Welcome to your class portfolio! The purpose of this site is to show CAPE the development of your arts integration partnership, as guided by your big idea and inquiry question. 

Feel free to use the format we have constructed, or you can use "content blocks" from the "Insert" tab, which will allow you to customize the space as you would like.

No matter the format you use, make sure you have the following:

1. Planning Form: you must fill out the planning form in the embedded document.

2. Class Content: brief summaries of each semester's activities and findings.

1. Media: Include your best documentation with captions. Upload any media to your designated class media folder. Once there, videos may be embedded on this page by clicking "Drive" (under "Insert") on the right-hand side menu, then selecting your video from that folder under "Shared with me." 

IMPORTANT: 

• Please do not edit any other pages other than this, your class' page!

• Please make sure that all media that you upload only displays students whose parents have given consent to their documentation through the signed Media Consent Form. Should you upload images of a student who has not given their consent to be documented, please make sure to blur their face.

At the outset, students expressed three primary musical goals: improve stage presence, practice swifter transitions between songs in a set list, and develop more communicative and collaborative decision-making practices in the band. The group had a handful of songs that they had learned in the spring that they wanted to continue practicing, as well as two new songs chosen during the first week. 

The bulk of the summer was devoted to developing a six song set list, inclusive of five cover songs and one original. Some rehearsals were focused on fine tuning just one song, some involved breaking into sectionals so that students could pinpoint areas of improvement on their specific instruments, and some involved running many songs and focusing on stage presence and transitions. Every rehearsal began with a question to the students: what do you think we should work on today? By framing our rehearsals this way, students were empowered to decide how to spend their time as a band. Whether it meant focusing on what needed the most rehearsal, or focusing on which music felt the most fun to play that day, the impetus always came from students (even when Nick and Fabian were leading certain rehearsal moments, it always came from stated student interest).

The one original song in the set began when one student, Osvaldo, came to a class with a bass line he had written. While initially reticent to bring it to the full group, Osvaldo eventually developed the bass line into a two section song with parts for drums, bass, organ, and guitar. The tune, titled Jazzy Pineapple, was met with support from the full class, and was enthusiastically added to the set list.

As warm-ups and interstitial exercises for the group, teaching artist Nick introduced musical scales and the idea of improvising in a scale. Students would come up with their own patterns that they would improvise on collectively, or a pattern would be chosen for the bass and drums and the other musicians would take turns soloing. As the summer went on, students developed more and more comfort improvising, culminating in several improvised solo sections being added to songs on the set list. 

At the end of the summer, students expressed that they felt improvement had been made in each of the three areas (stage presence, transitions, communication) but also identified that there was more room for improvement in each of these areas. This program (excitingly!) is slated to continue at NGHS in fall 2023, and these areas will continue to be topics of research, conversation, and practice. 

This program also culminated in two performances, one at Hairpin Arts Center on August 2nd, and one at NGHS's freshman orientation on August 9th.