Making Music

Southside’s annual music program will be held in the High School Auditorium on the evening of February 29, 2012. Students will meet in the cafeteria at 6:30pm and the program will begin at 7:00pm. We will be “Movin’ Towards Positivity and Proficiency.”

Northside’s annual music program will feature songs of the 1960′s and will be held at Northside on March 1, 2012. Students will be gathering in their classrooms at 6:45pm and the program will begin at 7:00pm. There will also be a book fair going on that evening in the library before and after the show. Join us for some “Peace, Love and Proficiency.”

Mark your calendar!

Westside will have their "Santa is Stuck in the '50's" program on November 29th, 2011 at 7pm.

Eastside will celebrate a "Pirate's Christmas" on December 7th, 2011. Kindergarten through 2nd graders will begin at 5:30 and 3rd through 5th graders will begin at 7pm.

I added this site to my blogroll under Kids' sites. It's a great site geared for younger students to learn about beat and no beat.  You must have flashplayer to get the site to work correctly. The site was constructed in Great Britain so expect a British accent!! Have a great Fall Break!

"on the last day of September"

It's hard to believe the nine weeks are almost over! After fall break, I will be changing schools. I will miss the students at Northside and Southside but I am looking forward to finally seeing or meeting the kids at Eastside and Westside! I have added some songs to the Music section here on my blog (in the green strip). 

3rd and 4th graders have sang a fun traditional song called "The Cat Came Back," if you click on the song title it will take you to the video we watched in class. I have also added a link to "The Animal Boogie"–a song I introduce in Kindergarten.

SMENCILS WILL BE FOR SALE FOR ONE MORE WEEK AT NORTHSIDE AND SOUTHSIDE. MAKE SURE YOU BRING $1 BEFORE FALL BREAK IF YOU ARE INTERESTED!!

Last week, many classes spent some time talking about things that happened in September. This week all of the dates were last week.

September 11th (2001)–Rememberance Day or Patriot Day

Though most of our time in music class was spent talking about the Star Spangled Banner, we briefly discussed the other dates, as well. Francis Scott Key began writing down the poem that became our National Anthem during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the war of 1812 on Sept. 14, 1814. If you would like more information click on the link under Music in the green strip to the right.

As I am writing this post, the misty rain is gently falling…almost floating. The temperature has cooled off drastically. I LOVE sweater weather.

Ask your kids…Music class highlights from the past two weeks…

Kindergarteners–"The Three Little Fishies" song with a muppets video. Jake Baked the Cake-a book and rhythm. Various movement activities like the "Wiggleworm/Statue" and  washing your face listening activity and the "Down in the Valley" song.

1st graders–Sang "There Was an Old Lady" who swallowed a fly. Talking about Locomotor and Non-Locomotor movements in the green grass. Learning about pairs of eighth notes, quarter notes and quarter rests with a poem about Peas Porridge.

2nd graders–Learning about how music is written on a staff. Playing an elevator song on the xylophones that used an octave (8 floors!). Read a book called "Rumble in the Jungle."

3rd graders–Read a book called "To Market, To Market" then learned a jump rope song about Bluebells and cockle shells. Notated animal sounds and learned about whole notes, half notes, quarter notes and eighth notes. Singing a jazzy version of the traditional song "The Cat Came Back."

4th graders–Talking about dynamics using the "Firebird Suite" by Igor Stravinsky. Doing a body percussion pattern with a tongue twister about a woodchuck. Singing a song and reading an article about freedom in Haiti with John Jacobson's Music Express Magazines. 

Can you clap? xxx

 I am soooooo excited about this school year. Elementary music classes are changing here in Harrison County! I'm so happy that Mrs. Beth Thompson will be teaching elementary art on the other side of my schedule. So, the 1st & 3rd nine weeks, I will be at Northside and Southside teaching music while Eastside and Westside are having art classes. Then we will switch. After fall break, I will be at Eastside and Westside and Northside and Southside get art. This will allow for us to have longer times with the students, I get 45 minutes instead of 30…We have already done so much in 2 weeks!

Each class has begun with a welcoming song and then we've all played some sort of name game depending on the grade level.

Ask your kids….Class highlights for the 2nd week of school:

Kindergarteners–familiar songs-"The Wheels on the Bus" & "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes"

1st graders–Listening activity with stick puppets and Mozart's "Rondo alla Turca"

2nd graders–exploring going higher and lower on the xylophones using "The Grand Ol' Duke of York." Yey! The instruments are already out! 

3rd graders–Acka Backa Soda Cracker-working on keeping a steady beat through the rest

4th graders–"Shake the Papaya Down" with instruments and a harmony part

With funds from Smencil Sales I've been able to purchase some awesome materials to use with students. Below you will find pictures of some stories and songtale books that I've purchased recently. If you click on the name of the book, it should take you to a free downloadable version of the song. You can also go to the GIA website to find these books. 

My Aunt Came Back  The Crabfish The Derby Ram There Was A Man and He Was Mad  Father Grumble

This week and last, we have been discussing musical opposites. The following are some examples that we have talked about:

                                                           LOUD - SOFT                                                            (Dynamics)

                                                           HIGH - LOW                                                            (Pitch)

                                                           FAST - SLOW                                                            (Tempo)

                                                           LONG - SHORT                                                           (Duration)

                                                           HEAVY - LIGHT                                                            (Weight or Emphasis)

We have also been moving to different kinds of music, which brings me to this week's quote:

“Dance for yourself, if someone understands, good. If not then no matter, go right on doing what you love.”–Lois Hurst

Some classes have also listened and moved with Dmitry Kabalevsky's very heavy sounding "The Comedians-Pantomime"