String Update/Assignment

Friends in fourth grade, and third graders from Mrs. Ferullo, Mrs. Keating, and Mrs. Kip's classes had a great time in their lesson today!

Third Graders
Please practice pages 4 and 5 in your lesson book, and work on pizzicato for all strings.  Practice switching from rest to playing position so you can look and play your best! :)

Fourth Graders
4A:  Please practice pages 5 and 6 in your lesson book.

4B:  Please practice/review page 25 in your lesson book.  For students that are ready, you may move onto the D scale/arpeggio, and Handel Minuet.

See you next Monday!
(reminder:  students in Mrs. Cyr's class will have their first lesson with Ms. Berger this Friday!)

Below is a video of group 4A playing a round- for the first time this year!   We had some trouble in the third measure, but if you listen carefully, you can hear that all of the students found their way back :) A big thanks to Erika for filming!

Weekly Review 9/22-9/26

Congratulations to 26 of our 5th grade students who participated in the John Lennon Tour bus and also performed as part of a concert that showcased the Burlington Music Department. These students performed the "Star Spangled Banner" with the elementary, middle school, and high school chorus members and also performed "Ghost Ship" from their spring concert. Here is a picture of our 5th graders getting ready to perform. We are gathering other pictures from parents so stay tuned!!

This week, every student learned about Johann Sebastian Bach. He was a famous German composer and musician of the Baroque period. Ask your student if he/she remembers the three instruments that Bach played.

In first grade, the students learned a fun chant with instruments called, "Loose Tooth." Mrs. Rzasa and I noticed that our first grade friends are loosing many tooth these days that we thought they would have so much fun learning this chant. Three body percussion parts accompanied three word- Loose Tooth (two claps), wiggly jiggly (pats on your knees), and thread, head, bed (snaps). We extended the activity by taking out these words and only using the assigned body percussion when we sang these words in our heads. The students had so much fun that we will be adding instruments to this chant!

Second grade students learned a silly song called, "I'm a Nut." It's a song about an acorn who is cracked because everyone walks all over him. Some students had a chance to make up their own rhyming phrase. Next week we will continue this activity and put instruments to this fun little song!

Our third grade students performed "Four White Horses" with the clapping routine. During the interlude (the middle part of the song inserted between a longer composition), the students made a conga line. It was so much fun and the students did a fabulous job with clapping to the song at a steady tempo.

It was rhythm review week for our fourth and fifth grade students. We played a fun bean bag game. Students were separated into two teams. Mrs. Rzasa and I took turns clapping out four beat patterns and each student took turns getting the bean bags into the right rhythm buckets.  Each student in line also had a chance to participate by writing/drawing the correct rhythm on their iPad. Teams were awarded 2 points if their team member got the bean bags into the right bucket and were the fastest. If the other team still got the bean bags into the right bucket, they were awarded 1 point. If every team member wrote the rhythm correctly on their IPAD, they were also awarded 1 point. Since not every student had the opportunity to play, we will continue this game next week.

In chorus, both the fourth and fifth grade students went over breathing techniques, fun warm ups, and learned a fun jazzy song called, "Holiday Lights." 

We hope you all enjoy the beautiful sunny weekend!

Music Room Tour

This past Tuesday was Open House here at Memorial.  A few parents stopped by (thank you!), but in case your schedule did not allow for a visit, I wanted to give you a short tour of the classroom so that you can see where your child goes for music twice a week!

We have a wonderfully large space that allows us to keep classes separate, or combine two classes without feeling cramped! (not pictured:  the colorful risers in the back of the room!)

Music Room Rules:

• Follow Directions the First Time Given
• Respect All People and Property
• One Voice Speaks at a Time
• Participate With Effort
• Earn Your BRAVO!

We keep track of the BRAVOs earned on these charts.  10 BRAVOs earns a class 10 minutes of music party time!

Students who follow the rules and serve as a positive example for other students can be selected for Music Superhero.  The superhero gets to sit on a special cushion (for the most comfy seat in the room!), put the BRAVO letters on the board, add the sticker, and they have the privilege of being the first volunteer for any activity!

Of course we have a word wall to help with the (sometimes tricky) music vocabulary we use so often.

...and we also have a Composer Corner, which gets updated throughout the year as we learn about new composers and their music!

One of my favorite places in the classroom is the Book Nook.  A comfy rocking chair, bean bag chairs, and a collection of music books is all you need for a relaxing afternoon.

The music room would not be complete without instruments!  Above is the digital piano that Mrs. Niu and I (Mrs. Rzasa) use in every class.

Although the students cannot use our piano, they love playing on the percussion instruments!  Above you will see some of our favorite hand percussion instruments....

...and in our closet you can find the xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiels.

We also have an awesome assortment of drums, tambourines, and cymbals!

Lastly, my desk and Mrs. Niu's desk.  You'll find us here between classes! :)

Thank you so much for taking this little tour, and we hope you stop by sometime!