4 fun ideas for celebrating International Jazz Day in your school on 30th April
Children at St Bedes Primary School, Rotherham enjoying jazz with Olivia Cuttill and musicians from Leeds Conservatoire during a visit for our Playlist Project.
Did you know that April is Jazz Appreciation month? It was chosen because many famous Jazz musicians celebrated their birthdays during April – Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Herbie Hancock, Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan, Carmen McRae - to name but a few.
The highlight of Jazz Appreciation Month is International Jazz Day (IJD) which this year falls on Thursday 30th April. IJD brings together communities, schools, artists, educators and enthusiasts from all over the world to celebrate jazz in all its forms.
So the big question for a classroom teacher or assembly leader is “what can we do in our school to celebrate IJD?”.
To make your life easier we’ve created a two page A4 resource sheet which also lives in our Learning Resources Area. The resource gives you four fun ideas for how your school can celebrate the day - or maybe the whole month!
The resource sheet breaks each of the ideas into simple steps with suggestions for the activities and useful links and playlists. We also reference how the activity might relate to the Model Music Curriculum.
About the Learning Resources Area
The Learning Resources Area of the Jazz North website has been set up for curriculum music teachers (Key Stages 1-4), music leads, instrumental tutors and lifetime learners. Rather than being aimed at experienced jazz educators they are designed to encourage teachers and students new to the genre to engage with jazz and improvisation.
Our initial focus has been on creating materials for Key Stages 1 and 2 and for First Access instrumentalists.
For ease of navigation our resources are split into 6 sections - Instrumental, Vocal & singing, Aural & listening, Model Music Curriculum, Lifetime learners and Jazz North recommends. Our aim is that the resource bank continues to grow and thrive in response to your feedback. Let us know if you have used our resources successfully with your students and what you would like to see us produce in the future - email helena@jazznorth.org
Happy International Jazz Day!
Download your complimentary copy of 4 fun ideas for celebrating International Jazz Day (PDF)
Sign up to our Learning Resource Area