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CLOSE-UP VIEW OF THE CLASSICS\Pupils explore the arts.


Byline: Alicia Doyle Daily News Staff Writer

When it comes to music, most kindergartners would rather clap along with Raffi than listen with hands folded to the classical works of Frederic Chopin.

Squirming aside, however, parents and teachers were pleased with the dose of liberal arts liberal arts, term originally used to designate the arts or studies suited to freemen. It was applied in the Middle Ages to seven branches of learning, the trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric, and the quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music.  offered up Tuesday to kindergartners and other Abraham Lincoln Elementary students through the Fine Arts Mini Experience program.

"This teaches them about famous artists and composers that they normally wouldn't learn about at this age," said Sandi Gilliland, a PTA PTA or parent-teacher association: see parent education.  member and parent volunteer. "At first, they may have a hard time paying attention Noun 1. paying attention - paying particular notice (as to children or helpless people); "his attentiveness to her wishes"; "he spends without heed to the consequences"
attentiveness, heed, regard
. But I think they do grasp certain things."

Over a two-day period, each class at Lincoln Elementary learned how Chopin brought romantic piano music to new heights of expressiveness. By studying the work of artist Raoul Dufy Noun 1. Raoul Dufy - French painter noted for brightly colored scenes (1877-1953)
Dufy
, youngsters also discovered how color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film"
color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour
 art may create various moods.

The two-day lesson, taught by 15 of the school's volunteer PTA members, is a part of a program implemented last year at Lincoln.

F.A.M.E. - Fine Arts Mini Experience - focuses on introducing kids to liberal arts by teaching them the history of famous artists and composers.

The program, which has six parts and is offered at several schools throughout Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. , is designed to provide a taste of the arts for students in kindergarten through sixth grade at a time when budget reductions have made it hard to hire specialized teachers in music and art.

F.A.M.E. creator Kathryn Sherrod, a curriculum specialist from Fremont, originated the program in 1983. F.A.M.E. has been used in schools in five states since then.

"They enjoy doing things like this," said Maria Mosier, PTA member and F.A.M.E. coordinator. "They enjoy being out of the classroom and learning something new."

Earlier in the school year, students were introduced to 16th-century painting style by studying the history of Flemish artist, Pieter Bruegel. In another lesson, they learned the difference between melody and harmony after studying the music of romantic composer Robert Schumann.

Students also explored primary and secondary colors using a color wheel, and observed how color can affect mood by discovering how Dufy mixed colors and used curly black lines in his paintings.

Mosier concedes that some youngsters may have a hard time absorbing all the information during a liberal-arts lesson. But by using colorful props and innovative teaching methods, parent volunteers are able to carry out the lessons effectively, she said.

For example, students were able to remember the dreamy harmony of Chopin's composition "Nocturne nocturne (nŏk`tûrn) [Fr.,=night piece], in music, romantic instrumental piece, free in form and usually reflective or languid in character. John Field wrote the first nocturnes, influencing Chopin in the writing of his 19 nocturnes for piano.  in e-flat" after a brief discussion about how "nocturne" means night music. Showing an ordinary frying pan as a prop, students could remember the name "show-pan."

"It's a really good way to teach kids about these things "These Things" is an EP by She Wants Revenge, released in 2005 by Perfect Kiss, a subsidiary of Geffen Records. Music Video
The music video stars Shirley Manson, lead singer of the band Garbage. Track Listing
1. "These Things [Radio Edit]" - 3:17
2.
 early," said Gilliland. "It also gets parents involved with doing stuff with the kids."

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO

Photo (1--Ran in Simi edition only--Color) PTA member Sandi Gilliland shows kids at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School Lincoln Elementary School is the name of numerous schools, with most of them in the U.S. named after President Abraham Lincoln, including:
  • Lincoln Elementary School, Anaheim, California
  • Lincoln Elementary School, Ashland, Ohio
 how painters use colors to convey moods. Gilliland is a volunteer in the campus F.A.M.E. project. Andy Holzman/Special to the Daily News (2--Ran in Simi edition only--Color) Kirstyn Maye listens to lessons on composer Frederic Chopin. (3) Sandi Gilliland, a volunteer for the Fine Arts Mini Experience program, shows pupils how to blend colors used in painting with colored frosting frosting

the slight graying of the haircoat around the face, particularly muzzle, in dogs with aging and as a regular feature of some breeds such as the Belgian shepherd dog.
. Andy Holzman/Special to the Daily News
COPYRIGHT 1996 Daily News
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1996, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Date:Jan 10, 1996
Words:572
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