-in-residence in music, theatre and puppetry, as well as assembly performances in several arts disciplines.

Currently, a Skirball Artist-Teacher Partnerships Residency Program is underway for four 2nd through 5th grade classes led by teaching artist Beth Sussman, an accomplished pianist and recipient of Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from The Juilliard School. Her series of interactive workshops - called “Classical Connections” - uses classical music, as well as movement and literature, as a gateway to academic and social/behavioral concepts.

Sharon McCawley, the Arts Program Coordinator at Park Century, chose Beth’s residency for its artistic, academic and behavioral benefits. A Reading Specialist, Sharon believes that the underlying processes of listening to and appreciating music are some of the same processes present in academic learning, such as absorbing, recalling, sequencing, and replicating sounds. Sharon also appreciates that students are practicing the important skill of listening quietly and attentively.

Each 60 minute workshop session follows a similar format. To begin, Beth plays a piece of classical music (not necessarily serious!), after which students describe what they noticed about the piece and how it made them feel. The core of the workshop explores a main concept -- such as Listening Skills, Comparing and Contrasting, Mapping and Symbols, Anger Management, Main Idea/Structure and Author’s Intent -- and incorporates movement where students express musical concepts and moods with their bodies. The session ends with students listening to a calm piece of music to help relax their mood.

During the Park Century residency, two workshops were devoted to the “Mapping and Symbols” concept, in which Beth introduced musical vocabulary and the corresponding written symbols for forte (loud), piano (soft), legato (smooth) and staccato (choppy). Students held up the written symbols in response to the music they were hearing. Students must follow directions and listen carefully, and Beth said they did great! They also discussed the difference between constant symbols (in music, math, punctuation) and interpreted symbols (as in visual art). For the latter, the students shared their own interpretations of drawings from a book.

In the sessions devoted to the concept of “Compare and Contrast,” students listened to two pieces of music and described the differences and similarities using musical and descriptive vocabulary. For the culminating task in Park Century’s residency, the classes will compose and perform their own “Sound Symphony” -- a story with sound effects.

Jennie teaches a 2nd/3rd combo class at Park Century. She says Beth’s workshops have been great for her group of “wiggly, kinesthetic learners.” “Beth picked up on the fact that some of my students have a lot of trouble focusing or learning in a group setting. She uses dancing and body movement to teach musical concepts and lets the kids express themselves with their bodies.” Jennie says that Beth’s enthusiasm and joy have brought out her shyer students’ personalities and their desire to learn about music.

The workshops have also connected to language arts lessons in Jennie’s classroom. As her students are learning to “read with expression,” Jennie reminds them of Beth’s voice exercise in which students speak “up or down, with a question mark or exclamation point.”

Arpi, the teacher of a 3rd/4th grade class, praises Beth’s ability to engage her students for an hour and appreciates that the lessons are interactive. Arpi adds, “I love the way Beth has a lot of structure in the lessons but somehow makes everything flow in a smooth, organic way that allows for spontaneity within safe boundaries.”

As Beth has gotten to know the students and their emotional and academic levels, she has adapted her lessons and teaching style accordingly. Her experience, adaptability and infectious love of classical music have led to the success of the workshops at Park Century School.

For more information about bringing student workshops to your school, call (213) 250-ARTS or email us at schoolprograms@musiccenter.org.

Written by Clare Schulberg, School Programs Associate