For my elementary music artifact, I have the rainstick we made in our University classroom. This process took about 2-3 weeks (our class met for one hour twice a week). It was constructed by using a wrapping paper tube, tooth picks, hot glue, tape, construction paper, and seeds. Some elements of the construction, primarily applying the hot glue to the tooth picks, should not be done by the students due to safety concerns (I burnt my finger on the hot glue during class). 

This activity can lead into a discussion of how the construction of instruments was influenced by the materials available to the people in certain areas. The timbre of the instrument is influence by the seeds inside the tube: smaller seeds will produce a lighter sound while fuller sounds are a product of bigger seeds. The duration of the pitch is a result of both the length of the tube, amount of seeds, and the amount of tooth picks in the tube.

My secondary choral methods artifact is a mock program for a fictional school. I am open to letting artistically inclined students have a chance to develop a program or even a collaboration with an art teacher or graphic design teacher to help design future programs.

The parameters for this program was to include a middle school choir, women's choir, a mixed choir, and one piece that includes all of the students. Throughout the program, 2 pieces must use a foreign language, 2 composers from different eras of music history (ex: romantic, renaissance), and a balance of sacred/secular music.

My Secondary Instrumental methods artifact is a mock program, lesson plan and rubric for a fictional school with an impossible personnel. As with my choral artifact, I am open to student-made programs and collaborations with other disciplines.

The music varies in difficulty from pieces that a freshman band could perform to pieces that advanced senior bands could play. Without knowing elements such as the number of band members and their skill level, it is difficult to program music that challenges students while remaining in the realm of possibility.