Weekly Review 2/3 - 2/7

This week in music, the first graders finished up their Peter and the Wolf listening maps! It was so much fun to learn about all of the instrument themes for the different characters. We started to watch the Peter and the Wolf movie, which we will finish next week! They also learned a song for a holiday we had last week - Groundhog's Day.  The song is called "Time to Wake Up Sleepy Groundhog," and it includes a really fun circle game!

The second grade students continued the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra interactive game.  They traveled through the safari to the string family, and some classes even continued on to the Brass family! Some of the students also enjoyed dancing to a piece of classical music by Austrian composer Haydn - the Surprise Symphony! Others had fun moving to Freight Train.

The third graders took their notation test this week.  We are so proud of the students for all of their hard work - they did a wonderful job! They also received their recorders so we can start this new and exciting unit! Please remind your child to bring in their recorder and folder on music days from now until the end of the year.

The fourth and fifth graders continued their ukulele unit. They are getting really good at their G, F, a minor, and G chords. Then, they played a few different songs on the instruments.

In chorus, the students continued We Can Plant a Forest and their grade level song. They will start a new song next week!

Hope you have an amazing weekend!

Weekly Review 1/27-1/31

Our first grade students continued to work on their listening map.We also 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! We will continue to play this game next week!

The second grade students have been learning about the four main instrument families, and this week they started to learn about the Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra.  The piece was composed by Benjamin Britten, a famous English composer, in 1946.   It was written to help teach children about the instruments of the orchestra.  The second graders played an interactive Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra game in class- it is a listening activity that takes you on a safari adventure as you visit the four instrument families and unlock each of their games.

Third grade students are anxiously waiting to receive their recorders next week. Each third grade student will take their music test on Tuesday or Wednesday. Make sure you study but PLEASE do not stress out over it!

Our fourth and fifth grade students are on their second week of learning the Ukulele. We reviewed the a-minor chord and C chord. We added two more chords this week- F chord and C chord. Here are some of our students performing, n "Stay With Me" which uses the C and F chord.

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the SUPERBOWL!!

Weekly Review 1/20 - 1/24

This week in music, the first graders started studying Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf." It is a story and musical piece by the Russian composer.  We read the book first, then started a listening map in the second class.  As the students listened to the story and orchestral music (narrated by Patrick Stewart), they completed the activities in each box.  Each part of the map included a fun activity, such as drawing the different characters and identifying different instruments. We will be finishing this activity next week. Here is a list of all the character in the fairytale. 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 Instruments

The second grade students continued their instrument family unit. This week they learned about the brass and woodwind families. 

Common Brass Instruments:

• Trumpet
• Trumbone
• French Horn
• Tuba

Common Woodwind Instruments:

• Piccolo
• Flute
• Clarinet
• Oboe
• Saxophone
• Bassoon

The third graders visited the amazing Cary Hall to see the Lexington Symphony perform! The student saw a few familiar faces in the orchestra - from when the symphony's quartet visited Memorial.

They were taken on a musical journey through time, starting in the year 900.  Music was primarily vocal (sung by voice) until the Renaissance, when recorders and drums were popular.  Little by little, instruments were added, such as violin, viola, cello and bass (very common in the Baroque period).

In the late Baroque and Classical periods, concertos were performed! Unfortunately, the young musician who was going to perform was sick and unable to attend. We hope he feels better soon!

In addition, more wind, brass, and percussion instruments were added to the ensemble!

Pretty soon, everyone was on stage, and the students were introduced to some lesser-known (but still important!) instruments such as as the contrabassoon, bass clarinet, and English horn.

By the end of the concert, there was a full modern symphony orchestra on stage!  As a finale, they played a medley of Star Wars, composed by John Williams.  This was certainly a favorite!

 Big thanks to the parents who volunteered to chaperone- we hope you had fun too!

The fourth and fifth graders are learning how to play ukuleles! If your child has their own ukulele, they are more than welcome to bring it to their first music class of the week (Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday). This week, they 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. 

The fifth graders remembered some of the chords from last year, so they were also able to review A minor and F major. Then they did a ukulele play along on YouTube! 

We hope you have a fantastic weekend!