Dear Parents,                                                                     February – March  2015

           All K-4 students are busy practicing for the Spring Concert set for TH, April 9, 2015 @ 6:30 PM.  They are working on a musical entitled, “E-I-E-I-Oops!” and look forward to performing for you when the whole barnyard will be singing!  If anyone is willing to help with headbands/costumes, please give me a call or email!  We will need lots of farm animals!  Thank you!

          Pre – K, 1^st, & 2^nd Grade

            The Pre – K students are finishing Theme 4: Food.  In this unit we have sung many songs about food, including, “Apples & Bananas,” “I Like Spinach,” “The Farmer in the Dell,” Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow,” and “Pizza Pie.” We created a “fruit symphony” by listing 4 fruits and then playing the rhythm of them on our instruments.  They have played instruments or moved with many of these songs, and particularly enjoyed playing along with “John, the Rabbit” on ‘Oh, Yes!’

            The K students have finished Unit 4: “Around the Town.” In this unit the K students learned about and sang, “The People In Your Neighborhood,” in which we named and clapped the rhythms of many of our neighborhood helpers: the postal carrier, firefighter, grocer, sanitation worker, doctor, dentist, bus driver, baker, and barber, to name a few.  We practiced louder and softer with “Car Song,” “Little Blue Truck,” “The Bus,” “Ride the Trian,” and “Git on Board.” We finished the unit by learning more about ‘form,’ while singing and acting out, “Little Spotted Puppy,” and “Three Little Kittens.”

       The 1^st graders are finishing Unit 3, “Making Friends.”  After categorizing the 4 non-pitched percussion instruments, we practiced one and two sounds to a beat with “Chase the Squirrel,” “But the Critter Got Away,” and “Jump, Jim, Joe.”  We played instruments along with “Marco Polo” and “Quaker, Quaker.” We moved to the beat with “Johnny Works with One Hammer,” and danced with “Skip to My Lou,” and “El juego chirimbolo.”  We’ll wrap up this unit by learning more about ‘form’ with “The Bear Went Over the Mountain,” “Rig a Jig Jig,” and El floron.”

       The 2^nd graders have learned more about “Our Musical World” in Unit 3 by singing songs from Canada, the Caribbean Islands, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, Indonesia, Sweden, Australia, and New Zealand.  Next, we learn about expressive dynamics in Antarctica, and will finish this unit by singing a song from Latin America.  Throughout this unit we have been practicing our half notes and rests, pitch syllables do, re, mi, so, and la, and performing ostinatos (repeated patterns).

     Grades 3 & 4    

            The 3^rd grade students are working hard on their lines for the upcoming Musical, “E-I-E-I-Oops!”  There is much to learn about speaking out on stage and acting our parts!  Before this we sang “Colors of the Wind” from “Pocahontas” and danced to the “Raccoon Dance Song.”  We learned about equal and unequal divisions of the beat in “Gi’Me Elbow Room.”  We composed our own verses for “Treasure Chests” and practiced ‘phrases.’  Then we sang “Throw It Out the Window,” which used words from familiar nursery rhymes and made silly rhymes! 

         The 4^th grade students are taking the lead in the upcoming Musical so there are lots of lines to learn, along with stage direction. They are doing an excellent job!  Before this the 4^th graders practiced 3 & 4 sounds to a beat and learned about John Williams and his music for so many movies!  They learned about “tonal center” and “countermelody” with “Cotton-Eye Joe.”  They danced to “Cedar Swamp: and “Sail Away, Ladies,” reviewed the staff, lines and spaces, and learned about ledger lines.

Grades 5-8  BAND

    The 5-8 grade Band continue to make wonderful progress and are almost ready to perform for the Spring Concert!  They have really been challenging themselves as they learned how to ‘swing’ the 8^th notes in “Boogie Blues,” and are learning how a ‘jazz band’ works.  They continue to make great progress in “Rio Bravo,” a Latin American song with a lot of percussion. 

            Grades 7/8 have made great progress in “Afterburn,” and sound like a larger group when everyone plays together so well.  They are really working hard on “Grenade,” as all those syncopated rhythms in popular music are so fun to hear, but can be a bit challenging to play.  I am confident that they will be able to put it all together for the Concert!

