Food BEatz for Bucketz

It all started in a music room in Philadelphia:Kids: "Mr. Mell, we want to play this beat we heard on YouTube!" Me: "Ok, here's how it goes: dotted 8th dotted 8th 8th note 8th rest dotted 8th dotted 8th"(Blank stares) (fidgeting) (Me feeling frustrated that I couldn't help them learn their favorite beat)Me: "Never mind what I said¿. Just move your feet to the beat, and repeat after me: Pine-ap-ple pine-ap-ple pie mm pine-ap-ple pine-ap-ple" (Kids say it back with no stress and...
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It all started in a music room in Philadelphia:Kids: "Mr. Mell, we want to play this beat we heard on YouTube!" Me: "Ok, here's how it goes: dotted 8th dotted 8th 8th note 8th rest dotted 8th dotted 8th"(Blank stares) (fidgeting) (Me feeling frustrated that I couldn't help them learn their favorite beat)Me: "Never mind what I said¿. Just move your feet to the beat, and repeat after me: Pine-ap-ple pine-ap-ple pie mm pine-ap-ple pine-ap-ple" (Kids say it back with no stress and a lot of confidence)And that's how Food bEatz was born! Just a music teacher who loved Hiphop, fresh out of Temple University, who wasn't afraid to let go of what he had been told was the "right way" to teach and respond to his students' needs with creativity and shared language. I found out that excellence was within them already, nurtured from the rhythm of their daily lives: Dancing at home or in the school hallways, thumping on lunch tables, immersed in beats that poured out of cars, headphones, and radios. All I needed to do was teach in a shared language that connected my university-taught, theoretical understanding of music with my students' intrinsic understanding.It is an honor to make this shared language available to you in Food bEatz for Bucketz, a collection of lesson plans for teachers and students to gather around the table of captivating rhythm, creativity, and joy. Food bEatz for Bucketz is a journey through the music our students love - Hiphop, Reggaeton, Bachata, Afrobeat, Rock, and more - with a learning system centered in SEL competencies, student leadership, and creativity. Every lesson begins with a warmup that strengthens musicianship, coordination, and drumming skills, and finishes with beats, solos, call & response vocals, and smiles!Tutorial videos for each lesson and beat, and play-along tracks on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon make Food bEatz for Bucketz an easy resource to implement in any setting - all you need is buckets, sticks, shakers, speakers, and strong voices!