Reviews, Achievements, & Articles

Reviews

A Parents’ Choice Approved Award Winner “Mister Cooper is for the birds” (2011)
Acoustic musician and music educator Ken Cooper has an inviting, down-home way with a song, finding inspiration in the interconnectedness of living things, confidence-building (“Yes I Can”) and the joy of reading (“Dr. Seuss Is On the Loose”). Among the highlights: Cooper’s humorous spin on the definition of living spaces (“a peach is a house for a peach pit/a sandwich is a house for ham” in “A House is a House for Me”) and a tribute to that ubiquitous pause-filler, “Um.”
Lynne Heffley © 2011 Parents’ Choice

“Thank you for the musically enriching experiences you have created for our students here at Sutterville. We have truly benefited from your professional demeanor, musical expertise, generosity, and wonderful way with kids. Thank you!”
Lori Aoun – Principal of Sutterville Elementary School

“I always love the kids’ reaction to you, especially the ones that have seen you at their school – they obviously think you are “their” special person, and the joy they take in seeing you in another venue just makes my day. I remember at the last show some of our rowdy middle-schoolers peeked in the window and said “it’s Mr. Cooper!” and relived some of their long-past childhood… It’s obvious you have made a connection with these kids that lasts long after the songs are over. Thanks for sharing your talents with us.”
Christie Hamm – Branch Supervisor, Fair Oaks Library and former Youth Services Librarian, Belle Cooledge Library

“Mr. Cooper’s music program has been a wonderful addition to the curriculum at Tiny Tot Time. Ken brings a repertoire of songs that reinforce the pre-Kindergarten standards. The children look forward to our half-hour music session. The songs teach life lessons and values while at the same time providing entertainment. Mr. Cooper writes songs for important events and issues within the community. Ken’s commitment and creativity are unparalleled and greatly appreciated by children and parents alike.”
Rachael Hinrichsen – Director of Tiny Tot Time, Land Park (Sacramento, California)

“Mister Cooper has enriched our learning environment through his musical ability in so many ways. His weekly visits to our Kindergarten classrooms have proven to be the highlight of our week. Mister Cooper has a natural gift of engaging children through music, laughter, and movement. He communicates well with the teachers to ensure that his song choices truly enhance the curriculum. Parents, teachers, and children alike have all enjoyed singing along with Mister Cooper’s CDs. In addition, Mister Cooper graciously leads two concerts each school year! The children are so proud showing off all the songs they’ve learned during the Kindergarten Sing program. Naturally, parents are thrilled to see their children shine on stage! Mister Cooper is dedicated, reliable, professional, and downright FUN! He is an asset to any learning environment.”
Tara Nye – Sutterville teacher and former Hollywood Park teacher

“I would highly recommend all of Ken Cooper’s curriculum-based music programs. Sutterville counts him as one of our teachers and credits him with providing some of the depth and breadth that made our school a distinguished school in 2005-06.”
Diane Shada – former Sutterville Principal

“Ken Cooper has been teaching and entertaining our Kindergartners for the past twelve years. What Ken saw as a musical deficit in our program has turned into a delightful weekly musical program. The Kindergarten Sing program has become much more than a music program. It is directly linked to the California Reading Standards and the reading standards of the Sacramento City Unified School District. Ken has aligned his music program to provide phonemic awareness (the ability to hear sounds) through song to all kindergarten children at Sutterville, John Cabrillo, and Bret Harte Elementary Schools. His curriculum has been coordinated to enhance that of Open Court. It addresses individual needs by meeting one more learning style that sometimes gets overlooked.

In addition, Ken makes the curriculum fun while keeping the students focused and participating. Our curriculum would not be as rich without him. And, more importantly, our student’s educations would not be as well-rounded. He is a joy to work with and observe. We think of him more as a colleague than just an Artist-in-Residence.”
Sutterville Kindergarten teachers

“Mr. Cooper’s Kindergarten Sing program helps to address the needs of ELL learners and special needs students as well as providing curriculum support to all of the children.”
John Cabrillo Kindergarten teachers

“Mr. Ken Cooper recently conducted a three-day workshop about the history of Jazz and Blues music for my sixth grade class at Sutterville Elementary School. This workshop was directly related to our core language arts curriculum because our Open Court unit, entitled “Beyond The Notes,” consisted of stories and poems about music. Mr. Cooper’s presentations allowed my students to experience the sounds of a variety of musical legends such as Duke Ellington, B.B. King, and Ray Charles. Mr. Cooper provided pictures of different artists, video and audio clips of their performances, examples of actual instruments, and a live personal rendition or two. Students were also challenged to write their own verses of the “Homework Blues.” As a culmination to our workshop, Mr. Cooper and some fellow musicians gave a live performance at our school which included some of the songs we learned about as well as “The Homework Blues,” which incorporated some of the lyrics created by my students. I feel that his presentations were very informative and relevant to our classroom curriculum. I recommend his program to anyone seeking “real lessons” that students will not experience through their textbooks alone.”
Gary Sekikawa – Sutterville teacher