Grades 5-8 CHOIR

    The 5/6 Choir students have been trying out an online music education program called,

 “Quaver Music.”  We have a 30-day trial of the program from when I attended the Minnesota Music Educator’s Conference in Feb.  We reviewed 16^th notes and got out our homemade ‘bucket drums’ to practice them.  They did a great job of practicing dynamics, echoing rhythms, improvising their own rhythms, relating the notes to fractions, and using the drums.  We will begin practicing for the Spring Concert this week with a Musical entitled,” Broadway Beat.” 

             The 7/8 grade students have been working hard learning about a particular period in music history.  We are almost ready to present those projects and may save that for after the Spring Concert, as it’s time to start practicing the musical, “Broadway Beat.”  Along with this musical, we will learn a bit about the history of Broadway and some of the most important composers of the music.

                                                (12 Benefits of Music Education, cont.)

10. Music study develops skills that are necessary in the workplace. It focuses on “doing,” as opposed to observing, and teaches students how to perform, literally, anywhere in the world. Employers are looking for multi-dimensional workers with the sort of flexible and supple intellects that music education helps to create as described above. In the music classroom, students can also learn to better communicate and cooperate with one another.

11. Music performance teaches young people to conquer fear and to take risks. A little anxiety is a good thing, and something that will occur often in life. Dealing with it early and often makes it less of a problem later. Risk-taking is essential if a child is to fully develop his or her potential. Music contributes to mental health and can help prevent risky behavior such as teenage drug abuse, which often leads to institutionalization in a teen rehab.

12. An arts education exposes children to the incomparable.

                                                         (www.childrensmusicworkshop.com)                            Mrs. Palmer

Dear Parents,                                                                               January 2015

           Congratulations to all of our talented students for the wonderful job on the Christmas Concert!  We hope you all enjoyed it!                                                                          

Pre – K, 1^st, & 2^nd Grade

            Pre – K students have finished Theme 3, “Families.”  We took an imaginary trip for “Saturday is Car Day,” put picture cards in order for “Hush, Little Baby,” learned about questions and answers for “My Mama’s Calling Me,” learned about the many uses of wool with “Sheep Shearing,” and went fishing for “Plenty Fishes in the Sea.” We also acted out “5 little Snowmen, “We All Go to Sleep,” jumped up, down, in, and out for “Andy Pandy,” and worked hard for “Johnny works with One Hammer.”

            The K students have finished Unit 3, “Friends and Fun.” In this unit we sang many familiar nursery rhymes and folk songs.  Along with singing them we also practiced counting, spelling out a very important word (please), echoed words, and moved as directed by song lyrics.  We learned traditional songs in English, Spanish, and Korean.  Some of our songs included: “Deedle, Deedle Dumpling,” “Jack Be Nimble,” “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” “Counting Song,” and “Tugboat.”

       The 1^st graders have finished Unit 2 and are on to Unit 3, “Making Friends.”  This gave us an opportunity to talk about what makes a good friend.  We sang many songs that helped us practice high and low and long and short.  We practiced the Four kinds of Voices (speaking, singing, whispering, and calling, instead of shouting).  We learned about ‘Call & Response’ songs, in which one person sings, and the group answers.  We began Unit 3 by using lots of ‘Found Sounds’ from around the room, and then categorized all the classroom rhythm instruments into 4 families: drums, metals, woods, and scrapers and shakers.

       The 2^nd graders finished their 2^nd Unit and have started Unit 3, “Our Musical World.” In Unit 2, we learned about beats in sets of 2 and 3, the tone color of different instruments, especially the brass family, and learned about A B and ABA forms in music.  We also practiced singing, identifying, using hand signs, and playing mi, so, and la. In unit 3, we will take a musical trip around the world, visiting every continent – even Antarctica!

Grades 3 & 4    

            The 3^rd grade students are finishing our 2^nd Unit, “The World Around You.”  We finish Unit 2 by reviewing dynamics and tempo with “Tanabata,” the “William Tell Overture,” and “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.”  The students really enjoyed deciding on the tempo, dynamics and voice to use for “John.”  We will continue to review our rhythms, including half notes, practice finding mi, so, and la, and identify the form of our songs.  Unit 3 is entitled, “Tunes, Tales, and Traditions,” and reinforces the idea that people from every land and culture share our planet and are deserving of respect.  In this unit we will practice equal and unequal division of the beat, phrase length and AB Form, along with 1^st and 2^nd endings.  We will also take a look at some of our own family traditions-the stories and customs that have been passed down through generations.

