Due to our daily vocal warm-ups, the first graders are becoming experts on the solfege tones "so" and "mi." They are almost ready to move to "la" and "do!" The students really enjoyed playing three new instruments to accompany the "Loose Tooth" chant, on the following words:
- "Loose Tooth" clapping = hand drum
- "Wiggly Jiggly" patting = guiro
- "Thread," Bed," "Head" snapping = triangle
They also learned an echo song in minor tonality called "Oh My" - sometimes the class echoed as a group, and sometimes the students did solos! To finish out their musical week, the students sang a song just perfect for the season - "Apple Tree" - and started to play a fun game. They will complete the activity next week!
The second grade students reinforced the importance of "Do" with an exciting ball activity. We sang as a class this week, and next week we will repeat the warm up with soloists! They also learned a challenging new song called, "Come and Follow Me." Each phrase is sung a little bit higher than the last. Once the students were comfortable with the song, we added the body percussion! It takes a lot of coordination to get the hang of, but we worked on it slowly and patiently. The students have done a wonderful job! Then, they started to watch a short film about the life of Ludwig von Beethoven. We will talk more about him next week!
The third graders had an amazing time practicing "Four White Horses" with the clapping routine in groups of four - also called quartets! Here are videos of two groups practicing this routine:
They also started to review what they remembered about Beethoven from second grade. Then as a class, we filled in a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast two different pieces by Beethoven: Sonata in G and Moonlight Sonata.
We asked the students to focus on the mood, tempo, dynamics, rhythm, pitch, tonality, instrumentation, and anything else that they could think of. Of course, some students may interpret the two pieces differently, and that's okay! However, some qualities (such as instrumentation and tonality), are concrete and not open for interpretation.
Here is what Mrs. Kipp and Mrs. Cyr's class came up with:
If you want to listen to these two pieces to compare them for yourselves, here they are:
The fourth graders have started to prepare for their Veteran's Day assembly. They will be singing an Armed Forces medley, which goes through the songs for each of the five branches of the military. Fourth grade parents: please mark your calendars for Wednesday November 9th!
The fifth grade students discussed the similarities between folk music and folk dancing. Then, we found Ireland on the globe and learned about a bridge in southern Ireland, the Bridge of Athlone. They spent time learning a folk dance inspired by that Irish bridge, and can't wait to do it again next week!
In chorus, the students continued to rehearse their grade level piece, as well as one of our combined songs, North Pole Rock and Roll. We also reviewed the musical tie symbol, and how it affects the values of each rhythm.
Have a fabulous long weekend!
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