Educators Toolkit
Dear Educator:
Class Acts performances are provided as a public service of the Sampson CenterStage Performing Arts Series, the Sampson County Exposition Center, and the County of Sampson. Class Acts performances are totally funded and underwritten through the financial contributions of many businesses, corporations, civic organizations, and individuals from across Sampson County and are provided FREE to students in Clinton City Schools and Sampson County Schools.
The study guides provided and information below are designed to aid in preparing students for a educational and exciting performance. We encourage you to make use of these valuable resources designed to not only enhance each student’s theater-going experience; but to also complement their total educational experience.
Transit Vocal Band
Friday, April 28, 2023
Grade Level Time
5th Grade 10:00 am
6th Grade 1:00 pm
Curriculum Connections: Music, Dance, Geography, History, Listening & Communication Skills, and Visual & Performing Arts
Transit Vocal Band is a high-energy a cappella group that has entertained audiences throughout the US and has produced award-winning albums! Their cast of professional musicians have experience teaching K-12 and college-level students. They have educated and entertained for over 850 school audiences since the group was formed in 2005. This highly interactive educational program will trace the historical development of the contemporary a cappella genre. Students will learn about ways science and technology enhance the a cappella sound, whereby inspiring the creative utilization and improvisation with the most natural instrument of all – the human voice!
In this program, students will compare and contrast the characteristic sounds of various popular musical genres (eg. Motown, Country, Jazz, Rock & Roll, Rap/Hip-Hop, Pop, Beach Music and EDM or Electronic Dance Music). With respect to each of the aforementioned genres, students will: 1) become familiar with the historical and cultural context imperative to their development; 2) observe and differentiate between performance styles unique to each; 3) hear the improvisational techniques used to vocally imitate complex sounds, both instrumental and inorganic, unique to each (e.g. harmonicas in country music or synthesizers in EDM); 4) witness how creativity and artistic innovation allows the transformation of a song between genres; 5) discover and observe how essential specific percussive patterns are to the groove or rhythmic "feel" of each genre; and 6) become familiar with age-appropriate musical concepts and vocabulary exemplified by each genre!