Bells & Motley Arts-in-Education Programs
In the Words of Our Young Scholars
On this page you'll find:
Part 1: short testimonials and quotes from thank-you letters from children.
Part 2: student notes following our paired workshop sequence
"Medieval Music and Society" (concert-demo) and
"Medieval Arts and Daily Life" (interpretive slide forum).
The notes in Part 2 are from Mr Hickey's 6th grade class at State Road Elementary, Webster, NY, February 2001. Mr Hickey has some wonderful tricks up his sleeve after so many years of teaching. He assigned his students to take brief notes during our two interlocking presentations, and then to re-write and refine their notes at the end of the second session.
We are so pleased to find all that the students retained from these sessions! Yes, we do indeed dish out alot of information during our presentations, but we try to do it in such a way as to present clues that fit together into a compelling piece of detective work, guiding the students through scaffolded responses to gather as much information as possible to build a coherent picture, each according to their own ability. Our main goal, really, is to provide an exercise in creative thinking. Hope you enjoy reading these: you'll find plenty to be amazed about, and some good chuckles, too. For our part, we're glad to see some proof that we don't send the kids home with too many preposterous notions! -JB.
Grammar and word choice are the students' own.
Part 1: short testimonials and quotes from thank-you letters from children.
"I thank the both of thee, for yer program was better than anything me young mind could imagine. I was marveled at what a wondrous sight me eyes could see. I hope to see you again, yonder or abroad." –Sir Daniel Levenstein of Oneonta
"The music the instruments make was as wonderful as the holy angel chorus." –Katie Batill, Oneonta
"I have never seen such amazing and strange instruments." –Paul Kuhne, Albany School of Humanities
"Friday was extremely fun… my heart was beating twice the normal beat." -Meg, Albany School for the Humanities
"The other day I saw a good movie that took place during the Middle Ages. I understood what they wer talking about because of all the things I learned from you about the Middle Ages." - Meghan, Scotia, NY
"I really enjoyed learning the different dances. I thought we were going to see other people do it and listen to a recording of it. I was very surprised when I found out we were going to do the dance and have our classmates playing the music! …..Parting is such sweet sorrow. I shall see thee anon!" – Stacey Butler, Ballston, Lake, NY
"My favorite part of the slide show was "The Treasures of Sheep". They provide wool, milk, meat, skin for writing on, and fertilizings. I think these things I just mentioned are very important because they give us new ideas for the things we have today." –Danielle D., 6F, Albany School for the Humanities
"Past many knights/ through dark twilights/ Medieval days are my lights! Jesters and thieves/ and I can only guess/ My, those days were wonderous!/ May thee have a beautious day/ Live thy Medieval way!" – Sir Carsen Zagger, Oneonta.
"Thank you for teaching us about the Medieval times. Before your visit, all I knew was that there were a lot of knights and every one killed each other." –Kurtis Marsh, Burnt Hills.
"You both have such wonderful talents and you use them wisely." –Your scholar, Michelangelo (Erin Elizabeth Quinn), Burnt Hills.
"I also learned from you that I can do something with my talent, like you did. See thee anon. God ye good den." -Rashell Aunchman, Burnt Hills.
Part 2: student notes following our paired workshop sequence at State Road Elementary
"Medieval Music and Society" (concert-demo)
and "Medieval Arts and Daily Life" (interpretive slide show).
Katherine Sears
They talked about Mt St Michael, which was a famous island monastery.
Monasteries made manuscripts, and had open areas so they could get outdoors without mingling.
A grotesquerie is something from the imagination that was often used to decorate buildings and instruments.
They told us how to make a torque, which is a Medieval hat in a circlet style.
They used to make instrument strings out of sheep guts, dried and twisted.
In the first piece of music, the harp made me think of water.
The sound holes in the lute took days to carve.
The tarantella dance means "cure from the tarantula bite."
King Henry VIII made copies of many pieces of music so people in the future could use them.
When you use all four crumhorns, or any kind of instrument, is called a consort.
In the crumhorn, the double reed is under the cap.
The hurdy gurdy has a wheel that you rosin so the strings will stick and vibrate. Inside it has little pieces of wood that push against the strings to make different pitches.
The old fiddles didn't have a set number of strings. They could be anywhere from 2 to 6 strings.
The drone is a one-note harmony. We heard it on the bagpipes and the hurdy gurdy.
The back of the lute is only as think as a coin, like a nickel.
