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    VocalEssence Classroom RESOURCE hub

Welcome from the LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT TEAM

Thank you for registering for VocalEssence WITNESS! Enjoy these free resources funded by institutions and individual donors. Scroll down to view a variety of resources created by curriculum writer Joanna Cortright and the VocalEssence Learning and Engagement team staff. We hope you and your students will use and learn from these throughout the school year.

Thank you for being a WITNESS Partner School!

Robert Graham, Learning and Engagement Manager | Conductor, VocalEssence Vintage Voices Program
Emma Jirele, Learning and Engagement Manager | Graphic Designer
G. Phillip Shoultz, III, Associate Artistic Director

Meet our Teaching Artists-click on their photo to read their bio!

2024-2025 Resources

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    Teachers and Teaching Artists will use these questions and information to guide their conversation during the pre-workshop planning meeting. At the end of the meeting, be sure to complete and sign the "Planning Meeting Checklist" and return that to Rob Graham via email.
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    After using the Planning Meeting Guide to help guide your conversation and planning process, please complete this checklist by placing a checkmark by each category discussed, and then the Teaching Artist and Primary Contact teacher are to sign and date the checklist form. Please return to Rob Graham via email.
  • Meet our three trailblazers: Claudette Colvin, Ruby Bridges, and Mari Copeny, young activists who made significant contributions to civil rights and social justice. From Claudette’s pivotal role in the 1950s bus boycotts to Ruby’s integration of New Orleans schools and Mari’s advocacy for clean water and youth empowerment, these figures exemplify the power of youth leadership in driving change.
  • Learn about Claudette Colvin, a teenage civil rights pioneer who challenged segregation on Montgomery buses before Rosa Parks.
  • Discover Ruby Bridges, the brave six year old who desegregated an all-white elementary school in New Orleans, becoming an enduring symbol of courage.
  • Explore the activism of Mari Copeny, the young advocate known for her leadership in addressing the Flint water crisis and empowering youth voices.
  • Create a personal portrait where students examine their own "Eyes On The Prize," reflecting on their goals, values, and aspirations in the fight for equality.
  • Reflect on the "Eyes On The Prize" concert by identifying key takeaways, emotions, and insights about the connections between the Civil Rights Movement and current social justice efforts.

2023-2024 Resources

  • Lesson: Meet Melanie DeMore
    Part 1: Meet Melanie
    In this lesson, students will either read a biographical article or view a scripted PowerPoint to learn about who Melanie is and more about her background.

    Part 2: Listening and Responding to Melanie's Voice
    In this lesson, students will listen to recordings of Melanie's deep, rich voice and respond via a worksheet activity.
  • PowerPoint that accompanies the Lesson Meet Melanie DeMore (to be used in Part 1 Lesson)
  • Student Resource for Background and Context:
    Introducing Students to the Gullah People of South Carolina and Georgia and Melanie's Connection to Stick Pounding
  • Lesson Plan: Leading wtih Love - The 2024 WITNESS Concert Theme

    This lesson introduces students to the 2024 program and concert theme, engaging them in a variety of activities including a word wall activity and acrostic poem worksheet to unpack the words "leading" and "love".
  • Lesson Plan: Learning the Song "Lead with Love" by Melanie DeMore

    This lesson introduces students to the song "Lead with Love" by Melanie DeMore, and includes opportunities to listen and respond to recordings, as well as learning to sing and create movement sequences to the song.

    Includes copy of sheet music from Justice Choir Songbook.
  • Lesson Plan: The Message in the Lyrics

    In this lesson, students will have the opportunity to use metaphors to further understand Melanie's lyrics and to come up with their own ideas for HOW they can lead with love in their own lives and communities. Extension activities allow for a wide variety of student creativity.
  • Lesson Plan: Leaders of Love - Connecting with your Commnunity

    In this lesson, students will participate in a research project to learn more about who the leaders of love are in their community, through identifying individuals and organizations whose products, services, programs and care for the community reflect the values of "leading with love".

  • VocalEssence WITNESS Classroom Resource Hub

    Welcome from the LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT TEAM Thank you for registering for VocalEssence WITNESS! Enjoy these free resources funded by institutions and individual donors. Scroll…

    VocalEssence WITNESS Classroom Resource Hub

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