                     The 4^th grade finished Unit 1 by practicing the Pentatonic Scale, do, re, mi, so and la; They learned about tonal center, and practiced their rhythms of quarter notes, 2-8^th notes, half notes, and quarter rest; they practiced recognizing the melodic contour of a song, and learned about rounds and canons.  We have moved on to Unit 2, “Musical Messages, Musical Journeys.”  The 4^th graders are really enjoying the challenge of 4 sounds on a beat with “Frog Went A-Courtin’ and “The Woodpecker.”  We are looking forward to singing “Cotton-Eye Joe” and “Sail Away, Ladies,” along with listening and playing along on recorders to an excerpt of “Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.” 

              Grades 5-8  BAND

        The 5-8 grade Band have made wonderful progress and are really moving along in their ‘Standards of Excellence’ Book.  We are working on “Rio Bravo” for the Spring Concert, which has a lot of percussion and our percussionists are rising to the challenge!  We have moved over to the drums and auxiliary percussion after a wonderful semester on the xylophone. 

     Grades 7/8 have been working on expanding our range and playing all Major and minor scales. The students have been working on “Afterburn” and will decide on a couple of other pieces for the Spring Concert. 

Grades 5-8 CHOIR

             The 5/6 Choir students have been playing, singing, and writing the ‘C Major Scale.’  They have also practiced the basic signs and symbols that all musicians must know to be successful.  The 5/6 students have practiced identifying 2nds and 3rds both aurally and visually.  We have sung  “I Have a Dream” and “Free At Last” to honor MLK and all he stood for.  We have also practiced thin and thick texture with “Tzena, Tzena,” and will work on an instrumental version of “Happy.”

             The 7/8 grade students are presenting their favorite contemporary artist.  Next we will move on to a unit on Music History and then choose what we will perform for the Spring Concert and Graduation – it is amazing how time flies!  Everyone really enjoyed seeing and hearing, “Reverse the Trend” on Friday, Jan. 19, an anti-bullying presentation.  It was great!          

                                              (12 Benefits of Music Education, cont.)

7. In music, a mistake is a mistake; the instrument is in tune or not, the notes are well played or not, the entrance is made or not. It is only by much hard work that a successful performance is possible. Through music study, students learn the value of sustained effort to achieve excellence and the concrete rewards of hard work.

8. Music study enhances teamwork skills and discipline. In order for an orchestra to sound good, all players must work together harmoniously towards a single goal, the performance, and must commit to learning music, attending rehearsals, and practicing.

9. Music provides children with a means of self-expression. Now that there is relative security in the basics of existence, the challenge is to make life meaningful and to reach for a higher stage of development. Everyone needs to be in touch at some time in his life with his core, with what he is and what he feels. Self-esteem is a by-product of this self-expression.

                                                         (www.childrensmusicworkshop.com)                            Mrs. Palmer

October 2014-15

Dear Parents,                                                                               October 2014

Pre – K, 1^st, & 2^nd Grade

            Pre – K students are in the midst of their 2nd unit, entitled, “Making Friends.”  They have practiced 2 ‘tapping pages’ to go along with “Jack & Jill,” and “1, 2, Buckle My Shoe.”  These help the students practice the steady beat by tapping as we say/sing the nursery rhyme.  The Pre – K students have enjoyed speaking and acting out “5 Little Pumpkins.”  We also practiced, “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater,” “Rise, Sally, Rise,” and “Mary Wore a Red Dress,” in which we all found and stood for the colors we were wearing, and stood up and sat down to Hap Palmer’s “The Color Song.”  We are singing several pumpkin songs and learning the choreography to “I Wanna Be a Friend of Yours.”

