Weekly Review 1/14-1/18

Before heading off to a three day weekend, please take a moment to check in to see what we did in music this week.

Our first grade students will be studying Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" for the next few weeks.  "Peter and the Wolf" is a story and musical piece by the Russian composer.  We read the book first, then started a listening map in the second class.  As the students listened to the story and orchestral music (narrated by Patrick Stewart), they completed the activities in each box.  Each part of the map included a fun activity, such as drawing the different characters and identifying different instruments. We will be finishing this activity next week. Here is a list of all the character in the fairytale. Each character in the story represents an instrument and has a musical theme:

• Bird: flute
• Duck: oboe
• Cat: clarinet
• Grandfather: bassoon
• Wolf: French horns
• Hunters: woodwind theme, with gunshots on timpani and bass drum
• Peter: string instrument

Here are also some first grade students working hard on their map:

The second graders started a learning a new movement activity called " Jim Along Joe." The title of the song means to "come along." Students substituted different movements as they sang the song while walking around in a big circle. They also started a new unit on instrument families.  The four main instrument families are: brass, woodwind, string, and percussion. This week the students learned about the brass family.

Common Brass Family Instruments:
Trumpet
French Horn
Tuba
Trombone

Third grade students are preparing for their recorder test next Tuesday and Wednesday. If you child still needs extra help, please let us know! We will also be going to Carey Hall in Lexington to watch the symphony perform on Friday, January 25th. The bus will leave at 8:45am and we will be back around 11am. We highly encourage your child to get dressed up for the performance. They are more than welcome to bring a change of clothes.

The fourth graders learned"Auld Lang Syne." The song is traditionally sung on New Year's Day, at midnight right after the ball drops.  The song reminds us to remember our old friends and fond memories as we approach the new year.  The song sounded great as we sang it, but it will sound even better with chordal accompaniment. We will be playing the accompaniment next week so stay tuned!

The fifth graders played an accompaniment to, "Take On Me," by a Norwegian band called A-ha. This song was very famous in the 1980's. Here are some fifth graders having fun singing and playing the chordal accompaniment on the tone chimes. 

Here are what tone chimes are:

Have a wonderful long weekend and stay warm!