2011 – 2012

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Teacher’s Resource Guide

Your

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The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration

MLK Celebration • njpac.org

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) Arts Education Department presents the 15th season of the Verizon Passport to Culture SchoolTime Performance Series.

Teacher’s Resource GuideThis resource guide will help you prepare your class for an enriching experience at our SchoolTime Performance. The guide provides discussion ideas, activities and reading resources that can promote arts literacy in your classroom. Permission is granted to copy and distribute this guide to any class attending a 2011-2012 SchoolTime Performance (all other rights reserved). You can find additional resources online at tinyurl.com/njpac-org-teacherguide

NJPAC Arts EducationAt NJPAC, our mission is to join with parents, teachers and community to cultivate an appreciation of the arts in all children of New Jersey. We believe the arts provide an effective means of knowing and learning that helps children find the self-esteem, poise and confidence they need to succeed in every facet of life. Our innovative programs are designed to engage the artist in every child:

In-School Residencies Bring the joy of dance, music and theater directly into your classroom with teaching artists who create stimulating performing arts experiences that engage students’ imaginations and encourage their creative self-expression.

SchoolTime and FamilyTime Performances Open your students’ eyes to the worlds of music, dance, storytelling, theater, and puppetry through professional stage productions.

Arts Training Programs Students express themselves through after-school study of acting, dance, instrumental music, vocal music, and musical theater. Teaching artists with professional performing arts experience mentor the students at NJPAC’s Center for Arts Education.

CONTENTS

On StageVoices lifted in unity

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In the SpotlightThis year’s special guests

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Did You Know?Dr. King and the civil rights era

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Music TalkA guide to gospel

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In the ClassroomTeaching Science Through Music and other activities

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More ResourcesRelated readings and other media

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FoundationKid Power!Through energy efficiency and conservation, kids can help preserve our planet’s rich natural resources and promote a healthy environment.

TIP OF THE DAY

Keeping vigilant

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “The time is always right to do the right thing.” Dr. King was referring to the need for unity and peace among all people, but his words can also be applied to the importance of protecting the Earth. Now is the time for everyone to “go green” for the safety and benefit of the environment. There are many actions to take. For example, help slow global warming by walking, riding a bicycle or taking a bus instead of a car. Reduce, reuse or recycle all kinds of items—from soda cans to clothes and from plastic bags to news-papers—to save energy and raw materials. Made possible through the generosity of the PSEG Foundation.

visit NJPAC.ORGFind additional resources online at http://tiny.cc/njpacguides

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On Stage

Recognized as one of the country’s leading urban sociologists, Noguera will share his perspectives on the state of education and its impact on youth nationwide, particularly in Newark. His talk will reflect on the aspects of positive activism and love of learning embraced by Dr. King. Noguera, the author of more than 150 published research articles and reports on education and race relations, has appeared in national news media as a commentator on educational issues.

In the words of Dr. King, “We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.” NJPAC’s observance revives his dream by unifying the community’s brothers and sisters in an afternoon of jubilation and contemplation.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration is NJPAC’s annual tribute to the civil rights leader who gave his life so that others could have the freedom, justice and equality guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. This commemorative program recalls past intolerance but also seeks to inspire the whole community toward a better future where all people will be judged “not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

For its 2012 tribute to Dr. King, NJPAC welcomes the return of acclaimed composer, pianist and arranger Richard Smallwood as featured performing artist. As a vocalist, Smallwood will be accompanied by the majestic sound of Vision, a 21-member gospel choir he founded in the mid-1990s. This year’s special guest speaker is Dr. Pedro Noguera, the Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

Dr. King’s legacy of non-violent change and dignity for all peoples will be recalled and celebrated through uplifting words and music. Smallwood, a six-time Grammy nominee and best-selling recording artist, will perform with Vision in a soul-stirring program of hymns, anthems and melodies to evoke reverence and praise for the occasion. His album Promises, released this year on the Verity label, is filled with powerful renderings of many of the messages shared by Dr. King regarding faith and brotherhood.

