This week, the first grade students celebrated some February holidays! First, they learned all about Punxatawny Phil, the groundhog who looks for his shadow every February 2nd. Then, we sang a fun Groundhog's Day song. One child was selected to be the groundhog, sleeping in the center of the circle. Following the beat of the song, the other students walked around the groundhog while singing. At the end of the song the sleeping groundhog woke up, and named the first person that he or she saw. That new friend became the next groundhog! Chinese New Year will be celebrated on Monday, Feb. 8th so our students learned a Chinese dragon song and the traditions of this holiday. The Chinese New Year is based on the traditional lunar calendar and this year is the year of the monkey! Next week we will learn the dragon dance.
The second graders continued their fun instrument family activity: the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra interactive game! They learned all about the instruments in the string and brass family, and how their sound is produced. Next week, we will finish the game with the percussion family!
This was a BIG week for our third grader friends! They all took their notation test, then finally received their recorders! If your child is in third grade, here are a few important things to keep in mind:
- The students need to bring their recorders to class for each music day.
- Mrs. Rzasa and I will be taking "recorder attendance," and three or more unprepared days will result in a call home. The students will learn best when they have their instrument in school!
- Recorders are only allowed to be played in music and outside of school. Please remind your child not to play on the bus or in their regular classroom.
- To help students succeed, home practice is necessary. Please have your child aim for 5 minutes each day. Of course, more is always good too! Since the recorders are new, they will likely practice a lot- but this may fade in the coming weeks. Ask your child to play for you to help encourage them!
- To clean the recorders, you may wash them with warm soapy water, or place them in the TOP RACK of the dishwasher.
- Thank you- we appreciate your patience and support as your child learns a new instrument!
** The third graders will also have an instrumental concert on Tuesday, June 7th at 8:30am. This concert will include violins and recorders.
The fourth and fifth graders enjoyed composing their classroom composition with their partner(s). Many of the groups completed their compositions and had an opportunity to select a percussion instrument to perform the composition on.
In chorus this week, the students continued to work on the Painless Opera. Our fourth grade students finished learning Haydn's, "Surprise Symphony" and added some hilarious hand movements.
We hope you all have fun watching Superbowl 50 this Sunday!!!
In chorus this week, the students continued to work on the Painless Opera. Our fourth grade students finished learning Haydn's, "Surprise Symphony" and added some hilarious hand movements.
We hope you all have fun watching Superbowl 50 this Sunday!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment