This week (2/9-2/13)

Oofta, what a week. 'Twas not my favorite or best week yet, but I survived. Here's what we have been up to....

Kindergarten- we played a couple of Valentine's day music games this week. We got a special valentine delivered to us! We took the envelope for this valentine and passed it around the circle one person at a time to the steady beat. Whoever had the envelope at the end of the song we learned got to open it and take out one slip out paper. Each slip of paper had one of our names on it! The person whose name was drawn got to go grab a drum and play along on the drum for the rest of the game.

1st grade- we are continuing our food unit this week. We sang about our favorite foods, and each student had a chance to sing theirs as a solo. We did a fun movement game with kitchen tools! Each set of partners picked a kitchen tool to act out and the class had to guess what it was. We also learned and sang the classic song, "On Top of Spaghetti." :)

2nd grade- we had fun with a poem called "The Queen of Hearts." We learned to say the poem in difference voices/characters, for example the cheerleader, the ogre, the old lady, the opera singer, etc. Then, we divided into groups. Each group was in charge of one of the characters and had to figure out how to say the poem in character at the same time as their group members. We added movements to our performances, and shared them with the class.

3rd grade- we are still preparing concert music for you! We are adding lots of bells and whitsles (not literally) to this program and it's going to be great! Thursday, March 5th 6:00 pm (students in classrooms at 5:30pm).

Here is the link I promised that I'd include for the 3rd grade students:

My Roots Go Down

4th grade- we are learning more and more about the blues! We are listening to it, singing it, and playing it. We even learned a new note on our recorders this week: D. That gives us 5 notes to work with when improvising the blues. Remember, 4th grade students are going on a field trip to hear a live jazz concert next week on Thursday, Feb. 19th. It should be tons of fun! Woohoo! The 4th grade concert is on Thursday, April 23rd 6:00pm.

5th grade- I didn't get tons of time with 5th grade this week because of Balarat, but when they were here we jammed! They are getting so good at their shekere and drumming parts, and we are starting to think ahead to our performance in May. 

Happy Valentines Day!

Catching up....

Hi all,

I took January off from posting- it's the one task at the end of the week that sometimes gets swallowed up by many other responsibilities.

This week in....

Kindergarten- we learned poems and songs related to coins! We made music with rhythms of coins (penny, nickel, quarter, dime) and learned a fun game where coins are delivered secretly to students and they get to stand up and sing a solo!

1st grade- we have begun our FOOD unit! Poems, songs, movement activities, and games related to food are on the agenda for the next few weeks. :) We learned a song called "Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner" where students get to sing their favorite food. We also did a fun song/game called "The Kangaroo", where the kangaroo fills up his/her pouch with lots of different foods. Students also got to play glockenspiels as part of this game.

2nd grade- we are continuing our Kings and Queens unit which began a couple of weeks ago. Students are learning a folk dance called "King and Queens" where they must bow, do some fancy turns, and sashay with a partner. We have also enjoyed the poems "Old King Cole" and "Queen, Queen Caroline." We even discovered that we could say these poems at the same time using the same steady beat if we split into 2 groups!

3rd grade- we are working hard to learn to play "Rocky Mountain" on xylophones. It's a difficult part, but the kids have come a long way. We have just 1 month to go before our performance on Thursday, March 5th! I don't want to say too much more, because you will just have to see at the concert!

4th grade- we have recently been learning about the famous musician Ray Charles and his life and music. We are also learning a new song on recorders, "It's Raining." We will also be hitting the ground running to prepare for our spring concert, which is on Thursday, April 23rd. We will be sharing several pieces from the jazz and blues genres to highlight the work we have done this year.

5th grade- students composed complementary rhythms with a partner. This is where each partner plays a different rhythm and they fill in the spaces of the other person's rests that are in their rhythm. Students then transferred their rhythms onto instruments. We have had a great time jamming and playing great African beats, songs, and drum circle pieces.

Check back soon for more updates!