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Chopin Composer Study

August 31, 2011 By Jimmie Quick 5 Comments

We’re in the midst of our fourth week back to homeschool (Sprite’s seventh grade). Despite my terrible motivation issues, it’s been a smooth transition back to books and learning. Like I suspected, once I dive in, the motivation returns. We have done math, language arts, art, and composer study in these weeks — four of our favorite areas. (Okay, math is not a favorite, but it’s necessary.) Eventually I’ll be adding in science and history.

The composer I chose for this term is Chopin, the Polish Poet of the Piano. Listening to his piano music has been a great inspiration for Sprite as she gets back into the swing of piano lessons. (Her teacher takes a break over the summer.) We are still enjoying his music on audio CD, but we’ve already wrapped up the biographical study. These are the resources we used.

Living Books

Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers

Opal Wheeler biographies

  • Frederic Chopin, Son of Poland, Early Years
  • Frederic Chopin, Son of Poland, Later Years

Notebooking pages

chopin book and notebooking page

Chopin is not one of the artists available on the freebies page, so I used my purchased composers set from Notebookingpages.com. (No, you don’t need fancy, custom-made notebooking pages. Plain paper works just as well.)

Sprite made written narrations of the Opal Wheeler books, the chapter from Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers and the Chopin VOX disc. She took notes as she listened to the latter two and then worked her notes into written narrations.

Activity Pages

chopin geography

Geography

The printable maps from Scholastic’s Ready-to-Go Super Book of Outline Maps came in handy for integrating geography into our living book studies. As Chopin traveled around Europe, Sprite marked the location on her map of Europe.

chopin disc and notebook timeline

Timeline

She made a one page Chopin timeline with the free timeline notebooking page from The Notebooking Fairy.

I made a lens over at Squidoo with more resources. I always find far more than we can manage to use. So visit Chopin Composer Study for a buffet of teaching ideas. Pick and choose what works best for you as you enjoy Chopin.

More You Will Like

Verdi Composer Study and Opera Lapbook
Requiring Art and Music Study
Bach Composer Study

Filed Under: composer study Tagged With: chopin, composer study

Comments

  1. Lainie Magsarili says

    August 31, 2011 at 10:09 am

    Fourth week?! *faints*

    We love the Opal Wheeler books too 😉

    Reply
  2. Ellen says

    August 31, 2011 at 4:23 pm

    We’re easing back into our school routine next week – I’m using BF Ancients with my 6th & 7th graders and omitting/adding. Just a question with what you did since I noticed you used it just last year: Did you follow the teacher guide (with a few changes) or did you really overhaul the whole thing? I have so many books and IGs (winter promise, MOH, SOTW, Streams of Civilization) that I’m getting overwhelmed with it all. I saw your suggestions on Ancient Egypt and a tiny bit on Ancient Greece. Didn’t see what you used on Ancient Rome. Do you have any tips?

    Reply
  3. Eddie says

    August 31, 2011 at 5:10 pm

    Thanks for sharing! We’re on Handel (same cd series) right now and planning to cover Chopin in October, so this is great timing.

    Reply
  4. Nadene says

    September 1, 2011 at 12:35 am

    I just love Sprite’s gorgeous illustrations on her timeline notebook page! My kids will enjoy this too!
    It is good to ease into a full schedule over the weeks. Somehow everyone (including mom … smile) copes better and stays motivated!

    Reply
  5. Sybille says

    September 4, 2011 at 1:37 pm

    Hi Jimmie,
    Sprite did a great job with timeline pictures! I love her drawings!
    My son Sandro e made a little Chopin Lapbook last year. You can see it here:
    http://buntblume.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/fryderyk/
    Have a beautiful September!

    Reply

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jimmie lanley
So glad you clicked over. You are welcome here. I'm Jimmie, a single, work from home mom of one teen.

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