Our students studied the life of Louis Armstrong recently. We used the "Meet the Great Jazz Legends" from Alfred Publishing. This is a short summary of the text the students read.

Armstong was born in 1901 in New Orleans, La. He died in 1971. He excelled in singing and playing the trumpet / cornet. He was one of the first true jazz improvisers, and was known for his deep, gravelly voice. He was also known for creating a style of music called 'scat' when he dropped his music during a recording session and improvised the words using nonsense syllables. He received the nickname 'Satchmo' because of his big cheeks and smile.

When he was a young boy, he was sent to reform school for shooting a gun. While he was in reform school, he learned to play the trumpet in the band. When he was released, he joined the band of his favorite trumpeter, Joe 'King' Oliver. Armstrong later formed his own bands, including the Hot Five and the Hot Seven. One of his most famous songs was 'What A Wonderful World.'

Our students created the questions and we made a multiple choice quiz based on their reading.