Weekly Review

This has been a fantastic week in music!

The first grade students enjoyed learning the rest of our classroom hand percussion instruments.  They can now identify and play the following instruments:

• Hand Drum
• Bongos
• Rhythm Sticks
• Triangle
• Cymbals
• Finger Cymbals
• Cowbell
• Agogo Bells
• Cabasa
• Vibraslap
• Jingle Bells
• Sleigh Bells
• Egg Shakers
• Maracas
• Guiro
• Wood Block
• Sand Blocks
• Tambourine

To put these new skills to the test, we learned a song called "Walk to the House."  Two students secretly select a hand percussion instrument and play it during the appropriate part of the song.  The rest of the class must listen carefully while they sing and then identify the instruments that were played.  The students who guess correctly become the percussionists for the next round!

The second graders worked on a class composition.  They will be learning to read music notation next year, so this week we gave them a brief introduction to the staff.  Then, we reviewed rhythmic values the musical alphabet ABCs - there are only 7 letters!   To compose, students took turns with selecting a rhythm (quarter note, eighth note pair, or quarter rest), then choosing a pitch (A, B, C, D, E, F or G).  Students continued until each class had their own song!  The next step is to add lyrics.  Students worked in pairs to write words to accompany the tune, making sure to match up the correct number of syllables to each rhythm.  They will be performing for the class next week!

The third grade students are busy preparing for their June 10th concert.  They sang "My America," and used their iPads to read the notation!  It can be difficult to follow along with the score, but they all did a great job.  They also enjoyed their centers day, learned how to play the F# on the recorder, and practiced "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

The fourth and fifth graders are almost ready for their concert!  Students have been in and out of the music room all week rehearsing solos, dances, speaking parts, and making props.  We know you will just love their Spring Concert, titled "America the Beautiful" (May 13th).  They also played a fun game called "Chicken on a Fencepost."