Weekly Review 2/24 - 2/28

This week, the first graders finished their Peter and the Wolf unit by playing Peter and the Wolf Jeopardy! The questions ranged in difficulty based on their point value, and categories included Instruments, Characters, Facts, and more! They really enjoyed reviewing the story/music with some friendly competition.

In second grade, students tested their abilities to recognize and reinforce the sounds of instruments by playing Instrument Bingo.  Students were given bingo cards with different instruments from the woodwind, brass, percussion and string families.  When a recording of an instrument was played,  they had to identify the instrument and see if it was on their card. If it was, it got marked with a button. Once the students had 5 buttons in a row on their card, they had BINGO and won a musical prize!

The third graders have been continuing their recorder unit, and have even earned some Recorder Karate belts! One class each week is their centers day, which includes the following centers:

• Staff Games (this week we played "Busted")
• Composer Corner
• Book Nook
• Music Card Games (this week was "the Merry Widow")
• Practice
• Testing

At the testing center, the students get to work one on one with the teacher to practice or test for their next belt song. Once they pass a song they get a belt (colored band) to add to their recorder, AND they sign the poster on the bulletin board in the hallway!  During their other class, the students learn new notes and reinforce their notation/reading skills. Please encourage your child to practice at home!

The fourth graders continued their ukulele unit, reinforcing the C, G, F, and A minor chords. Next week will be their last week, although we hope to grab the instruments again later on this spring! Some of the students also played a fun game of Musical Twister to reinforce staff notation. It's important to brush up on "old" skills so that they don't forget them!

The fifth graders finished their ukulele unit, and are looking forward to starting a composing unit next week! The students will be able to use any of our classroom instruments (including the ukulele!), as well as their orchestra/band instrument or any that they may have at home. We can't wait to hear their creative compositions!

We hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Weekly Review 2/10- 2/14

It's the week before February break and we accomplished so much in music this week!

Our first grade students celebrated Valentine's Day by learning a fun song called, "Tony Chestnut." This song involved pointing to various parts of our body and using sign language for a few words. After we learned the song, we sang it in different tempos- slow, medium and fast.  We also learned a fun dance called, "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 and are experts to the four instrument families. Feel free to name an instrument and see if you child can guess correctly which family that instrument belongs too. Next week, we will test their knowledge of instruments further by playing, "Instrument Bingo."

Some of our Third grade students had the opportunity to test for their white belt song and they did very well. Your students should know the notes B, A and G. 

Here are a few important things to keep in mind:

• The students need to bring their recorders to class each music day.  
• Mrs. Rzasa and I will be taking "recorder attendance," and three or more unprepared days will result in a call home.  The students will learn best when they have their instrument in school!
• Recorders are only allowed to be played in music and outside of school.  Please remind your child not to play on the bus or in their regular classroom.
• To help students succeed, home practice is necessary.  Please have your child aim for 5 minutes each day.  Of course, more is always good too!  Since the recorders are new, they will likely practice a lot- but this may fade in the coming weeks.  Ask your child to play for you to help encourage them!
• To clean the recorders, you may wash them with warm soapy water, or place them in the TOP RACK of the dishwasher. 
• Thank you- we appreciate your patience and support as your child learns a new instrument!

Our fourth and fifth grade students are continuing to learn the Ukulele. This week, they mastered the notes C, F, Am and G by playing familiar folk songs. Students were asked to partner up with another student to help each other. Here are some pictures of our students having fun!

We hope you all have a fun and relaxing week with your family!

Weekly Review 1/13-1/17

Our first grade students learned a fun little song with movements called, "A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea," Each time we sang the song, we replaced the word "sea" with hands, chop, knee, toe, and Oo- was- she was." We came up with movements to reflect those words. We also began our  "Peter and the Wolf" unit which is a story and musical piece by the Russian composer.  We read the book and learned about the different characters and the instruments they represented. Next week, we will begin a listening map.

Here is 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 instrument

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

Common Percussion Family Instruments:

Snare Drum
Bass Drum
Tambourine
Maracas
Timpani/Kettle Drums

Common String Family Instruments:
Violin
Viola
Cello
Double Bass
Guitar

Next Thursday, Jan. 23rd, our third grade students will take a field trip to Carey Hall to watch the Lexington Symphony perform. We will leave at 9:00am and will be back by 11:30am. Dressing up is highly encouraged! 

Our fourth graders practiced playing chordal accompaniments to, "Auld Lang Syne" while the fifth grade students practiced playing chordal accompaniments to the famous 80's hit, "Take On Me." 

We also began chorus this week! Our theme is still the Biome with songs about the desert, ocean, savannah and the rain forest. We will be singing a song from a famous cartoon and also a Disney song. Can you guess what they may be?

Have a wonderful long weekend!

Weekly Review 1/6 - 1/10

Wow, our first full week of school in 2020!

