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Friday, February 26, 2016

2/22-2/26

We hope you all had a fun and relaxing February break. Here is what we did in music this week:

Our first grade friends learned that our human body is an instrument! The four main body percussion sounds are stomp, patshe (patting one or both thighs with the hand), clap and stomp. We used these body percussion sounds to practice beat and rhythm.  We also learned a fun song and game called, "The Button and the Key." One student comes forward to the room and closes their eyes while the rest of the class sings the song. Another student is in charge of distributing the button and the key before the solo parts. Whoever has the button will sing, " I have the button" and whoever has the key will sing, "I have the key." The student in front of the room has to guess who had those items. It was exciting to see how each student guess and sang their solo parts.

In second grade, students tested their abilities to recognize and reinforce the sounds of instruments by playing, "Instrument Bingo."  Students were given instrument bingo parts and had to listen to the sounds of each instrument and match them to the pictures on their instrument bingo card. The students did a fabulous job of recognizing the sounds that belonged to each instrument.

In third grade, we started six different activity centers for students to rotate to as Mrs. Rzasa and I as we test students for their recorder belts. Here are the following six centers:
   1.  Testing- students can test for their belts or request help on the belt song they are working on.
   2.  Practicing- students practice and help one another.
   3.  Rhythm Stick Games- games that help reinforce rhythms are played.
   4.  Musical Game- games that reinforce note names
   5.  Composer's Corner- student compose their own music using B,A and G or working on a music
        worksheet called, "Busiest Day of the Week!"
   6.  Book Nook- Students silently read music books

We also spent time on a fun interactive game called, "JoyTunes" where students can master the recorder.  Joy Tunes (http://www.joytunes.com/).  This site is a great way for students to practice through recorder games.  To play, you need a computer with a microphone (most laptops have built-in mics).  You can also download the free app if you have an iPad (http://itunes.apple.com/app/recorder-master/id492065346).

Here is one student practicing his recorder with this game:



You will need to make an account so the student's progress will be saved.  Here's how to do it:

Go to joytunes.com, and click "Play for Free"

Next, make a username, password, and type in your email address:


Click "CONNECT" to allow the site to access your microphone:

Now you're ready to play!  Have fun :)


It's composition performance time for our fourth and fifth grade students! Not everyone got a chance to perform so we will continue this next week! Take a look at some of our wonderful performances:



In chorus, we finished learning The Painless Opera, Ode To Beethoven and the Surprise Symphony. Yeah!! Next week, each grade level will learn the last two songs for our Spring Concert!

We hope you have a wonderful weekend!





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