Weekly Review 10/17 - 10/21

This week, the first graders reviewed musical dynamics:  piano, forte, crescendo, and decrescendo.  We sang "The Bats are All Asleep," a song in minor tonality in call and response form.   The call (sung by the teacher) features a crescendo, and the students' response has a decrescendo!  The first graders also repeated a favorite activity from last week, "Looking for Dracula."  Then, I told them a story called "Thump, Thump, Thump." The students helped create the story, then they sang the song.  Next week, we will add a percussion accompaniment on hand drum, triangle, and egg shakers.

The second grade students reviewed a favorite song from last year, "Ghost of John."  We sang it in unison, and then again as a round.  We also read them a story about Bony Legs, which has a fun song in minor tonality to go along with it!  When the story was over, we played an accompaniment on the Orff instruments (xylophone, metallophone, and glockenspiel). 

The third graders completed their "Ding Dong Diggidiggi Dong" activity from last week, reinforcing our new rhythm (du-ta-de-ta, or sixteenth notes) on our classroom percussion instruments.  Then, they sang another song about a cat called "9 Lives."  Before we sang the lyrics, we sang the song with solfege syllables, starting on "la" - since the song is in minor tonality!  Then, we reviewed proper mallet technique for the Orff instruments.  Next week, the students will play the song's melody on the xylophone, metallophone, or glockenspiel.   

The fourth graders had a great time finishing a fun Irish folk dance they started last week, the Bridge of Athlone.  Here is a photo of one of the rows...exhausted (but happy!) after completing the activity:

They also continued to rehearse music for the Veteran's Day Assembly.  (Fourth grade parents may attend: Wednesday,  November 9th at 1:15!)

The fifth graders listened to two pieces by German composer Ludwig von Beethoven.  Then, they used a Venn diagram to compare the two pieces to see what musical qualities they have in common! The students also finished the folk dance they started last week, the Boston Tea Party Dance.  It was tricky, but so much fun!

In chorus this week, the students finished their grade level feature songs.  Everyone also worked on our combined piece, "North Pole Rock and Roll."  We had a little fun with our warm ups this week too...we sang "Ghost of John" in a 3 part round, focusing on tonality, tone, and intonation.

We hope you have a fantastic weekend! :)