1st Grade Peter and the Wolf

Before February break, the first graders composed four beat rhythms (using quarter notes, eighth notes, and eighth rests) to pair with one of the characters from Peter and the Wolf. Then, a percussion instrument was selected to perform the rhythms. Half of the class played the instruments while the other half of the class acted out the story! It was so much fun. Check out some of their videos, below:

Weekly Review 1/28-2/1

Friday! Friday! Friday!

The Friday before the Superbowl, the Friday before Groundhog Day, the Friday before Chinese New Year..... these all inspire tremendous excitement. Here is what we did in music this week.....

Our adorable first grade students celebrated Ground Hog Day with a fun song and activity.  They learned all about Punxatawny Phil, the groundhog who looks for his shadow every February 2nd.   Then, students learned a groundhog song called, "Time to Wake Up Sleepy Groundhog."  One child was selected to be the groundhog to be in the center of the circle.  Following the beat of the song, the other students walk around the groundhog while singing.  At the end of the song the groundhog puts his/her head up and names the first person that he or she sees. That new friend becomes the next groundhog! 

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 woodwind family, and how their sound is produced.  

This was a BIG week for our third grader friends! They received their recorders! Here are a few important things to keep in mind:

• The students need to bring their recorders to class 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!

Here is Mrs. Ferullo's class learning the first line of their White Belt song:

The fourth and fifth grade students are learning how to play Ukuleles! If you child has their own Ukulele, they are more than welcome to bring it. This week, we learned the parts of the Ukulele and how to play a C-chord. Changing chords is very important so we practiced changing from an open strum to a C-chord. Here are some fifth students learning how to play the Ukuleles:

On behalf of the music department, we would like to thank any Memorial family who generously contributed to these 25 brand new instruments. Our students musical experience has been greatly enriched!

Have a wonderful weekend! Go Patriots!