The Note Who Faced the Music by Lindsay Bonilla, illustrated by Mark Hoffman

Congratulations to Jany Campana!  You are the winner of a signed copy of LITTLE ROSETTA AND THE TALKING GUITAR!  I know you're going to LOVE this PB biography of Rosetta Tharpe, powerhouse originator of rock 'n' roll sound!   Thanks for your constant support of PBJamz!  And thank you to Charnelle Pinkney Barlow for your beautiful book, great conversation and your generosity!  If anyone missed that episode, check it out now! :-)

A Conversation with Lindsay Bonilla, author of THE NOTE WHO FACED THE MUSIC:  storytelling, music, arts, passion, and more!

Join Lindsay and me as we talk about her writing process, musical connections, storytelling, music, the value of the arts in the schools, tips for authors and so much more! Enjoy this great conversation and then get your hands on this book! ​

THE NOTE WHO FACED THE MUSIC

From the very first line, we know we're in for quite a romp.  Hidden behind all the fun musical puns and sophisticated music vocabulary and content, is a sweet story that we can all relate to.  Half note feels "not quite whole" , a bit left out, not enough.  I know I can relate to half note's predicament sometimes.  At the heart of this story is learning to value ourselves and to recognize that we bring a unique gift and perspective to every situation where we find ourself.  But it is couched in a fun, cheeky story of a runaway note and the friends who cheerfully conspire to bring her home and let her know how much they appreciate and need her.  Full of humor and wordplay,  SEL heart, musical content and rich vocabulary, this book has many layers to please children and teachers alike! 

Published by Page Street Kids, written by Lindsay Bonilla and illustrated by Mark Hoffman.  For purchasing link, check out the Giveaway links section!

A Little Jam. . .(The Music Kind)

Since the book talks about specifically Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, I'm including this piece.  There are many other versions you could choose to use.  I like this one because it's a little different, and it doesn't require any equipment.  It also still emphasizes the half notes at the end of each phrase.  If you don't prefer this one, there are lots more on the Pinterest boards and the YouTube playlist(s) that I'll link below next week.   This one uses hand motions, but there are sheet music versions, boomwhacker versions and much more!  Enjoy!

Teacher Tips, Tricks and Topics

• Discuss puns and word play
  • Scavenger hunt in the book
  • Illustrate some puns/word play from the book
  • Write your own story/paragraph with puns
• Idiomatic expressions -- research/discuss
  • "face the music"
  • "tuned them out"
  • "singing the blues"
• Features of text
  • Bold print
  • Font change
  • Font size
• Punctuation
  • Dialogue/quotation marks
  • Statements/Questions/Exclamations or telling/asking/excited  or declarative/ interrogative/exclamatory depending on grade level.
    • Look at examples from text
    • Pull sentences and leave out punctuation
    • Play games where you match the sentence with its type
    • Punctuation puppets
• Problem/Solution
• Alliteration (Find examples, point out in text, try writing your own, etc)
  • Mesmerizing melodies
  • riveting rhythms
  • sensational syncopation

***This book is a perfect team-teaching opportunity for ELA and Music -- so much crossover.  Both teachers could teach simultaneously and pull out their separate content or you could team-teach.  So many great opportunities if you have willing folks.  Or, if you're like me, a former classroom teacher-turned-music-teacher, then go for a full integration and pull in lots of these ELA skills!

Tips and Topics for Music Teachers

• Musical vocabulary (See the glossary at the end of the book)
  • rest
  • half note, whole note, quarter note, eighth note, sixteenth note
  • half rest, whole rest, quarter rest, eighth rest, sixteenth rest
  • measure
  • sharp/flat
  • staff
  • pitch
  • treble clef/bass clef
  • coda
  • composer
  • sheet music/arrangement
  • forte
  • bass drum
  • offbeat
  • dissonant
  • presto, accelerando
  • cacophonous
  • noteworthy
  • jazzed
  • rock and roll
  • crescendo
  • bravissimo
• This book is a perfect PB vehicle for teaching many musical concepts as you can see from the vocabulary. Much of it also crosses over into ELA, so again, a great team-teaching or integrative opportunity!
• Perfect for teaching note values (Check out the YouTube and Pinterest links for some fun songs and activities to help with that) Fun character components that tie in as well as the puns and wordplay!
  
• Rhythm is a natural skill that matches this book.  There are lots of rhythm play alongs in the YouTube and Pinterest links too.
  
