This week, the first grade students were celebrating February holidays! We finished our fun Groundhog's Day song and game from last week, and then sang a fun Valentine's day song called "Tony Chestnut." Once we learned the words there was a great surprise, since the hand moves matched our song perfectly! The other song the students sang this week was "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. They are now all experts on the orchestral instruments in the String, Percussion, Woodwind, and Brass families! They also celebrated Valentine's Day with a song called "Special Valentine." It has a jazzy tune and a swinging rhythm, and students sang solos to share who their special valentines would be! Some students chose a family member, some chose a friend, and some even chose a pet or celebrity!
In third grade, the students had their first ever Recorder Karate Belt Test. They were so eager to show us what they had been practicing, and they all did such a wonderful job performing Hot Cross Buns! The students who passed received a white belt on their recorder, and the students who were not ready know what they have to work on over vacation so that they can pass right when we get back to school! We are so proud of everyone! The students also took home their yellow belt song, Merrily We Roll Along. This song uses the pitches B, A, and G.
The fourth and fifth graders continued their composing projects. Fifth grade is composing in Rondo (ABACABA) Form, and the fourth graders are using ABA Form. Students selected their percussion instruments, and tried out different sounds with their partners/groups. They will be performing when we get back to school, and we will share the videos with you here on the blog!
In chorus, the students finished the "Painless Opera." It is a very tough piece with many different melodies, tempo changes, and meter changes. In addition, the students reviewed the following terms:
- pianissimo
- piano
- mezzo piano
- mezzo forte
- forte
- fortissimo
- crescendo
- decrescendo
- ritardando
- fermata
....and were introduced to a few new terms!
- accelerando
- caesura
- sfortzando
The fourth grade chorus students completed the Surprise Symphony, and the fifth graders are almost finished learning the "Ode to Beethoven." Only two more songs left to go!
We hope you have a fantastic February vacation, and a very happy Valentine's Day! Stay warm :)
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