Our intention through this blog was to systematically document the process of the sound project during the school year, however as most teachers understand, time flew through our hands and we had so much fun during the process, we forgot to work on our blog! Whoops. Now, we are taking the time to review this year’s project and document the process. Here is a link to images, video and timelines for the 2015 – 2016 Hillbrook Sound Project.
Thanks for your interest!
Each year for the Hillbrook Sound Project, we have chosen the found object the students build their instruments upon.
Two years ago we used bicycles
Bicycles as instrument and Works of Art
Last year we used wooden chairs
Wooden chairs as Instruments and Works of Art
This year we have decided to use wheelbarrows. We hope they will have great sound qualities and will inspire a diversity of musical compositions using the wheel.
Here is the letter we have sent out to the Hillbrook School community asking for donations of wheelbarrows and other found object items: wheelbarrow request
On September 27th we had the privlidge of sharing the Hillbrook Sound project at FabLearn 2015 at Stanford University. Our project and poster demo caught the attention of administrators and teachers from other schools in the Bay Area and from around the world. They all expressed an interest in learning more about how we successfully executed this project between so many disciplines. We were proud to showcase and share out to the greater academic community some of the collaborative maker work Hillbrook has so graciously embraced.
Hillbrook Sound Project Poster presentation at FabLearn 2015
Last week during Kristin’s community sing class with 3rd grade, we decided to co-teach and introduce the students to the Hillbrook sound project and found objects. After briefly describing the project and sharing pictures and videos from the past two years, we unveiled the found object for this year – the wheelbarrow! Then students had an opportunity to compose with a few found objects. Here is a brief video:
In July we submitted this paper and were accepted to attend FabLearn 2015 at Stanford University on September 26th & 27th. This document explains in detail the creation and unfolding of the sound project over the past two years. Enjoy!
When coming to the end of a school year we are faced with the decision of what to do with these works of art as we see them begin to fall apart and break down. In designing this study our focus was on the temporary and temporal art. Tempory art can be defined as, “Art that exists to stop existing. It is a temporary thing, lasting only as long as the medium it is made in.”(taken from arts-talks.com) And so, the chair instruments were sent to the recycle bin today. The wheels and copper pipe were saved and will be upcycled for next year project as we look forward to starting fresh with new students, and a new found object instrument.
Welcome to the Hillbrook Sound Project, a collaboration between science, music and art. This blog will describe our work with 3rd grade students as they learn about sound through these 3 disciplines and are inspired to create their own instrument.
Mark Day School Presentation August 15, 2016
Many thanks to Mark Day School in San Rafael for inviting us to present the Hillbrook Sound Project to their Summer Institute! Please find a link to the presentation here.
Hillbrook Sound Project – Mark Day School
Feel free to contact us for any other questions or for more information at:
kengineer@hillbrook.org
jjones@hillbrook.org
We would love to come speak to any school interested in implementing project based learning into their curriculum!
Kristin Engineer and Jenny Jones