• Musical idiomatic expressions (see the section above)
  
• The vocabulary included gives lots of clues for what else you may want to teach or at least mention from this book -- lots of rich vocabulary with musical connections!
  
• Several mentions of various tempos
  
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star figures prominently, so you could certainly do some fun things with that! There's a whole Pinterest board just for this purpose.  Lots of links in both of the YouTube playlists, too!
  

Writing Prompts from Tonnye

So many fun writing activities from this text:

• Make a list of your favorite puns or write a list of your own
• Write a letter to Half Note, telling her why she should return
• Research one of the idiomatic expressions and write about its origins
• Write new lyrics to the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star melody
• Write the story over from the point-of-view of one of the other characters
• Write your own alliterative poem using musical terms (See alliteration above)
• Write about a time you felt like you didn't belong or a time when you felt left out.
• Write about how to help a friend who is feeling left out.
• Write a diamante poem using two musical opposites:
  • cacophony/harmony
  • bass cleff/treble clef
  • sharp/flat
  • high/low
  • fast/slow etc.
    • ***Some of these are adjective pairs rather than nouns so you may have to make some slight adjustments of the diamante format
• Choose at least 5 of the musical words from this story and write your own musical story.
• What if Half Note's friends didn't come up with a plan to bring her back?  Write that story.
• Think of your own "what-if" questions about this story and let your imagination run wild.  Write the story that comes from answering one of those what if questions.
• What could Half Note's friends have done BEFORE this story to help her not feel left out?

Writing Tips from Lindsay Bonilla

​1)  Be authentic. 
Read the work of others. Yes — read widely in the genre you want to write in, particularly books published in the last 5 years!!  Be inspired by other writers, but find your own voice. Say what matters to you in the way that only you can say it.

2) Write what you can when you can. 
If you don’t have a lot of time, don’t make that an excuse not to write. Scribble ideas in the margins. Write for 15 minutes or only 5 if that’s what you’ve got. When you don’t have time to sit down and write, write in your head. This is what I did (and still do!) when my children were very small, and I spent most of the day holding them, feeding them, putting them to sleep, etc. 
Try to picture your story like a movie playing in your mind. See the characters and try to hear their voices. Then when you go to sit down to write something, you may have a more fully formed story waiting for you. 

3) Lean on your friends.
The writing community is a great community. Make friends with other writers. Find critique partners who will give you honest feedback and who are willing to help you brainstorm. Do the same for them! 

4)  Have equal parts confidence and humility. 
     This is a hard business. You have to believe in yourself and your work. Sometimes this will mean speaking up for your vision for a project. At the same time, you have to be completely humble -- open to learning from others and willing to admit that there may be different (or even better!) ways of doing things than you had considered. 

Links, More Fun, Extensions for Families and Everyone!

YouTube playlist with lots of fun music activities for half note and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
YouTube playlist with tons of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star activities/versions
​Pinterest board for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Pinterest board with half note activities and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

PBJamz Snack -- Peanut butter and Jelly Doughnuts!

Half note has a hole -- like a doughnut, so I thought these would be the perfect PBJ snacks to accompany this book!  AND, these are relatively healthy -- or at least safe for those with allergies and food sensitivities.  They look divine! and I'm sure they'll make everyone on your staff feel like they belong.  They'll stop singing the blues and will be wholly devoted to you -- no half-noted (er, I mean half-hearted) accolades for these doughnuts!  If you try them, let me know in the comments, and check out more recipes from Two Spoons: Recipes worth Sharing! Get the recipe for peanut butter and jelly doughnuts!

Guest Links and Giveaways

Lindsay Bonilla is a professional storyteller and children’s book author from North Canton, Ohio. She lives with her husband, two wild and creative kids (who believe themselves to be a Komodo dragon and lion, respectively), and her dog, Blitzen. While earning her Bachelor’s degree in theatre and religion at Northwestern University, she fell in love with folktales and world travel. Lindsay has performed interactive theatre, shared stories and taught workshops all over the world. These experiences have made her passionate about building understanding and relationships across cultures while inspiring the imagination. When she’s not writing or performing, she can be found building Legos with her kids as they brainstorm her next book idea.

To connect with Lindsay or purchase THE NOTE WHO FACED THE MUSIC, check out the links below.  Please note, she has additional books available via her website.


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To purchase THE NOTE WHO FACED THE MUSIC

Lindsay is generously giving away one copy of THE NOTE WHO FACED THE MUSIC.  To be eligible, simply leave a comment below and you'll be entered into a drawing! One lucky winner will have a copy of Lindsay and Mark's beautiful book to keep!
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