“I have had the pleasure of working with Mr. Cooper as our Artist-in-Residence for the past six years. My class really enjoys his “Going West – Songs of the 1800s” program. The songs reinforce the subject matter contained in the Open Court unit “Going West” and the students especially had fun writing tall tales with Mr. Cooper. Always asking for feedback, he crafts a program tailored to the needs of current students. He is mindful of the teacher’s busy schedule and does his best to accommodate us. As a fifth grade GATE teacher, I appreciate the fact that he will work with me on essay requirements and expectations. The ‘Going West’ Unit has become one of my favorites thanks to Mr. Cooper’s ability to bring the curriculum alive for the students while getting everyone actively involved.”
Mitch Carnie – former Sutterville teacher

“Everyone in the preschool looks forward to Mr. Cooper coming once a week. His program is not only fun but also a learning experience that builds social skills, confidence, and self esteem.”
Sally Baker – head of Sutterville Parent Ed. Preschool

“Ken Cooper’s music programs have delighted kindergartners through rhythm and words and captivated intermediate students with songs steeped in our state and national history. With his unique approach, Ken tickles the funny bone and touches the imagination, all while instilling in students a life-long love of music and learning.”
Dinorah Hall – former Sutterville PTA president

“I would like to thank you for everything you do for Sutterville. Your musical efforts enrich the lives of so many children. They will all grow up and still remember you and what you’ve meant to them!”
Denay DeGuzman – former Sutterville PTA president

Achievements

- Winner of a Parents’ Choice Approved Award – “Mister Cooper is for the birds” (2011)

- Original song “Farmers Market” included on compilation CD titled “Growing Veggie Soup” (2010) Recess Music

- Creator of original curriculum based music programs for elementary schools including Kindergarten Sing, 1st and 2nd Grade Sing, Gold Rush in Song, Music in Wartime: Uses of Music During the Civil War, Going West – Songs of the 1880’s, Back to the Notes and co-creator of Poetry and Song Project

- Emergency 30 Day Teaching Credential (1998 to present)

- Recorded and released three CDs of music for kids and their grown-ups: “Mister Cooper is for the birds” (2011), “This World” (2009) and “Mister Cooper” (2006)

- Creator and presenter of the Sing-a-Long Club with Mister Cooper after-school music program (2008 – present)

- Creator and presenter of the Sing-a-Long Club with Mister Cooper library music program (2009 – present)

- Creator and presenter of the Read Along – Sing Along summer reading program for the Sacramento Public Library (2008 – present)

- Creator and presenter of the Musical Kids weeklong educational music camp at Fairytale Town in Sacramento, CA. (2008 – 2009)

- Recipient of 2003 Crocker Art Museum School Services Grant

- Recipient of 2001-2002 Sacramento City Educational Foundation Mini-Grant
for Music in Wartime: Uses of Music During the Civil War

- Recipient of 1999-2000 Sacramento City Educational Foundation Mini-Grant
for Gold Rush in Song

- Recipient of 1998 IBM Funds for Community Service Grant for Poetry and
Song Project

- Performs locally with the music group “The Loose Acoustic Trio”

“The Connection”

“The Connection” is a bi-weekly newspaper published by
the Sacramento Unified School District

Reprinted from “The Connection” Volume 4, Number 17 – May 1, 2003

Learning Phonics, Math And History Through Music
by Jemileen U. Nuqui – editor

Making a difference, one song at a time would best describe Ken Cooper’s teaching style. A professional musician, he uses his voice and guitar to sing and compose tunes that teach. His theme songs – chosen to suit the lessons being discussed in each grade level – range from phonics and math to historical events such as the California Gold Rush and the Civil War. His involvement in education started when he was asked to volunteer in his son’s kindergarten class eight years ago. Today, he teaches his Kindergarten Sing program at Sutterville, John Cabrillo and Bret Harte elementary schools.

Cooper explained that the Kindergarten Sing program reinforces reading and counting competence, social skills and provides an opportunity for youngsters to learn music appreciation.