An homage with spirit

“Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

3MLK Celebration • njpac.org

Richard Smallwood (Guest Artist) continues to move the hearts and charm the ears of listeners with the release of his latest gospel album, Promises (Verity Records), featuring Vision, his mighty ensemble of singers. A composer and vocalist who has enjoyed four decades in the music industry, Smallwood is recognized as the innovator of a gospel-classical blend that has attracted such A-list artists as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Ruben Studdard, and Destiny’s Child to record his compositions.

Promises, which Smallwood describes as his most personal album, features a tribute to his musical mentor—the late Walter Hawkins—and a cameo on Praying for Peace by Lalah Hathaway, who is the daughter of singer Donny Hathaway, one of Smallwood’s classmates at Howard University. Other selections include “Trust Me”—the soaring lead single—and the joyful “Mender.”

A multiple Grammy nominee and winner of Dove and Stellar awards, Smallwood is a member of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. At Howard University, he earned degrees in vocal performance and piano and did graduate work in ethnomusicology. It was there that he received a Master of Divinity degree in 2003 and was ordained the following year.

Smallwood began his recording career in the early 1980s with the Richard Smallwood Singers, whose spiritual chart-toppers included Center of My Joy and Holy Holy. During the ‘90s, with Vision, his hit radio singles were Total Praise and Bless the Lord, among many others. Over the course of making more than a dozen albums, Smallwood saw a number of his compositions cross over to other artists’ work: After Houston sang his I Love the Lord in the 1996 film The Preacher’s Wife, the same song was adapted by the R&B group Boyz II Men on the Evolution CD. As a performer, he joined other renowned vocalists on Quincy Jones’ Grammy-winning CD, Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration.

Smallwood grew up in Atlanta, the son of a strict pastor and a nurturing mother who fostered a love of music in her child. These two extremes, he believes, fueled his passion to follow a path to success in the music industry.

Dr. Pedro Noguera (Speaker) is the Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education at New York University and an award-winning urban sociologist. His scholarship and research focus on the ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions in the urban environment. He holds faculty

appointments in the departments of Teaching and Learning and Humanities and Social Sciences at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, as well as in the university’s Department of Sociology. Noguera is also the executive director of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education and co-director of the Institute for Globalization and Education in Metropolitan Settings (IGEMS).

In 2008, Noguera was appointed to serve on the State University of New York’s board of trustees. He has more than 150 publications to his credit, covering such topics as urban school reform, conditions that promote student achievement, youth violence, and race and ethnic relations in American society. His work has appeared in major research journals. He is the author of City Schools and the American Dream (Teachers College Press, 2003), Unfinished Business: Closing the Racial Achievement Gap in Our Schools (Jossey-Bass, 2006) and The Trouble With Black Boys … and Other Reflections on Race, Equity, and the Future of Public Education (Jossey-Bass, 2008).

Noguera is presently working with seven schools in Newark’s Central Ward as part of the Global Village School Zone. This initiative supports these schools through targeted professional development for teachers, extended learning opportunities for students, comprehensive school-based social services, and new forms of parental involvement.

Noguera received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sociology from Brown University and a doctorate in sociology from University of California, Berkeley. He has held tenured faculty positions at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and at UC Berkeley, where he was also director of the Institute for the Study of Social Change.

In the Spotlight

Trailblazers in study and song

MLK Celebration • njpac.org

For detailed biographies of Richard Smallwood and Pedro Noguera, go to richardsmallwood.com and

steinhardt.nyu.edu/faculty_bios/view/Pedro_Noguera.

