Students hone their fine arts 'smarts'

By Darcy Delaney, staff writer
The Sun

May 14, 2008 11:44 am

— “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?” has become a popular TV game show, but for one Mid-Del school, it was a tool to prepare its students for a state test.
Monroney Middle School used the concept to create “Are You Smarter than a Sixth Grader? How about a Seventh Grader or an Eighth Grader?” for the From Bach to Rock grant presentation.
The three (sixth, seventh and eighth grade) presentations were designed to educate Monroney students about music and visual arts for the Oklahoma Fine Arts Test issued to students Tuesday.
“(The students) began studying for the test last week,” said Jackie Gilley, Monroney Middle School band director. “We wanted to have (the study session) the day before the test to prepare them for it.”
To help the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders study for the exam, Gilley, choral conductor Daniel Lucas and art teacher Tami Dearborn sang, played music and used drawings to demonstrate possible test questions.
“If we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it right,” Gilley said.
During the sixth-grade study session, the sixth-grade band helped Gilley illustrate her point of syncopation by playing the theme song from “The Spiderwick Chronicles.”
Band members were able to provide examples for several of the test questions, playing the chromatic scale to emphasize the impact of sharps on music notes and “Jingle Bells” to demonstrate repetition in music.
Dearborn, who helped the students study for the art portion of the test, also illustrated repetition in art.
“What is something you do over and over again,” she asked.
“Repetition,” the students replied.
“What is something you do over and over again,” she asked again.
“Repetition,” the students yelled a little louder.
“What is something you do over and over again,” Dearborn asked for a third time.
“Repetition,” the students yelled back.
“I just showed you what repetition was by doing the same thing over and over again,” she said.
Lucas then helped the students understand the differences in soprano, alto, tenor and bass by singing each pitch.
The children laughed when Lucas sang the high-pitched soprano and again when he sang, “I’m not a bass, but this is what bass sounds like.”
However, Gilley said the middle school students were ready for the music section of the test.
“Our kids are so prepared for the music test because we have such great music teachers,” Gilley said, referring to the Mid-Del elementary school music teachers.
Gilley said the teachers at MMS will do anything to help their students learn.
“I told them if they get the highest scores (on the test) in the district, I’d take a pie in the face,” Gilley said.
The From Bach to Rock grant presentation was provided by the Mid-Del School Foundation.

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