“It all started at Sutterville, where the PTA (Parent Teacher Association) decided to hire me to teach the program,” he said. “Then, it was just word of mouth. More parents learned about my work and encouraged their PTAs to hire me.”

Cooper also conducts music-related programs for fourth and fifth grade classes in Sutterville. He selects songs that depict the topics discussed in their Open Court curriculum. For example, the program called the California Gold Rush In Song would include songs such as “We Are All A-Pannin” and “Sacramento.”

But he does not just teach music, he shares information on each song’s historical background and characters during that period.

Another program, Going West – Songs of the 1800′s, relates to the Going West unit in Open Court reading anthology. Themes of overcoming challenges, motivation, impact on the land and different cultures are reinforced in the lyrics of the songs he chose. He is currently working on ten blues and jazz songs for the sixth grade Open Court unit Beyond the Notes.

“I make sure that anything I bring into the classroom augments what students are learning in class,” Cooper said. “I collaborate with the teachers to make sure we’re on the same page.”

Outside of conducting his programs, Cooper is a substitute teacher at Sutterville. He has taught kindergarten through sixth grade.

“I thought about becoming a regular teacher, but I like what I’m doing – being able to bring music to a lot of kids,” he said. “Maybe I’ll pursue that later.”

While Cooper now enjoys teaching, education was never a field he thought he would join. “I never really saw myself as a teacher,” he said. “I’m a musician. But these days, when I see the kids’ faces light up when I enter a room, it’s just a wonderful feeling. Children are the best audience.”

He is grateful for the continued support he receives from parents, teachers and school administrators. “I have been working with great people,” he said. “With limited school budgets, it is unfortunate that arts and music get cut. But with programs like these, we can at least bring some music into the classrooms.”

Cooper was a computer science graduate, but he was very passionate about music and followed that direction. He moved from Albany, NY to Los Angeles, CA where he worked as a musician – writing songs and playing in many bands.

He and his wife moved to Sacramento in 1992 after their son was born. “We were watching the news and it showed schools in L.A. were installing metal detectors; that’s when we decided it was time to go,” he said.

Cooper now performs in a band called the Loose Acoustic Trio. The group plays bluegrass, country and old folk songs. They perform at Farmers Markets, local clubs, schools, fairs and festivals.

Sidebar:

Aside from the regular programs he teaches, Ken Cooper partners with local poet John Allen Cann to organize the Poetry and Song Project for schools. It allows students to explore the relationship of music to poetry.

Cooper and Cann choose two artists, a musician and a poet, for the project assignment. One program teams up American poet Walt Whitman and songwriter Bob Dylan. Students read Whitman’s works and listen to Dylan’s music. Then they discuss similarities and differences in the poems and songs.

Students, selected by teachers, also participate in a poet-led workshop. They compose their own poems from themes of an artist’s work.

“We hope that at the end of the program, students change the way they perceive poetry,” Cooper said. “They will recognize that song lyrics are poems combined with music. They also realize that through their personal experiences, they too can create poetry and song lyrics.”

“The Connection”

Reprinted from “The Connection” Volume 2, Number 12 – Feb. 15, 2001

You Can’t Go Wrong With Poetry And Song
Written by Lori Misicka (Editor of the Sutterville Slate newsletter)

For the third consecutive year, the students of Sutterville Elementary School were treated to the magic of poetry and song through the efforts and expertise of “Poet-in-Residence” John Allen Cann and “Traveling Troubadour” Ken Cooper. Sponsored by the school’s PTA, Mr. Cann spends a week visiting each of the 20 classes at the school introducing the life and work of an American poet and using themes and models from the featured writer to set the foundation for the composition of original student poems. Then Mr. Cooper joins him for an additional 4 days of classroom visits and together they share with the students the life and songs of an eminent songwriter, discussing the relationship between lyrics and poetry, while teaching them to sing one of the artist’s famous songs. This year, they showcased Emily Dickinson and Joni Mitchell; in past years, the pairings have been Walt Whitman with Bob Dylan, and Carl Sandburg with Woody Guthrie. Next year’s subjects will be William Shakespeare and the Beatles.

As much fun as the classroom visits are, students and staff alike look forward to the last day of the Poetry and Song Project when the poems that have been written and the songs that have been discussed are performed for the school population during two daytime assemblies. Then the performers get ready for that evening’s Poetry and Song Concert when they share their creations with parents and friends who eagerly listen to, learn from, and sing along with the children and teachers. This December, 48 student poets and 3 teachers shared their poems, and the halls of Sutterville rang with the sound of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” as all 250-plus participants joined together in a memorable sing along.