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anthem — a hymn of praise or loyalty; a choral composition having a sacred or moralizing text.

arrangement — the new adaptation of an already existing musical piece.

call-and-response — a communication pattern where one party sends forth a message or “call” and another party responds. This pattern is very common in African and African-descended music and dance.

choir — a group of singers.

choir director — the person who leads the choir.

chord — three or more tones having harmonic relation to each other and played or sounded together.

composer — a person who writes music.

dynamics — the interplay between loudness and softness and smoothness and “choppiness” of notes that are played or sung.

gospel — a form of vocal music that developed in African-American churches, especially in urban areas. It incorporates elements of African rhythm and music, African -American song forms, expressive singing, and, often, musical accompaniment.

harmony — the result of certain simultaneously sounding musical intervals or chords which relate to each other and sound pleasing.

in unison — in complete agreement; harmonizing exactly.

lyrics — the words of a song.

melody — an organized succession of single musical tones arranged in a related and recognizable pattern.

music — the resonant tones and vibrations that emanate from one or more voices and/or instruments.

musician — a person who plays a musical instrument, especially professionally.

obligato — a persistent but subordinate motif; a re-occurring theme.

phrase — a melodic sequence that forms a complete unit.

pitch — the property of sound that changes with variation in the frequency of vibration.

polyrhythm — simultaneous use of contrasting rhythmic patterns, common when blending musical styles.

rhythm — a regular pattern produced by the length of strong and weak musical sounds at a particular speed or tempo; frequently called the “beat.”

solo — a performance by one person that may or may not be accompanied by supporting voices or instruments.

syncopation — stressing the normally unaccented beats, often used in African-derived music.

tempo — the speed at which music is played.

Music Talk

A guide to gospel music

MLK Celebration • njpac.org

Richard Smallwood, a pianist, composer and arranger, will lead the gospel group Vision at NJPAC.

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The philosophy of non-violence practiced by Indian political leader Mohandas Gandhi was adopted by Dr. King after visiting India in 1959. Dr. King, as well as other civil rights activists and organizations throughout the U.S., initiated examples of wide-scale mass resistance to injustice in the form of sit-ins, boycotts, marches, and speeches.

“The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,” led by Dr. King in 1963, was the largest civil rights protest of the era. It was during this march that Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech that underscored the need for a society where “people would be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, and Dr. King received the Nobel Peace Prize. However, brutalities continued in the South.

The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written by Dr. King during his imprisonment for participating in a Birmingham, AL march in 1965. In summary, the letter stated that he had come to Birmingham because of the injustice prevalent there. For Dr. King, injustice anywhere led to the possibility of injustice everywhere.

Dr. King’s last march led him to Memphis, TN in support of the city’s African-American sanitation workers. In a stirring speech on April 13, 1968, he delivered his “I Have Been to the Mountaintop” sermon. The following day, an assassin’s bullet snuffed out his life.

In 1985, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday was designated a national holiday, celebrated annually on the third Monday in January. Although the life of the “dream keeper” has ended, his legacy and spirit live on, leading all to a more profound understanding of the unquestionable need for human dignity and peace among all people.

In the late 19th and into the 20th century, Southern whites had established a system of authority that protected the privileges of white society and generated tremendous suffering for African Americans, controlling them economically, politically and socially. This climate characterized the era before and after the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, GA. In 1944, at the age of 15, he was admitted to Morehouse College. At 19, following graduation from college, he was ordained as a Baptist minister. In 1953, he married Coretta Scott, and in 1955, he received a doctorate in theology from Boston University.

Radical changes—Rude awakenings

The Bus Boycott in Baton Rouge, LA in 1953 was a mass movement guided by the United Defense League in which African-American citizens banded together to fight the segregated seating system on city buses. Though seldom talked about, historians believe it set the stage for desegregation in the Deep South

Did You Know?

Martin Luther King, Jr. and the struggle for civil rights

MLK Celebration • njpac.org6

Brown vs. the Board of Education, which has come to be known as the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, was the culmination of an attack on segregation in education by the NAACP. On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.

A Backlash by pro-segregation groups throughout the South followed the court ruling in favor of the NAACP. African Americans as well as the few whites who supported the civil rights cause were killed, maimed and starved. Among these was the highly publicized killing and mutilation of the 14-year-old African-American Emmet Till, a Northerner visiting Mississippi.

Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement

The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956), led by Dr. King, was sparked by the arrest of black seamstress Mrs. Rosa Parks for refusing to take her place at the back of a city bus. The boycott ended with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses is unconstitutional. The protest propelled the Civil Rights Movement into national consciousness and Martin Luther King, Jr. into the public eye.

MLK Celebration • njpac.org

Before the Performance Teaching Science Through Music (Grades 6-12) By Sharon J. Sherman, Ed.D.

Imagination and intuition drive the work of artists, and skill and discipline turn their ideas and notions into meaningful, quality creations. A similar case can be made for the work of the scientist who experiences the richness and excitement of knowing about the world and, with skill and discipline, understands how it functions.

According to the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards, students in the middle grades should understand science explanations, generate scientific evidence through active investigation, reflect on scientific knowledge, and participate productively in science. These four practices represent the knowledge and reasoning skills all students must acquire to be proficient in science.

Here is an activity, incorporating music, that can help students strengthen their understanding of how scientific knowledge builds upon itself over time. It enables students to monitor their own thinking as they refine their comprehension of science concepts (5.1.8.C.1).

Have students in the middle grades predict the acidity of precipitation in the local area. After collecting data and graphing amounts of precipitation, pH levels and weather conditions, they can provide scientific evidence to support or refute their predictions.

After this initial exercise, your students can investigate the effects of rain on our environment. For example, many marble statues throughout the world are being ruined by acid rain. Have students search the Internet for examples.

They can create slideshows documenting the effects of acid rain on the environment and set them to music. Also ask them to research a poem on environmental responsibility and write an anthem. Performing the compositions for their peers enables students to analyze and critique their work together.

High school students studying earth systems science learn that natural ecosystems provide an array of basic functions that affects humans. In class, there is instructional focus on the role of human beings as part of the earth’s ecosystem. Human activities can alter equilibrium in ecosystems, either on purpose or inadvertently. Students can create podcasts set to music that provide examples and demonstrate understanding of this concept.

Sharon J. Sherman, Ed.D., is Dean of the School of Education and Professor of Teacher Education at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J.

The Teaching Science Through the Arts content of this guide is made possible through the generous support of Roche.

After the Performance1. The following activity is an arts integrated resource of Verizon’s Thinkfinity.org.In this lesson, from ReadWriteThink, students explore the ways that powerful and passionate words communicate the concepts of freedom, justice, discrimination, and the American Dream in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Have students pay attention to the details of King’s speech as they read and as they gather words to use in their own original poems. The lesson, which places special emphasis on Dr. King’s use of literary devices such as symbolism and repetition, can be accessed at readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=258. (1.1, 1.2, 1.3)

2. Discuss with the students how the songs of Richard Smallwood helped the audience understand some of the things for which Dr. King stood. Verizon’s Thinkfinity.org provides useful links to the different styles of music that the group performed, including information on spirituals from Edsitement at edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/spirituals. (1.1, 1.2, 1.3)

*Number(s) indicate the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standard(s) supported by the activity.

1. Ask students why Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday is celebrated. What are the things he stood for? How does this celebration connect African Americans to their heritage? How does this celebration connect all Americans to their heritage? Why do students think that it is important to remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? (1.2)*

2. Prepare the class for watching a live performance. Talk about proper audience behavior. Good audiences listen attentively and react appropriately to both funny moments and scary or serious ones. Bad audiences react too loudly, talk during the performance, fidget in their seats, eat, drink, or fall asleep. Discuss when it is appropriate to applaud. Stress that talking during a performance is rude and distracting both to performers and others in the audience. (1.1)

visit NJPAC.ORGFind additional resources online at http://tiny.cc/njpacguides

In the Classroom

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8 MLK Celebration • njpac.org