This week, the first graders learned a silly movement chant called "Hands, Hands." We warmed up our cold bodies by moving just one body part at a time. We also sang a winter song called "I Have a Little Snowman."  It explores movement and pitch in a scale.  As the song continues, the pitch of the song rises, and when the snowman melts the pitch returns back to the starting note (do).  After we reviewed our solfege tones, we learned a fun song and game called "Doggie, Doggie." One student played the part of the dog who was sleeping in the middle of the room while another student distributed the bone to one person in the room as the class sang the song. Whoever had the bone on the phrase, "Who stole the bone?" got to sing the solo part of "I stole the bone!" It was so fun to see students guessing who they thought had the bone.

The second graders reviewed a musical term from last year: tempo. Tempo is the speed of a piece of music. We practiced listening and moving to various tempos with a song called "Freight Train." Students also had a chance to compose a "tempo story." The class chose a topic, then as each part of the story was added, students determined its tempo: adagio, andante, or allegro (slow, medium, or fast). Next week. they will "perform" the story on percussion instruments, following the changing tempos.

To prepare for their upcoming field trip, the third grade students had an exciting visit on Tuesday from four members of the Lexington Symphony Orchestra. Students got up close and personal with the violin, viola, clarinet, and tuba (or "TUUUUBAAAAA!"). The performers played beautiful music and taught us about their instruments.   We discussed the four instrument families (string, brass, woodwind, and percussion), and learned a little bit about concert etiquette.

The fourth and fifth grade students started a new unit - chords!  A chord (unlike a pitch or interval) is a group of three or more pitches played at the same time.  There are MANY different chords in the music world, but we focused on chords with three or four notes.  We explored the different tonalities that the chords can possess and a process for building a chord that will sound good every time!  Once everyone knew how to build a chord, we used the classroom floor staff to learn how to notate and label them.

The fourth graders also learned a song for the New Year, "Auld Lang Syne" (a Scottish tune that is typically heard right after the ball drops in Times Square!).  Next week, we will be adding a chordal accompaniment to the song using the tone chimes. 

The fifth grade students plaed chords along with a fun song from the 80s by a Norwegian band called A-ha...Take on Me!

Weekly Review 11/18-11/22

First grade students are beginning to prepare for their Winter Showcase on Wednesday, December 18th at 1:30pm. Mark your calendars! Students reviewed various rhythm notations- du, du-de, and rest. We played a Turkey Tango game which reinforced rhythm reading.

The second grade students learned a song called, "Five Fat Turkeys." This song reinforced the musical terms- melody and ostinato.  A melody is a "sweet succession of arrangement of sounds" and an ostinato is a repeated musical phrase.  We used Boomwhackers as a percussion accompaniment. 
Students also performed the Tango.

Third grade students learned about verse and refrain form while singing a hilarious song called "The Turkey Shot Out of the Oven"(to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean").  There are 5 verses in this song, and each was assigned to a different group of students. Here are performances from Mrs. Kip and Mrs. Ferullo's class:




Our fourth and fifth grade students are in full concert rehearsal mode now. We took a little break and performed songs on the Boomwhacker. The students had so much fun!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Weekly Review 10/21-10/25

This week, the first graders learned a chant called "I Think Music's Neat." Learning this chant  has helped the students realize that the number of beats in a song or chant stays the same- even if you perform it with a different tempo! The students also added three percussions instrument to the song,"Thump, Thump, Thump."  A hand drum was played during the crescendo on the words, "Thump, Thump, Thump," a triangle was played on a quarter rest, and egg shakers were played on the spooky words, "Who's There?"  



The second grade students read a story called "Old Wind."  There are many different characters in the story, and each was represented by a different instrument.  The students played the hand drum, sand blocks, ratchet, vibraslap, whip, glockenspiel, chimes, or made sound effects with their voices!
Here are their performances:



In third grade, the students listened to "Funeral March of a Marionette," by a French composer, Charles Gounod. A few students had the opportunity to move a skeleton marionette as we listened to the song. We also played a game called, "Pass the Broomstick" that reinforces steady beat. The song is in minor and to prepare for this, they sang a minor scale. Rhythm sticks were given to each student to represent broomsticks. Then they learned how to pass a rhythm stick along to the steady beat.  On the last beat of the song, whoever had two or more more sticks were out.



Fourth graders have finished preparing for the Veteran's Day Assembly.  The assembly is this Thursday, November 7th at 1:30 p.m.  Due to space limitations, ONLY the parents of fourth graders may attend.  As a reminder, if you would like your child to be dismissed with you, they must send in a note that day. The front office is VERY strict about this policy. Thank you in advance!

The fourth grade students also finished learning the Bridge to Athlone dance.

Fifth grade students started to learn a song called "Halloween Night."  We discussed the song's tonality (minor), and reviewed how to read a musical score.  They had just enough time to learn two different xylophone parts, and we will continue playing next week.

Have a Spooktacular weekend!

Weekly Review 9/30 - 10/4

Last week in music, the first graders finished their Apple Tree song and game. It was so much fun! Then, they learned an echo song in minor tonality called "Oh My." The students practiced singing in a large group, in a duet, and as a solo!