            The K students are almost finished with Unit 2: “Music Helps Me Learn.”  In this unit, the K students focus on the idea that they learn many things through music at school.  We sang and played instruments to demonstrate high and low, practiced the rhythms in the “Alphabet Song,” played lots of “Name Games” to practice the rhythms in our names and also practiced our colors in “The Color Song.” We watched Dorothy sing “Over the Rainbow” from the Wizard of Oz as we learned “The Rainbow Song” and colored our own rainbows.  We danced and sang, “Oh, A-Hunting We Will Go.”  We practiced the rhythms in “BINGO,” and “Las horas.”  The K students enjoyed acting out “5 Little Pumpkins,” and “Dinosaurs Dancing.”  We are reviewing the days of the week with “Doing the Weekly Walk,” and “Days of the Week.”

       The 1^st graders began their second unit, “All About You and Me.”  They practiced long and short sounds with “Down By the Bay,” “Let’s Go Driving,” “Puddle Hopping,” and a Hopi game song, “Mos’, Mos’!”  The 1^st Graders reviewed “My Mama’s Calling Me,” “Six Little Ducks,” and “Hoo, Hoo!” to practice high and low.  Next we review the 4 main voices: speaking, singing, whispering, and calling (instead of shouting).  We will show recognition of solo and group sections of a song with “John the Rabbit,” “Charlie Over the Ocean” and “Shoo, Turkey.”  We will finish the unit with an “Animal Sound Symphony” to show higher and lower.  Along with these we are also singing many pumpkin songs! 

       The 2^nd graders are finishing their busy first unit, called, “Together Through Music.”  We have been practicing quarter notes, 8^th notes, and quarter rests with a Japanese song called, “Chichipapa,” and “Ballet Music,” by Christoph Gluck.  We learned about the four families of rhythm instruments, the Woods, Metals, Shakers and Rattles, and Drums by getting out all of our available instruments and categorizing them.  We learned about dynamics (soft and loud) with “Baby Beluga”  and played along with “Loose Tooth” with many of those rhythm instruments.  Next we learned about Carl Orff and all   

   the ‘Orff Instruments.’  We practiced sol-mi with “Lemonade” and “She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round the    

         Mountain.”

Grades 3 & 4    

            The 3^rd grade students are in the midst of our 2^nd Unit, “The World Around You.”  We began by focusing on form in “El floron” an Israeli Folk Dance, “Nigun Atik,” and “Sun Don’t Set in the Mornin.’”  We practice la and so using pitch syllables with “Shepherd, Shepherd,” and “Eh Soom Boo Kawaya,” a Nigerian Boat song.  We learn about countermelody and play along with several songs to practice our rhythms and pitches.  We review dynamics and tempo with “Tanabata,” the “William Tell Overture,” and “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.”

                     The 4^th grade students read and sang a pentatonic (5-tone) melody with “Li’l ‘Liza Jane,” and danced to this song as

           well.  We listened to Cat Stevens’ version of “Morning Has Broken,” and sang along.  We learned about the “Beatles,”

listened to  several of their hits, and sang along with “Octopus’s Garden.”  We practiced singing a canon with “Old Abram Brown,” and played along on several instruments.  We have also been working on “The Boogie Woogie Ghost” and playing along with shakers, xylophones, and the autoharp.  The 3^rd and 4^th graders are all practicing a “Patriotic Medley” for the Veteran’s Day Program Nov. 11 @ 9:30.

Grades 5-8  BAND

        The 5-8 grade Band are making great progress on learning/reviewing their notes and are playing Christmas songs already!  Thank you for encouraging the students to practice and keep up the good work!  The 5/6 Band is working on “Good King Wenceslas” and “Jolly Old St. Nicholas,” along with “Jingle Bells.” 

     Grades 7/8 are also doing a good job of reviewing their notes.  We are working on “The Little Drummer Boy” and will decide between two other songs.  A little practicing will go a long way toward reaching our goals of playing more challenging music. 

Here are some practice guidelines for beginning musicians: 

     To learn a musical instrument you must learn to master many physical skills.  Your brain is reading notes on a page, while your fingers are contemplating which keys to press, all while your lungs are taking a big breath to blow through your instrument to create a sound.  A music student’s job is to exercise those skills, remember what you’ve learned, and have fun in the process!  

• Warm up carefully.  Warm your embouchure (lip & mouth position) and instrument for good tone production.            Select a time of day that is free from interruptions and use this time each day.
• Choose a place to practice that is free from distractions
• Set a goal for the session: a scale; an exercise; specific sections of a piece; or even a measure that is giving you        trouble.  Work on it slowly, then build up to speed gradually.  Before leaving put it together with the rest of the line.
• Repetition of a problem area reinforces muscle memory.
• Use a metronome.  

Grades 5-8 CHOIR

          The 5/6 Choir students have practiced lots of musical math by playing “Adding it up” on  

    musictechteacher.com.  This is a great site with lots of games to learn about music!  It does require 

    flash, however.  We also made a “Clapping Symphony” by clapping several rhythms at the same  

    time.  Next we filled in a “rhythm circle” to show how the quarter, half, 8^th, and 16^th notes relate to  

    the whole note.  I love bringing other subjects into music for a cross-curricular experience!  We also

    sang, “I Knew You were ‘Treble’ When You Walked In” as a way to practice the lines and spaces of

    the Treble Clef. 

            All of the 7/8 grade students did a nice job presenting their favorite musical style!  As I always  

   tell the students, sometimes they are learners, and other times they are teachers, just like all of us! 

   Who is your favorite musical artist?   The 7/8 Choir will research their favorite artist and present 

   their findings to the class.  We are also beginning work on music for the Christmas Concert TH,

    Dec. 4, 2014 @ 6:30 PM.

                  4. Recent studies show that students who study the arts are more successful on standardized tests such as the SAT. They also achieve higher grades in high school. 

5. A study of the arts provides children with an internal glimpse of other cultures and teaches them to be empathetic towards the people of these cultures. This development of compassion and empathy, as opposed to development of greed and a "me first" attitude, provides a bridge across cultural chasms that leads to respect of other races at an early age.
6. Students of music learn craftsmanship as they study how details are put together painstakingly and what constitutes good, as opposed to mediocre, work. These standards, when applied to a student's own work, demand a new level of excellence and require students to stretch their inner resources.               (www.nafme.org)                    Mrs. Palmer
                                            

Dear Parents ,                                                                             9/11/14

         Welcome back to music class, everyone!  We are off and running with singing, moving, creating, performing, and finding many ways to enjoy music!

Pre – K, 1^st, & 2^nd Grade

            Pre – K students began their first unit, entitled, “Who We Are” by singing, moving, and playing instruments with “The Hokey Pokey,” “Mi cuerpo,” “Looby Loo,””This Little Light of Mine,” along with “The More We Get Together,” “Twinkle, Twinkle,” and more.  They learned about the structure of a song by practicing saying, “The beginning” when  the song started and “The end” when the song is over.  They practiced playing rhythm instruments for the patterns with “Mi Cuerpo;” and melody with “Looby” and “Light.”

        The K students started their first unit, “Music Moves Me” by singing, dancing, playing musical instruments, and keeping time with the beat.  They learned about the violin, sang “All Work Together,” “Time to Sing,” “Walk to School,” “Pimpon,” “My Grandfather,” “Stamping Land,” “I Know an Old Lady,” and many more.  They made paper puppets, and took turns moving to the verses with “Pimpon” and “I Got Shoes.”  They did all this while learning about beat, tempo, and tone color (the sound of an instrument/voice).

       The 1^st graders began the year with their first unit, “Say Hello With a Song.”  They sang “Gilly, Gilly, Gilly Good Morning,” “Hey, Children, Who’s in Town?” “Miss Mary Mack,” “Bonjour, mes amis,” “Willum,” “The Ants Go Marching,” and many more.  They made sounds and moved to show the difference between steady beat and no steady beat.  We had lots of fun letting our voices go up and down like roller coasters to practice melody!  They also practiced dynamics with “Sleep, Bonnie Bairnie” and “Mi cuerpo.” 

       In 2^nd grade, the first unit is called, “Together Through Music.”  The students danced with “Dance, Dance,  Dance!”  and moved with a partner for “Step in Time.”  All of the 2^nd graders jumped in on their birthday month for “Sheep in the Meadow.” They have already composed their first piece for the year using train engines from “Engine, Engine, Number Nine” to learn about high and low.  We used the “Ladybug” (Document Camera) and the Smart Board to sing everyone’s composition.  We practiced beat and rhythm and are reviewing quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rest.

