Decision-making 101

Schoolchildren often hear about making good decisions, but it’s rare for them to have the chance to learn this skill from a professional musician. Cleveland Orchestra clarinetist Robert Woolfrey recently presented a Learning Through Music program to fourth graders at H. Barbara Booker School on Cleveland’s west side about how he makes decisions when learning a piece of music.

The students discovered that his process is not much different from how they might make decisions in everyday life.

Woolfrey showed the steps he takes: identify the problem, gather information, list and consider options, choose and implement a solution. The students were very excited to help Woolfrey “learn” a piece and then hear their recommendations incorporated into his final performance. (Behind the scenes, what they didn’t know was that his lesson was guided by Ohio academic content standards.)

In May, Woolfrey will visit William Cullen Bryant School, also on Cleveland’s west side, to present his program one more time.

Learning Through Music is a collaborative partnership program with Cleveland-area elementary schools, linking music to the K-5 curriculum to support learning in language arts, math, science and social studies. Eleven Cleveland Orchestra members participate in the program by visiting classrooms throughout the school year.

One such musician, cellist Bryan Dumm, recently talked to kindergarten students at William Cullen Bryant School about how music can depict things found in nature. He introduced the children to classics inspired by the animal world, such as Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumble Bee” and Saint-Saëns’ “The Swan,” among others.

During the 2009-2010 season, musicians will present 150 classroom-based programs in Learning Through Music partner schools.

Photo by The Cleveland Orchestra Education Department