So many of our first grade friends are beginning to loose their baby teeth, so we wanted to teach them a little chant called "Loose Tooth." This chant had body percussion parts for the following words: loose tooth - two claps, wiggly jiggly - alternating pats on your knees, and bed/head/thread - snaps. Next week we will transfer these body percussion movements to three different instruments!

The second grade students enjoyed working on a challenging song called "Come and Follow Me."  Each phrase is sung a little bit higher than the last, with one phrase ("singing together, as one!") completing each part. Once it is mastered, we will sing it in a round! Since it is October, we listened to a spooky piece of classical music by Mussorgsky called "Night on Bald Mountain." The students first listened to the composition with their eyes close and had to describe the music. Then, each student performed their own interpretation of the song with their partner. One student was the leader and the other student mirrored the movement of the leader. Partners came up with their own "secret code" and when it was performed by the leader, the other student became the leader. Next time, the class will have to guess the secret code for each pair!

In third grade, we played an elimination game with the song, "Dipidu" that we learned last week. Students had to find a new partner right after section B, and at must be someone that they have never been paired up with before. Then, the students reviewed rhythms in duple meter: quarter notes, eighth note pairs, and quarter rests. Next, they learned a new rhythm: sixteenth notes! They sang a song called "Ding Dong" to help reinforce each rhythmic value, and read the rhythms on the musical staff. To complete the activity, each rhythm was transferred to a different percussion instrument for the students to perform.

The fourth and fifth graders enjoyed practicing and performing their different cup games. In chorus, they reviewed their grade level featured songs, and started to learn one of their combined pieces.

And here are some photos of the fourth graders on their orchestra instruments!





Hope you had a great weekend!

Weekly Review- 9/5-9/14

We completed our first full week of school and got a chance to meet all our new first grade students. Everyone should have received a welcome letter with the dates of our music performances. If not, here are the dates:

4th Grade Veterans Day Assembly - Thursday, November 7, 2019 at 1:30 p.m.

4th/5th Grade Winter Concert - Wednesday, December 11, 2019 at 6:00 p.m.

1st Grade Showcase - Wednesday, December 18, 2019 at 1:30 p.m. 

4th/5th Grade Spring Concert -  Wednesday, May 6, 2020 at 6:00 p.m.

2nd Grade Memorial Day Assembly - Friday, May 22, 2020 at 10:00 a.m.

3rd Grade Recorder and Violin Concert - Wednesday, June 3, 2020 at 8:30 a.m.

We got new superhero chairs this year, thanks to our wonderful PTO. Here is a picture of Jennifer McFadden sitting in the comfortable chair:



Here is what we did in music for past two weeks:

First grade students are so excited to have music this year. Many of them were eager to play an instrument so we took out the hand drum for the students to see and play. We learned a chant called, "Chicka- Chicka Boom Boom" and students introduced their names by singing it in a creative way. We also learned "Welcome Back" song which introduces tempo (fast and slow) and dynamics (loud and quiet). Students had fun singing the song in different ways. The song, "Lucy Locket" was introduced. We will play the game next week.

Our second grade students practiced how to jump rope with a fun song called "Skipping Rope" They had to jump in when their name was sung and jump out when the song was completed. We had many students who could do this! During their second music class, we learned "Grizzly Bear" which reinforced dynamics that they learned last year.



In third grade, the students played one of our favorite activities of the year, "Hey Children."  The students learned the song first, followed by a clapping routine.  Once the routine was mastered, the clapping routine was transferred to the rhythm sticks so we could play the name game!  We learned a song a dance called "T-I-D-E-O" and "The Thread Follows the Needle."



Our fourth and fifth grade students learned a fun Mexican folk dance called, "Los Machetes." This dance tells the story of sugar canes being cut during the harvest. Los Machetes was created my Mexican farm workers who spent a great amount of time using the tool for harvesting. Traditionally, real machetes are use during the dance. We used rhythm sticks instead.


 The fourth grade students learned a song called, "Rocky Mountain."  This song explores high and low voices, and was a bit tricky at first!  The song has a hand routine that goes along with it- we did the routine in whole notes (4 beats), half notes (2 beats), quarter notes (1 beat) and eighth notes (1/2 beat). Then, we used hand drums and bongos instead of our laps.  EVERY student had a drum to play! It was fun to play and sing at the same time. After they finished playing the drums, we started a stick passing game to the same song.



In fifth grade, we sang an African song called "Sansa Kroma." Ask your 5th grader about the meaning of the song!  Once we learned all of the words, we did a drumming activity similar to the one the fourth graders did with their song. Next week, we will learn the stick game that goes along with the song.



Have a wonderful weekend!

He's a Pirate - Orchestra Video Project!

After our spring concert in early May, the orchestra got started on a fun project. First, they spent a few weeks learning "He's a Pirate" from the Pirates of the Caribbean.

Then, our lesson room transformed into a recording studio! It was so much fun to record them playing, and a great way to document all of their progress on their instruments. Then it was time to shoot!

Last week during their lessons, the students directed and acted in small video clips to accompany the song. We even got to borrow the green screen from the library!

Here's their completed project: