Family Resources
This year, your student is taking an exciting musical journey. Musical Explorers is designed to connect students in grades K–2 to the musical community of the Georgia and South Carolina Lowcountry as they build fundamental music skills through listening, singing, and moving to songs from a wide variety of musical styles. In the coming year, your Musical Explorer will meet artists who represent six different musical genres and cultural traditions. Each semester culminates in a live concert where Explorers sing and dance with the artists they have heard in the classroom. In fall 2018, students are exploring soul music, country music, and music of Mali.
Please visit any of our unit pages (under Teacher Resources) to learn more about the artists and their music. You can be a part of Musical Explorers! Below are some ideas for continuing the journey at home:
Talk about music and community with your student!
Here are some questions to start a discussion:
Who is a part of our community? Where do we hear music in our community?
Have you learned any dances in Musical Explorers? Can you teach them to me?
When are your favorite times to sing and dance?
How do you make music together in your class and in your school?
Who are you looking forward to seeing at the Musical Explorers concert? What song are you most excited to see in person?
Read more about music (with your student)!
Below are some books you can read with your student that are connected with our fall curriculum:
- Bret Berthol, The Long Gone Lonesome History of Country Music
- Elizabeth Bluemle, Tap Tap Boom Boom
- Penda Diakité, I Lost My Tooth in Africa
- Angela Johnson and Laura Huliska-Beith, Violet’s Music
- True Kelley, Who is Dolly Parton?
- Nico Medina, Who is Aretha Franklin?
- Paul Showers, The Listening Walk
- Ryan Skinner, Sidiki’s Kora Lesson
Learn more about music (on your own)!
Here are some resources that will help you learn more about the music your student is studying this fall:
Soul Music:
- Nelson George, The Death of Rhythm and Blues
- Robert Gordon, Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion
Country Music:
- Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner’s Daughter
- Bill C. Malone and Jocelyn Neal, Country Music, U.S.A. (Third Revised Edition)
Music of Mali:
- Thomas A. Hale, Griots and Griottes: Master of Words and Music
- Andy Morgan, Music, Culture and Conflict in Mali
- The Last Song before the War, a documentary by Kiley Kraskouskas
- Mali Blues, a documentary by Lutz Gregor
Listen to more music!
Check out more parent- and kid-friendly soul, country, and Malian music on our Spotify playlist and the live broadcasts from Savannah Music Festival’s radio archives:
- Asleep at the Wheel (2015 SMF performance)
- Hot Club of Cowtown (2015 SMF performance)
- Ballaké Sissoko (2016 SMF performance)
- Ballaké Sissoko and Vincent Ségal (2011 SMF performance)
Spotify playlist