Playback - Winter 2008 - (Page 27) NAMM Foundation Grant Profile: ElEMENTARY STUDENTS PlAY To A WoRlD BEAT what does it take to get kids who aren’t in traditional school band programs involved in music? For some schools, the answer is the Percussion Marketing Council’s “roots of rhythm” (rOr) program, which brings world drumming into the classroom. Partially funded by the NAMM Foundation, ROR is a groundbreaking, hands-on exploration of the world through drumming. The curriculum is written by Dr. Craig Woodson, a professional percussionist and ethnomusicologist, and is designed to teach fifth- and sixth-grade students about world cultures by encouraging them to play drums. Not only can the content of the ROR program be used to supplement a variety of music and art projects, the curriculum enhances lessons in other core subjects, such as math, geography, language arts, science and social studies. “It’s a way of getting 75 or 80 percent of students who don’t have music in their core curriculum to gain access to music in other subjects,” explains ROR Program Director Dave Levine. For example, a teacher might use a round frame drum to help teach basic geometry skills, such as area, volume, circumference and diameter. “It helps the students envision it—instead of the lesson being only on paper,” Levine says. Chad Askim, band director at Williston Middle School in Williston, N.D., recently reported that 138 of his school’s 204 seventh graders signed up to take his world drumming classes, which uses the ROR curriculum. Askim traded in some of his school’s unused band instruments for $2,000 worth of world percussion at Jacobson Music in Minot, N.D., and has also redeemed soup cans and cereal box tops to buy instruments at Eckroth Music in Bismarck, N.D. “Some students are now asking their parents for djembé instead of skateboards and video games,” Askim notes. One goal of the program is to connect schools with their local music dealers to help boost business. Teachers who use the ROR program end up buying instruments for their classrooms from local stores, through mail order catalogs and online. “The average amount a teacher spends is $500, but I have teachers spending $2,000 to $3,000 from their local dealers,” Levine says. “Nearly 1,000 teachers are now implementing the ROR program in their schools—it’s been very successful.” Roots of Rhythm content, including curriculum and support materials as well as audio exercises and examples, is available as free downloads from the Percussion Marketing Council’s Web site, www.playdrums.com. For more information about the program, log on to www.rootsofrhythm.net. FALL 2007 27 http://www.rootsofrhythm.net http://www.playdrums.com http://www.rootsofrhythm.net
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