William J. Marino.……............................…………………………………………………………………….Chairman John Schreiber.............…....……..................…………………………………..President & Chief Executive Officer Sandra Bowie………….………........................……………………………………..Vice President of Arts Education Sanaz Hojreh.……………......................….……..………………………..Assistant Vice President of Arts Education Chamie Baldwin Graff.............….………............……………................…Director of Marketing, Arts Education Caitlin Evans Jones…………..........................……….………………………….…Director of In-School Programs Jeff Griglak......………......................……………….………………………………..……..Director of Arts Training Constance Collins........…….….........................Administrative Assistant and Office Manager for Arts EducationLaura Ingoglia…………........................….……………………....…………....Editor of Teacher’s Resource Guides Linda Fowler..…………........................…….…………………....…………....Editor of Teacher’s Resource Guides

Writers: Zadia Ife Laura Ingoglia Mary Lou Johnston Linda Fowler

Editor: Linda Fowler

Design: Pierre Sardain 66 Creative, Inc. 66Creative.com

NJPAC Guest Reader: Sanaz Hojreh

NJPAC Teacher’s Resource Guide Review Committee: Judith Israel Mary Lou Johnston Amy Tenzer

Copyright © 2012 New Jersey Performing Arts Center All Rights Reserved

One Center Street Newark, New Jersey 07102Administration: 973 642-8989Arts Education Hotline: 973 353-8009artseducation@njpac.org

Photos of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on pages 3 and 6 courtesy of the King family collection

More Resources AcknowledgmentsBooks for Students and Teachers

King, Martin Luther, Jr. Stride Toward Freedom. Harper & Row, 1958.

–––––––––––––––––––, Strength to Love. Harper & Row, 1963.

Mfume, Kweisi and Ronald Stodghill II. No Free Ride. One World/Ballantine, 1997.

Noguera, Pedro. City Schools and the American Dream. Teachers College Press, 2003.

––––––––––––––. Unfinished Business: Closing the Racial Achievement Gap in Our Schools. Jossey-Bass, 2006.

Websites

State of NJ Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Commission, Trenton. nj.gov/state/programs/dos_program_mlk.html.

CDs

Richard Smallwood—Recordings with Vision on the Verity label

Promises. 2011.

Journey: Live in New York. 2007.

Persuaded: Live in D.C. 2001.

Healing: Live in Detroit. 1999.

Adoration: Live in Atlanta. 1996

DVDs

The Praise and Worship Songs of Richard Smallwood. Verity, 2003.

as of 9/22/11 NJPAC Arts Education programs are made possible by the generosity of: Bank of America, The Arts Education Endowment Fund in Honor of Raymond G. Chambers, Leon & Toby Cooperman, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, Amy C. Liss, McCrane Foundation, Merck Company Foundation, Albert & Katharine Merck, The Prudential Foundation, PSEG Foundation, Marian & David Rocker, The Sagner Family Foundation, The Star-Ledger/Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Verizon, Victoria Foundation, Wells Fargo, John & Suzanne Willian / Goldman Sachs Gives and The Women’s Association of NJPAC.

Additional support is provided by: Advance Realty, C.R. Bard Foundation, Becton Dickinson and Company, The Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation, Allen & Joan Bildner, Bloomberg, Ann & Stan Borowiec, Jennifer Chalsty, Chase, Edison Properties, Veronica Goldberg Foundation, Meg & Howard Jacobs, Johnson & Johnson, The MCJ Amelior Foundation, The New Jersey Cultural Trust, The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Novo Nordisk, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Pechter Foundation, PNC Foundation on behalf of the PNC Grow Up Great program, The Provident Bank Foundation, E. Franklin Robbins Charitable Trust, Roche, TD Charitable Foundation and The Blanche M. & George L. Watts Mountainside Community Foundation.

Find additional resources online at http://tiny.cc/njpacguides or scan the QR code displayed here.

For even more arts integration resources, please go to Thinkfinity.org, the Verizon Foundation’s signature digital learning platform, designed to improve educational and literacy achievement.

visit NJPAC.ORG