Grades 3 & 4    

        The 3^rd grade students started the year with “Music for the Fun of It!”  In this first unit, we practice the difference between the ‘beat’ and ‘rhythm,’ learn about ‘pitch’ and ‘melody,’ review and practice our rhythms: quarter note, two 8^th notes, and quarter rest, review do, re mi, practice vocal tone color by  speaking & whispering, and review instrumental tone color.  We have sung many  songs already, including “Simon Says,” “Billy,” “Way Down South,” “Chan mali chan,” “I’s the B’y,” and “Great Big House.”  We have also listened and moved to “A String of Pearls” by Glenn Miller.

      Unit 1 for the 4th graders is called, “Music for Everyone.” In this unit, we began by practicing our body percussion (clapping, tapping, patting) to the beat.  We conducted 4/4 meter, learned about ‘melodic contour,’ (the shape of a melody) reviewed the rhythm patterns quarter, two 8ths, half notes, and quarter rests; pitches do, re, mi, so, la; and musical phrases, and expression.  We sang (and rapped) “Something for Me, something for You,” “My Town, My World,” an arrangement of “Hush, Little Baby” by Bobby McFerrin and Yo-Yo Ma, “Somos el barco,” “A la puerta del cielo,” “A Journey,” “Peace Round,” and a percussion arrangement of “Canon in D.”

Grades 5-8  BAND

        The 5-8 grade Band are off to a great start with several new band members!  Our 6^th graders get the opportunity to be ‘mentors’ for our 5^th graders and teaching someone something is a wonderful thing!  We have begun our first notes for beginners and reviewed our notes for 6^th graders.  Please encourage your student musician(s) to bring their instrument home and practice at least a few times/week so that progress in playing is the reward and the motivation to learn even more!  Learning an instrument is exciting, but it does take a little practice!

               Grades 7/8 are reviewing their notes, getting back into playing by choosing their favorite songs and began their first Christmas song for the Christmas Concert already!  Please encourage your 7/8 grade student to continue practicing – there is much more to learn!  Also, these are often the years when the music becomes more difficult, but with a little practice, it gets more fun!  If students can make it through Middle School in Band, most of those students will continue to play for a lifetime and that’s our goal!

     Grades 5-8 CHOIR

           The 5/6 Choir students have started the year by learning about the ‘Elements of Music:”  Rhythm, Melody, Harmony,Texture, Form, Tempo and Dynamics, and Tone Color. They have sung, “That’s What Friends Are For,” “Rock-a-My-Soul,” “Greensleeves,” “Lonesome Valley,” and  have practiced a “Rap” called, “Slow Down.”  They also reviewed beginning music theory concepts and sang and moved to lots of fun Warm-Ups!

            What is your favorite style of music?  The 7/8 Choir is learning about popular music styles and will research their favorite style and present it to the class.  We started out by learning about ‘reggae’ music and playing the available xylophones and keyboards along with that style. They also sang many songs from the  “Get America Singing…Again” books.  These books are put out by the National Association of Music Education and are intended to get students of all ages singing America’s favorite songs.  Next, they will research their favorite artist and present that to the class. We are looking forward to exploring more of “Garage Band” on the iPads!

                                           Twelve Benefits of Music Education   (www.nafme.org)
 

1. Early musical training helps develop brain areas involved in language and reasoning. It is thought that brain development continues for many years after birth. Recent studies have clearly indicated that musical training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language, and can actually wire the brain's circuits in specific ways. Linking familiar songs to new information can also help imprint information on young minds.

2. There is also a causal link between music and spatial intelligence (the ability to perceive the world accurately and to form mental pictures of things). This kind of intelligence, by which one can visualize various elements that should go together, is critical to the sort of thinking necessary for everything from solving advanced mathematics problems to being able to pack a book-bag with everything that will be needed for the day.

3. Students of the arts learn to think creatively and to solve problems by imagining various solutions, rejecting outdated rules and assumptions. Questions about the arts do not have only one right answer.                                                                                                                                                                                                      Mrs. Palmer

What a great job everyone did at the Spring Concert!  Congratulations to all of our talented students!

Pre-School classes are working on their songs for their Spring Programs.  The 3-Yr. old Program is TH, May 1 @ 1:45 in the Cafeteria.  The 4-Yr. old Graduation and Program is on Wed., May 7 @ 6:30 PM in the gym.  We are looking forward to singing for you!

