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Elmer Avenue
Elementary School
May 23 2011
Elmer 5th
Graders enjoy interactive lesson on solar system
 Elmer
Avenue 5th grade students in Mrs. DeSantis’ and Mrs.
Henzlers’ classes enjoyed a very interactive and stimulating
lesson in their music class which involved the planets in the
solar system.
The idea of the
unit is to focus on mood in music, that the students would later
try to capture in their own unique performances.
Students were
first introduced to the musical work The Planets,
composed by Gustav Holst. This work for orchestra features 8 of
the nine planets, considering Pluto was not yet discovered when
this music was written, and also adds the moon.
 Each
planet and the moon have a very distinctive and original feeling
or mood that is being portrayed by the composer. With the help
of the musical DVD, Voyage to the Outer Planets and Beyond
and real NASA photographs, computer-generated images and facts,
both classes were able to get a sense of what mood the composer
was trying to create for each planet with the music.
Students were
asked to keep a journal to write in while watching and listening
to the DVD footage.
They were asked to
reflect upon and answer the following questions:
1. How does the
music make me feel?
2. How does that
feeling from the music fit with the images and facts of the
planet it represents?
Later, the
students all worked in groups of three to come up with a
performance based on the mood they chose and agreed upon, and by
which their particular planet would encompass. Once a mood was
chosen, they had to incorporate movement or dance into the
performance along with music that they created with Orff
instruments to reflect that mood. They also had to use a prop of
a planet that was given to them to add to the movement aspect of
the performance. The results of each performance were very
unique and inspiring.
Some faculty
members, including the school secretary, classroom teachers and
principal came to watch the performances take place in their
music classes to learn what students have learned, and enjoy
their final works of art.
 Student
journal entries from each class were selected to be showcased.
Mercury- By:
Alyssa Knapp
The music for
Mercury is loud, exciting and fast. It sounds crazy and a little
dangerous. The music reminds me of something from a cartoon like
“Tom and Jerry.” I think this music fits in perfectly with
Mercury. Mercury is an uncalm, crazy and dangerous planet. Just
like how the music sounds. That is why I think the music fits in
with Mercury.
Venus & the
Moon – By: Alyssa Harrynanan
 The
moon has a magical and miraculous feeling. The music is light
and sweet, but somehow a little sad, like at the end of a sad
movie. It is nice a light. I feel this way, because the music
sounds like it should go with Neil Armstrong walking on the
moon. I get the sense of hopefulness when I hear it.
The music of Venus
feels slightly different from the music of the moon. That is
probably why they put Venus and the Moon together on the video,
for contrast. The music somehow feels like a love song. It kind
of reminds me of the story, Romeo and Juliet. It feels
like they are sneaking away. Then, when the music sounds more
developed, I think it feels like they get caught. However, when
the music gets lighter again, it’s like Romeo and Juliet sneak
out again. It said in the video that a cloud of poison surrounds
Venus. That kind of reminds me of when Romeo drank the poison
because he thought Juliet was dead.
Mars – By: Jade
Pacheco
Mars’ music is
intense! It makes me feel triumphant, but at the same time it
seems kind of dangerous. I think the reason why the composer
wrote this music for Mars is because of the whole idea of “martians,”
and the fact that we don’t know much about Mars and its possible
life forms. It just seems to fit with the music that way. It
reminds me of an adventurous adrenaline-racing movie, like they
are going to have a full speed race at a place with no road,
just rough terrain. Mars basically is rough terrain, like it
shows on the DVD images.
Jupiter – By:
Christopher Goberdhan
The music for
Jupiter sounds like a marching band or orchestra. I can’t get a
certain feeling, because the music sounds like it is both from a
wedding, where you are supposed to be happy, and from a funeral,
where you are supposed to be sad. I think it is like that
because Jupiter was a great discovery, but most people die in
its orbit trying to learn more about it. It makes me feel like
I’m having a great dream, which turns into a horrible nightmare
that never stops. One reason why it gives you a “good” feeling
is because of its many interesting moons. One reason why it
gives you a “bad” feeling is because of the “big red dot,”
because it’s a big fat scary storm.
Saturn – By:
Mahima Persaud
The music of
Saturn sounds soft and smooth and peaceful. It sounds like
nothing ever happened, and it’s just like an ordinary day. I
feel that way, because Saturn looks so peaceful, unlike the
other planets that have bright colors to make them look more
interesting. I think that Saturn is just an ordinary color just
like white and grey. Saturn actually puts me at ease and peace,
because of the neutral colors it represents.
Uranus – By:
Lauren Sniffen
The music for
Uranus feels intense! It feels intense because it gets loud,
because it reminds me of the bright colors of the planets’
images. It sounds loud, and then gets quiet and then…a BLAST! I
think it feels like that because of the way the tone of the
music sounds, and because of the camera shots and angles of the
pictures taken of the planet.
Neptune – By: Alex
Cade
“Dah, Dah Dahhh!!”…(sounds
the music). Neptune’s music sounds intense. It kind of sounds
like there’s a scene in a movie where the war is just ending and
it’s showing all the rotting corpses of the people and the few
soldiers remaining, laying there dramatically. I could imagine
the camera in the satellite rotating around the planet as the
music slowly settles down. At any moment, it seems like it will
calm down and people will come in a helicopter and save all the
injured remaining soldiers. It felt like that, because it was
dark in the video and the planet was unknown at the time. The
makers of this film did not have the technology to get close
enough, so there are only dark picture representations. It
almost reminds me of a misty lake and a creepy sailboat floating
by whenever it gets calm. That is the complete feeling I get of
Neptune and its music.
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