Even if you didn’t participate in 3rd Grade Violin, It’s not too late to join the 4th/5th String Orchestra!
About the program: Weekly 25-min lessons as well as 25 min Orchestra rehearsal will be held during the school day. Schedule will be on a rotating basis as to avoid missed classes. Students are expected to practice at home.
Don’t forget to order the method book: Essential Elements Book 1 (if you don’t already have one) for your specific instrument along with your instrument rental. Instruments will be delivered to your child’s school for the first lesson. Lessons will start on Monday, September 14th 2015.
The first graders practiced their musical listening skills by playing a fun game of freeze dance. It's important to react to the music immediately when it stops, and the same for when it starts up again! They also learned a new song "Welcome Back to School." This song includes clapping and stomping in addition to using an appropriate singing voice. Once the song was mastered, we played a game by varying the speed (tempo) and volume (dynamics) of the song. We're looking forward to continuing this activity next week!
The second grade students learned a new song called "Grizzly Bear." We practiced singing with different dynamics: the song starts at mezzo forte, switches to piano, and then the surprise at the end comes when we sing the last word forte! The students then played a fun guessing game while singing the song. They also started a silly nonsense song called "Ickle Ockle," which we will finish next week.
The third grade students got to work on their instrument skills this week. They practiced rest position:
and ready/playing position:
Next, they used the rhythm sticks to play a passing game to accompany the song. Check out their video below!
For their second music lesson of the week, the students learned a folk dance called "Tideo."
This week, the fourth graders played a stick passing game to go along with their song from last week, "Rocky Mountain." It was a little tricky at first, but then they got the hang of it! They also played a hand drum accompaniment with the song, as seen below:
The fifth graders also played the drums and a stick passing game. However, their song was "Sansa Kroma." Sansa Kroma is a folk song from Ghana. We discussed a little bit about the culture and music styles in Africa, then enjoyed the game!
The 4th and 5th graders started chorus this week! First, we got into height order to help everyone find their assigned spots on the risers. Then, all students learned a fun warm-up called "One Bottle of Pop." We reviewed the concept of partner songs, then split up the class into 3 groups - one for each song. When sung together, the three parts create beautiful harmony! It was a great opportunity for the students to practice listening to one another without losing their own part...an extremely valuable skill for chorus!
Welcome Bach! As our school year begins, we would like to welcome you and your family into the music community here at Memorial Elementary School. We are very excited to have you here, and want to take this time to celebrate not only the hard work your child will put into the next year in music class, but also the skills that they will develop through their experiences in their music class and ensembles.The lifelong benefits your child will obtain through music extend beyond the classroom and are transferable to every other academic subject. Below are the dates of our performances:
4th Grade Veteran’s Day Assembly - Monday, November 9, 2015 (time TBD)
4th/5th Grade Winter Concert - Wednesday, December 16, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
Winter Caroling - week of December 21, 2015 (exact dates/times TBD)
4th/5th Grade Spring Concert - Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.
2nd Grade Memorial Day Assembly - Thursday, May 26, 2016 at 9:00 a.m.
3rd Grade Recorder and Violin Concert - Wednesday, June 8, 2016 at 9:00 a.m.
If you have any questions, we would be delighted to meet you in person at our Back to School Night on Tuesday, Sept. 15th.
All performance information, weekly lesson reviews, songs, games, and classroom photos/videos can be found here on our blog, so please check back often!
Again, welcome to our musical family and we look forward to meeting you!