The skin of the snare drum is prepared the same way as parchment is prepared, by soaking it in lye to take off the fur/hair.
Jake
To make paint they ground precious stones, plants, and types of metal to make paint colors
Cast metal workers had many secrets about molding metals
Gargoyles got their name from the fact they gargle out water
The first universities were in Spain
Since King Alfonso X documented a collection of Medieval songs we are able to know how they sounded and what they were played on to a great extent
Rubibble
The rebec is called the rebec because the bow was created in Arabic
There are no hurdy gurdys left from the 10th century and the original design or drawings were destroyed in a fire
Vielle à roue; the French name for hurdy gurdy
Drone: a 1-note harmony (hurdy gurdys or vielle-o-ru and bagpipes makes drones)
Saltarello and tarantella are Italian dances
Bagpipes have an air reservoir
Snare drums and small recorders may have been used to play the saltarello.
(JB: I love the way student Jake kept his facts open to further re-interpretation with his choice of terms like "to a great extent" and "may have been used". Isn't this exactly what State Ed would like to see?)
Sarah M.
Use of buildings & structures:
Important people buried in Cathedrals
Most castles built geometrically and painstakingly
Cloisters were used by monks to enjoy nature while not mixing with people
Grotesqueries were imaginary beasts that adorned buildings
Pre-shaped rock was often used/recycled in buildings
Walls ran around the cities
Stained glass windows were used to show daily life
Glass was pieced together because they couldn't make larger pieces
Books/Manuscripts:
Monks worked on creating manuscripts
Some manuscripts had gold leaf
Were always done on parchment
Many recorded parables
Clothes/Making them:
A torque is an O-shaped head piece; it may have attachments
If people have full sleeves, they are often more important
Rolling your lunch up in cloth and tying it around your waist is called a snap (snack) sack
Rob
Some symbols are: a scallop shell, which symbolizes a completed pilgrimage.
A dog, which symbolizes loyalty and companionship.
A dragon, which symbolizes the pre-Christian world
Books and other manuscripts were copied by hand by scribes.
King Alfonso had the manuscripts and books that his scribes copied preserved inside his cathedral, which was the final site of Spanish pilgrimages.
The universal language for the educated was Latin, which was manditory in writing and still used today with doctors.
Instruments were not standardized, and so people experimented with size, shape, and chemistry of the instruments, sometimes making the strings vibrate different ways and varied numbers of strings would change the sound of the instrument to the luthier's delight.
A luthier is a maker of instruments. They are named after the lute, which is the most difficult instrument to make.
Ciara Mastin
Parchment was a type of skin and the documents on it were very important.
They ground different things to make certain colors for painting
Castles were for protection
Mount Saint Michael was a fortified place, which meant well protected.
Monks tried to do good for the world and also wrote up manuscripts (before the printing press).
When you see St Michael, it means that the place was re-dedicated to Christianity.
Grotesquerie was something that was in style.
Alfonso made a book with his scribes which was made of 400 documented songs.
To make an instrument you need many pictures to get every angle.
Blacksmiths made metal pieces to help keep the doors together
Leonardo Da Vinci: he was given as a gift and made a fiddle.
Queen: clothing, kind of dress, type of style, amount of jewelry and fabric. Also she had her portrait done.
Many doors had arches so they could hold up the doorways.
Andy Winslow
Many people could't afford pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
When people made it to Jerusalem, they got two signs: a shell and a fancy pin.
Alfonzo tried to preserve the Middle Ages by having his scribes write it down.
On fiddles there is a tuning knob, a sound box, string, and some have carved heads.
A fiddle is made of non-burned firewood and bone.
A one note harmony is called a drone.
Some dances are called saltarellos and tarantellas.
In a bagpipe there is a reservoir for air so you can play without blowing.
A lute has 12 to 20 strings on it.
Nobody knows why the lute is bent.
On all guitars there are soundholes.
Some Medieval instruments are the harp, the fiddle (rebec, rubibble), the hurdy gurdy, the recorder, a Medieval snare drum, a bombarde, a zurna, a crumhorn, a bagpipe, and a lute.
Some sculptures were in color.
A dog in a picture was a symbol of loyalty.
Things on parchment were always very important.
Artists made their own paints.
Castles were for protection.
Castles were made with lots of geometry.
Monks were separated from the world and created manuscripts.
In the middle of a castle there was a chapel.
Many buildings had grotesqueries on their doors.
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