Violin Assignment

**Reminder:  Students in Mrs. Cyr's class will attend their lesson this Friday**

Assignment for next week:  Review page 15 (if needed), page 17.

Before I show you an awesome video from one of today's lessons, I wanted to remind parents of my expectations for practicing.  Home practice is an important part of learning a new instrument, but it should not be a cause for stress.  At minimum, I expect students to practice 30 minutes each week.  This can be split up in whichever way works best for your child: two 15 minute sessions, six 5 minute sessions, etc.  I understand, however, that there might be some weeks where this is not possible, due to other commitments at home.  If a child has a week with no practicing, I remind them to make sure they fit it in for the following week.

Skipping practicing all together will not give your child the opportunity to reinforce the concepts they learn in their lessons.  On the flipside, too much practicing can cause anxiety.  Please help your child find the balance that works best for them and your family.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.   I am so proud of the progress they have been making, and I hope that you have heard improvements at home as well! :)

Now, let's see that video!

Weekly Review 3/3- 3/7

In first grade, students continued to learn about Sergei Prokofiev's fairytale, "Peter and the Wolf." It is spoken by a narrator and accompanied by an orchestra. 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

We did a listening map activity which visually showed each section of the song.  Each part of the map included a fun activity, such as drawing the different characters and identifying different instruments. 

The second graders learned two new instrument families this week:  the woodwind family and the  string family.

Common Woodwind Family Instruments:

Piccolo

Flute

Clarinet

Oboe

Saxophone

Bassoon

Common String Family Instruments:
Violin
Viola
Cello
Double Bass
Guitar

Next week we be reviewing the four instrument families through an interactive game!

In third grade, we started 6 different activity centers for students to rotate to as Mrs. Rzasa and I test students for their recorder belts. Here are the following 6 centers:
   1.  Testing
   2.  Practicing
   3.  Rhythm Stick Game (making 4 beat rhythms with popsicle sticks)
   4.  Musical Game- Game of the week was, "Classical Snaps."
   5.  Composer's Corner- student compose their own music using B,A and G
   6.  Book Nook- Students silently read music books

We also spent time on a fun interactive game called, "JoyTunes" where students can master the recorder.  Joy Tunes (http://www.joytunes.com/).  This site is a great way for students to practice through recorder games.  To play, you need a computer with a microphone (most laptops have built-in mics).  You can also download the free app if you have an iPad (http://itunes.apple.com/app/recorder-master/id492065346).

You will need to make an account so the student's progress will be saved.  Here's how to do it:

Go to joytunes.com, and click "Play for Free"

Next, make a username, password, and type in your email address:

Click "CONNECT" to allow the site to access your microphone:

Now you're ready to play!  Have fun :)

Fourth and fifth grade students continued their compositions on Garage Band. They shared their compositions during the last half of the class. We have a lot of creative musicians!

In chorus, we learned the dance to the folk song, "I'se the B'y." It was a lot of fun as we sang the dance moves and danced with our partners. For those students that are interested in performing this dance at our Spring Concert, please let Mrs. Rzasa and I know! Next week, we will be learning our last chorus song!

Have a WONDERFUL weekend and enjoy the gorgeous weather!

Performance Day! (and violin assignment)

The assignment for next week:  D Scale (ascending/descending) with bow, pages 15-16 in the book.

I love performance days!  As a reminder, the first lesson of each month will be a "Performance Day," and students will have the opportunity to play a song of their choice!  I remind students to play something that represents their best work, however it should be a fun experience - nothing to get stressed over!  (I would rather them have fun playing a simple song then to have anxiety over playing something more difficult).  Mistakes are always okay :)

My goal is for all students to play confidently with others AND alone.  I think they have been doing an amazing job!  Check out some highlights below: