Sing and Sign "I Love a Rainy Night"
Enjoy a video preview (right) and explore the learning guides below. Teaching artists are available for LIVE video instruction sessions to accompany each video.
This learning series requires that you obtain a license to view/download content. If you'd like to purchase a license to download the full available content or to discuss creating a custom learning series for your students, please contact VirtualClassroom@MetGuild.org or use the link below.
Video One:
Getting Ready to Sing
This first lesson introduces us to ways we use our posture, breath, and voice to support healthy singing. We will also learn what a vocal register is and hear Ms. Shawn demonstrate the three main types. We will then get to practice making sounds in our own vocal registers!
Video 1 PDF
Learning Guide
Video 1 DIGITAL
Learning Guide
Key Student Learning Standard Addressed:
NYSED Reading Stardard 7
CCSS.ELA-Reading.CCRA.R.7
Video Two:
Following the Score
In the second part of this series we will learn some tips for following the vocal part in the "score," or what we sometimes call "sheet music." We will also continue to practice learning the melody for our song "I Love a Rainy Night."
Video 2 PDF
Learning Guide
Video 2 DIGITAL
Learning Guide
Key Student Learning Standard Addressed:
NYSED Reading Standard 7
CCSS.ELA-Reading.CCRA.R.7
Video Three:
In our third episode, we will work on learning the American Sign Language to accompany our song lyrics. Make sure to check the resources for this lesson for Ms. Shawn's references for the ASL and other lesson elements. Remember to pause often and rewatch while you learn. Can you pair with a partner to check each other's sings?
Video 3 PDF
Learning Guide
Video 3 DIGITAL
Learning Guide
Key Student Learning Standard Addressed:
NYSED S&L Standard 2
CCSS. ELA-Speaking and Listening.CCRA.SL.2
Video Four:
The Beat and Choreography
In the fourth video of our series, Ms. Shawn helps us practice finding the beat in the dance break. We will practice finding the beat by listening to the music and by watching the score. We will also learn and practice choreography for the dance break. Make sure to use this week's virtual classroom to link to your rehearsal resources.
Video 4 PDF
Learning Guide
Video 4 DIGITAL
Learning Guide
Key Student Learning Standard Addressed:
NYSED Reading Standard 7
CCSS.ELA-Reading.CCRA.R.7
Video Five:
Putting It All Together
In this last video in our series, Ms. Shawn helps us prepare to perform our song with emphasis on our expression, or our emotions that we use while we sing. We will practice expressing different emotions and then note how that transfers into our singing and American Sign Language.
Enjoy sharing your newly learned song with friends and family. If you'd like, tag us @MetOperaGuild or with #SingSignRainyNight and #OperaBasedLearning
Video 5 PDF
Learning Guide
Video 5 DIGITAL
Learning Guide
Key Student Learning Standard Addressed:
NYSED Reading Standard 6
CCSS. ELA-Reading.CCRA.R.6
Additional Information: (any additional/supplemental information related to this post will appear below)
Shawn Farrar, Teaching Artist
Shawn Farrar is a Mezzo-Soprano who is at home in a variety of genres. She particularly enjoys interpreting the works of Mozart, Kurt Weill, and Stephen Sondheim. Shawn has performed all over the country, including with Knoxville Opera Company, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Des Moines Metro Opera, Clarence Brown Theatre, and here in NYC with Utopia Opera, dell’Arte Opera, Opera on Tap, and Camerata Piccola, a division of New Camerata Opera that produces opera for children. Highlights of her performance history include Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte, La chatte in L’Enfant et Sortilèges, The Witch in Into the Woods, The Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd, and Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shawn is a Master Teaching Artist with the Metropolitan Opera Guild and has also worked as a Teaching Artist for OnSite Opera and as a Voice Coach for Lincoln Center’s Summer Middle School Audition Boot Camp.
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