Weekly Review 5/11 - 5/15

First, we'd like to extend a BIG congratulations to the 4th and 5th graders for their performance at our Spring Concert on Wednesday!  We are so proud of you :)

This week, the first grade students took last week's ABA composition and selected hand percussion instruments to perform with.  Each group decided how they wanted to structure the composition.  Since they must follow the form, here are the choices:

• Both students perform ABA in unison
• One student performs A, their partner performs B, then the first student performs A
• One student performs A, their partner performs B, then they perform A together
• Both students perform ABA, with one person playing all quarter notes, and the other playing all eighth notes

Next week they will play them for the class, and we will share some of the videos with you here on the blog!

The second graders learned the difference between major and minor tonality.  Many times students associate major with happy feelings, and minor with sad.  However, this is not always the case!    We sang a song in minor called "Ah, Poor Bird" and added boomwhacker accompaniment.  They used the pitches D, F, and A to produce a minor chord.  Half of the class sang while the other class played an ostinato.  Next week, we will add a partner song and create a more complex accompaniment!

The third grade students have continued to rehearse for their June 10th concert.  They spent more time on the partner song for "You're a Grand Old Flag"- it's so much fun!  We also had our first student reach the black belt this week…congratulations!  Mrs. Niu and I are so happy with everyone's progress on the recorder.

The fourth and fifth grade groups watched the video of Wednesday night's performance for reflection and self-assessment.  That night, they truly learned the meaning of the phrase, "the show must go on."  We are so proud that despite the lights turning on and off every few minutes, they continued to play their instruments and sing through the chaos.  That's true showmanship!  

Have an amazing weekend!

Weekly Review 5/4- 5/8

We can't believe it is already May and next week, our 4th and 5th graders will be performing in their Spring Concert! Family and friends, please join us Wednesday, May 13th @ 7:00pm to see our fabulous musicians perform!

First graders composed an ABA form composition.  Working with their peers, students composed an 8 beat "A" section, and an 8 beat "B" section using ta's (quarter notes), ti-tis (eighth notes), and quarter rests. Next week, we will transfer these compositions to hand percussion instruments!

Our second grade students also worked together in groups of two to add lyrics their class composition.   Each group focused on making sure the syllables of each word in their song matched up to the rhythm in the composition. We have some many creative composers in second grade. Here is Mrs. Nelson's class performing their music compositions:




The second grade students also learned about the Boomwhackers this week!  Boomwhackers are a set of colorful plastic tubes which produce a different pitch when struck.

The longest tube (with the lowest pitch) is C, and then the pitches ascend through the musical diatonic scale up to the smallest tube, high C.  We took turns playing the Boomwhackers, then even played some familiar songs such as "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star!"

The third grade students are continuing to work hard for their concert on Wednesday, June 10th.  
For the choral part of the concert, they continued learning, "My America." Mrs. Rzasa and I demonstrated how the two partner songs are sung and next week we will practice singing them together. We also started learning, "You're A Grand Old Flag."  Students reviewed high D, high C and F# on their recorder.

It is crunch time for our fourth and fifth grade students! The concert is just a few days away! Please go onto the blog to review the chorus lyric. We had three wonderful rehearsals in the past two weeks. Next Tuesday will be our last combined rehearsal! Incase you still have any question on the concert attire or what time to report to us in the evening, here is all the information:

• Concert Attire:  

Morning - The students may wear regular school clothes in the daytime - but please no t-shirts with logos or words.

Evening - Red, white, and/or blue tops to go along with our theme of “America the Beautiful.”  Students must also wear black bottoms, and black shoes.  

• Call Time:

Please make sure that your child arrives to the school at 6:40 p.m. Band students will report to the music room, string students will report to the lesson room, and chorus students who do not play an instrument will report to the gym.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND AND HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE AMAZING MOMS OUT THERE!!!

Weekly Review

This has been a fantastic week in music!

The first grade students enjoyed learning the rest of our classroom hand percussion instruments.  They can now identify and play the following instruments:

• Hand Drum
• Bongos
• Rhythm Sticks
• Triangle
• Cymbals
• Finger Cymbals
• Cowbell
• Agogo Bells
• Cabasa
• Vibraslap
• Jingle Bells
• Sleigh Bells
• Egg Shakers
• Maracas
• Guiro
• Wood Block
• Sand Blocks
• Tambourine

To put these new skills to the test, we learned a song called "Walk to the House."  Two students secretly select a hand percussion instrument and play it during the appropriate part of the song.  The rest of the class must listen carefully while they sing and then identify the instruments that were played.  The students who guess correctly become the percussionists for the next round!

The second graders worked on a class composition.  They will be learning to read music notation next year, so this week we gave them a brief introduction to the staff.  Then, we reviewed rhythmic values the musical alphabet ABCs - there are only 7 letters!   To compose, students took turns with selecting a rhythm (quarter note, eighth note pair, or quarter rest), then choosing a pitch (A, B, C, D, E, F or G).  Students continued until each class had their own song!  The next step is to add lyrics.  Students worked in pairs to write words to accompany the tune, making sure to match up the correct number of syllables to each rhythm.  They will be performing for the class next week!

The third grade students are busy preparing for their June 10th concert.  They sang "My America," and used their iPads to read the notation!  It can be difficult to follow along with the score, but they all did a great job.  They also enjoyed their centers day, learned how to play the F# on the recorder, and practiced "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

The fourth and fifth graders are almost ready for their concert!  Students have been in and out of the music room all week rehearsing solos, dances, speaking parts, and making props.  We know you will just love their Spring Concert, titled "America the Beautiful" (May 13th).  They also played a fun game called "Chicken on a Fencepost."