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"Ms. Trainor was very creative and very talented. . . ." "[She] has a beautiful voice, is very energetic and dynamic. The large total school assembly was great."
-- from Running Brook Elementary teacher evaluations submitted to the Maryland State Arts Council

This interactive assembly program is presented as a concert of original and collected songs, with introductions that illustrate how songs are used to communicate ideas and feelings. Students will be asked to think about their own experience with the many uses of music in our society, especially those designed to affect people's thoughts and feelings. Students will be encouraged to think of writing songs as an activity that "regular people" (not just celebrities and professionals) can benefit from and enjoy. Several styles of songs will be used and described in the presentation (parodies, call and response songs, zipper songs, cumulative songs, dance songs, story songs, educational songs, and/or message songs). Details about the creation of specific songs will be mentioned, including how and why a particular point of view was chosen. Prior to the assembly, teachers may be asked to select student volunteers and to volunteer themselves for participation in the performance of specified songs.

"Dear Mrs. Trainor,
          I thank you for coming in and helping us making up our own songs it was realy fun it was funner than going to Adventure World . . . ."
-- 3rd grade student, Longfellow Elementary School, Columbia, Maryland

The purpose of the Making up Songs  workshops and residency programs is to introduce songwriting as an effective and enjoyable means of discovering, defining and expressing ideas and feelings. Objectives: 1) To convey that playing with words and phrases, rhythms and tunes can be fun to do. 2) To teach several approaches to brainstorming -- opening up to the thoughts and feelings that pop out at "unguarded" moments and following a path of associated ideas. 3) To review and practice some fundamental composing skills: selecting a topic and developing that specific idea, choosing and maintaining a meter and rhyme scheme, and using words and details that "show" the point of the song rather than "tell" the point of the song.

Residencies are available on a one workshop per classroom basis or as a residency of up to five cumulative workshop sessions per classroom. (Schools often focus on providing workshops for one or two grades during a residency.) An introductory assembly program for the entire school is encouraged, as is a concluding assembly or evening concert, in which students have an opportunity to perform the songs they've written and hear songs composed by others.

• +Cedar Lane School, Howard County, MD
       (Special Needs)
• +Green Holly School, St. Mary's County, MD
• Lutherville ES, Baltimore County, MD
• +Riderwood ES, Baltimore County, MD
• +Montgomery County Primary Achievement Center
       (Special Needs)
• +Howard County Head Start, MD
• Bollman Bridge ES, Howard County, MD
• +Forest Ridge ES, Howard County, MD
• +Harbour School, Annapolis, MD
       (Special Needs)
• +Fulton ES, Howard County, MD
• +Clemens Crossing ES, Howard County, MD
• Liberty Heights ES, Anne Arundel County, MD

• +Maugansville ES, Washington County, MD
• +Baltimore County Arts Camp, Dundalk, MD
• Murray ES, Baltimore City (Special Needs)
• St. John the Baptist, Silver Spring, MD
• Rockburn ES (K only), Howard County, MD
• +Wood Acres ES, Montgomery County, MD
• +Gorman Crossing ES, Howard County, MD
• +Running Book ES, Howard County, MD
• Kemptown ES, Frederick County, MD
• +Longfellow ES, Howard County, MD
• +Calvert County Arts Council Camp, MD

• Single-session songwriting workshops for all ages
• In-service workshops for teachers and librarians

Sue Trainor is a performing-songwriter with a gift for stirring up other folks' creativity. Her energy and enthusiasm capture students' attention and her sense of humor and down-to-earth approach keep it.

Sue is a Maryland State Artist In Education, teaching musical creativity and songwriting workshops for both typical and atypical students. In 1999 she was named "Best New Artist for Young Children" in the international Children's Music Web Awards. Her debut recording for kids, Under Tables, Out Back Doors, earned Parents' Choice "Recommended" honors and a 2001 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Seal. It also won a Wammie Award for "Best Children's Album" from the Washington Area Music Association. Twice Sue has won "Best Children's Vocalist" Wammie awards, and she has been nominated twice as overall "Songwriter of the Year."