How do you teach music in the midst of a pandemic? Swap the music room for the gymnasium and play basketballs instead of instruments.
"In the current lockdown, students can't practise wind instruments at school, so I turned to the Internet for ideas on delivering the performance component of the curriculum," says Espanola High School music teacher Tracy Mark.
Students in her Grade 10 instrumental music class are now bouncing basketballs choreographed to classical pieces like Tchaikovsky's Trepak, part of the Nutcracker Suite.
"The students are learning to listen to the beat and anticipate the beat in order to bounce the ball in time to the music," says Tracy Mark. "These are skills students need to play their instruments and determine when and where to breathe."
She adds: "This activity exposes students to classical music in a fun way. We talk about the history of the music when we take breaks from practicing."
For students, this music class has been a slam dunk. "It got students out of their seats doing something new and active with music," says Tracy Mark. "They enjoyed choreographing new moves and even tried to notate some of the basketball bounces so they could read the music as they played."
She adds: "There are a few basketball players in the class who loved this lesson because basketball is also on pause. They enjoyed being able to use their skills again."
