Weekly Review 2/10- 2/14

It's the week before February break and we accomplished so much in music this week!

Our first grade students celebrated Valentine's Day by learning a fun song called, "Tony Chestnut." This song involved pointing to various parts of our body and using sign language for a few words. After we learned the song, we sang it in different tempos- slow, medium and fast.  We also learned a fun dance called, "Heel, Toe, on the Line."  There were two words that the students did not recognize- "Ja" and "Nein." These words mean "Yes" and "No" in German. Each student dances with a partner in a circle and on the word "Nein," the partners turns their back against each other and ends up with a new partner. It was so much fun!

The second graders finished the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra activity and are experts to the four instrument families. Feel free to name an instrument and see if you child can guess correctly which family that instrument belongs too. Next week, we will test their knowledge of instruments further by playing, "Instrument Bingo."

Some of our Third grade students had the opportunity to test for their white belt song and they did very well. Your students should know the notes B, A and G. 

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!

Our fourth and fifth grade students are continuing to learn the Ukulele. This week, they mastered the notes C, F, Am and G by playing familiar folk songs. Students were asked to partner up with another student to help each other. Here are some pictures of our students having fun!

We hope you all have a fun and relaxing week with your family!