Weekly Review 10/12-1/16

Here is what we did during our four day week in music:


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 red handkerchief (the apple) onto the head of one of the students. They also did the all-time favorite "Looking for Dracula" activity, as well as "Ghost of John."They learned about a musical beat, and how it differs from a rhythm. The poem, "I Think Music's Neat" has helped the students realize that the number of beats in a song or chant stays the same- even if you perform it with a different tempo! Here are two first grade students posing in front of the "Ghost of John." Students created this ghost with their voices!

Our second grade friends continued to learn more about our composer Beethoven by listening to "Fur Elise"  and performing their own dance with their partner. Students first listened to the composition with their eyes close and had to describe the music. Each student performed their own interpretation of the song with their partner. One student was the leader and the other student mirrored the movement of the leader. Partners came up with their own "secret code" and when the "secret code" was performed by the leader, the other student became the leader. It was so much fun!
Here is two of Mrs. Farrand's class demonstrating the mirror dance:

We also listened to part of a story called, "Bony Legs."


In third grade, we put percussion instruments to each rhythm on the song, "Ding Dong." Triangles were played every time there was a quarter note, hand drums were played every time there was a eighth note, and guiros were played every time there was an sixteenth note. Here is a performance by Mrs. Gerry and Mrs. Kip's class:


The fourth graders are preparing for their Veteran's Day song. We will be auditioning for solo parts soon so stay tuned!

Our fifth graders starting learning the song, "Halloween Night." Next week, they will be playing Orff instruments to accompany the song.

In chorus, all grade levels sang through Jingle Jazz! Our fifth graders learned their third song for the concert called, "Happy Holidays/Auld Lang Syne." It is such a beautiful song! All lyrics and some recordings are now on the blog so please feel free to look at them: 2015 Winter Concert- Jingle Jazz

We hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the beautiful fall weather!