All of our students in K-8 are enjoying watching the video of the Concert and evaluating our performance.  Everyone did such a wonderful job learning his/her part!  We hope the audience enjoyed it as much as we did!

The MS students are also preparing to support our 8th Grade Graduates by singing one song and playing the processional, "Pomp and Circumstance."  Graduation is set for Mon., May 12 @ 7:00 PM in the gym.  Happy Spring!

Welcome back to Music Class, everyone! 

MUSIC NOTES

LYND PUBLIC SCHOOL 2013-2014

Dear Parents,                                                                               9/11/13

       Here’s a look at what we’ve been working on in our first units:

Pre – K, 1^st, & 2^nd Grade

    Pre – K has finished their first Unit – Theme 1: “Who We Are.” In this first unit we learned that songs have a beginning and an ending.   We learned about patterns in music by playing sticks and drums during the movement parts of Mi cuerpo (My Body).  The Pre-schoolers threw scarves up in the air and will pretend to ride a roller coaster to practice high and low with our voices.  We also learned that pitches may go up, down, or repeat with ‘Looby Loo,’ and ‘This Little Light of Mine.’

      In unit 1, the Kindergarten students moved to the beat at different tempos, learned about the violin, and tried playing different rhythm instruments.  We listened to songs from the Maori, Hispanic, and African American cultures, opening the door to multicultural awareness and interest in social studies.  All along the way, we moved to the beat.  We often walked, skipped, galloped, and danced our way through the unit.

     The 1^st grade students have been exploring the musical sounds around us, from the steady ticking of a clock to the whistle of a passing train.  We learned about steady beats, melodic direction, and musical dynamics.  You can help reinforce the lessons your child is learning by drawing attention to the rhythms and sounds you experience in everyday life.  Point out the steady beat of the windshield wipers when you are driving through rain or how the tone of a siren goes up and then down.  

      The 2^nd graders have been learning some basics about beat, rhythm, and melody, including practicing the pitches mi and so, exploring loud and soft sounds and the tone colors of different instruments.  We made homemade shakers to help us keep a steady beat or shake out the rhythm of a song.  When you listen to music with your child, ask him or her to describe the tone color of  the instruments to you; for example, how the sound of a violin is different from that of a flute, or a trumpet.

Grades 3 & 4              

         The 3^rd graders have been exploring the concepts of rhythm and beat, learning how rhythm is written in musical pieces by using a staff with measures, notes, and rests.  Listening to and singing traditional melodies from different cultures will serve as an introduction to pitch, (do, re, mi) and to the tone color—the special sounds—of various instruments.

        In our first unit, the 4^th graders have been reviewing beat, rhythm, pitch, melody, and meter   signatures.  We play along to many of the songs in the unit, using all of the available classroom instruments.  We listened to a unique version of “Canon in D” to learn about rounds and canons in music.  Then we tried some rounds in 3 parts, including the ever popular, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”  Share your favorite songs with your child, discussing how the melodies move up and down and how there are sounds and silences to the rhythm. 

Grades 5-8  BAND

          Grades 5/6 have been getting used to working together as we now have BAND and CHOIR every day!  Those of you that play an instrument know that it takes practice to get better and give our fingers and brains a chance to solidify the fingerings/positions, rhythms, and notes.  Encourage your beginning musician to take their horn home and put some time in on those practice charts!

          Grades 7/8 are also working together to produce a cohesive sound.  Practice continues to be important at this beginning stage to build on previous knowledge so please keep encouraging practice at home.  We will continue to work our way through ‘Music Ace,’ the music software program that teaches music theory in a fun and challenging way.

 Grades 5-8 CHOIR

      As last year, all students in grades 5-8 are involved in choir so we are all working hard to find our singing voices and what it takes to sing correctly and work as a team to produce a nice blended sound.  We will review correct singing posture, and practice the correct way to hum, and then move on to learn about/review the respiratory system so we understand how breathing correctly contributes to a more controlled sound.  We continue to practice our rhythm and pitch skills with ‘Sing At First Sight.’  We also continue to use a new book entitled, “Get America Singing…Again!” put out by the Music Educators National Conference intended to teach America’s youth our nation’s best-known folk songs.  The students are also trying out a new workbook, "One Minute Theory," to solidify the basics of music theory.