Weekly Review 10/13 - 10/17

This week, the first graders played "Apple Tree" - a really fun game with a silly song!  One student was the apple tree, and the other students held hands as they walked past him/her.  At the end of the song, each apple tree dropped a soft ball (the apple) onto the head of one of the students!  That student became the new apple tree, and students who were already the tree got the opportunity to play an egg shaker! They also did the all-time favorite "Looking for Dracula" activity, as well as "Ghost of John" and "The Bats are All Asleep."  Then, they learned all about the words crescendo and decrescendo.

The second grade students finished the story, "Bony Legs."  They played an ostinato on the Orff instruments- xylophone, metallophone, and glockenspiel.  Nathan is demonstrating excellent posture and mallet technique.  

They also reviewed the "Ghost of John" song from last year and added a fun instrument- Boomwhackers!!

Above is a video of the second graders dancing to Prelude in C from the Well Tempered Clavier by Bach

The third graders also used the Orff instruments this week- everyone played the accompaniment to "9 Lives" once more, but with a twist!  Instead of playing the D and A at the same time, they learned a really cool cross-over mallet technique!  For their second music class, they sang "Ghost of John" and added Boomwhackers and triangles!  Half of the class sang an ostinato pattern, and the other class sang the melody.  We also tried a round!

The fourth graders played instruments to accompany "Black and Gold," then they continued to work on their music for Veteran's Day.  Only a few weeks left until the concert!  In chorus, they started a new song- the "Candlelight Canon."  It is a slow and beautiful piece of music.   Ask your child what the song makes them think of!

The fifth graders completed "I Love the Mountains" and had some time left over to start a new song- "Halloween Night."  They read off of the score, and learned what "d minor" means! (the tonality is minor, and the tonic pitch is d).  In chorus, the students sang "A Candle for Peace," and our new song, "Candlelight Canon."

We hope you enjoy this lovely weekend!