Kindergarten and First Grade Concerts
Thank you to those of you who came to support our Kindergarten and First Grade students at their concerts yesterday! It was amazing to see how excited the students were to share everything they had worked so hard to learn in music class this school year. Students can look forward to a fun end of the year in the music room filled with lots of music makings, songs, and games.
Kindergarten
In Kindergarten, students have been exploring dynamics - how loud or soft music can be. Kindergartners have been learning how they can make their own loud and soft sounds through many different songs and games.
First Grade
First grade students have been exploring a new rhythm - the quarter rest, or Shh. We have been comparing our three rhythms, and investigating what they have in common, learning they all are one beat. We explored how in music we measure beats to see how long a rhythm is.
Third Grade
I am so impressed with how quickly third grade students are learning the recorder! We are continuing to work through our recorder books, and soon 3rd graders will be ready for their first playing test, where they can earn different colored belts for mastering a certain skill on the recorder. The first belt is earned for being able to switch between G and B on the recorder.
Kindergarten
In Kindergarten, students have been continuing to learn the difference between fast and slow music through singing, movement, stories, and games. We have learned the word Tempo means how fast or slow the beat is, and that Presto means music that is fast, and largo means music that is slow. Our favorite activity was “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”.
First Grade
First grade students have been exploring a new rhythm - something called a sneaky beat. We have discovered that some beats in music have no sound, but that the music continues. This means we have to pay very close attention to make sure those beats of silence do not sneak past us! Next week, we will learn the name of this rhythm.
Second Grade
Second grade students have been reviewing all about bar lines, double bar lines, and repeat signs! We talked about how barlines group beats together, and how to count how many beats our different rhythms are, in order to find exactly where to put our barlines. We have also been learning about a new kind of music that groups beats by 4 instead of 2.
Fifth Grade
In Fifth grade, students have been working on exploring form, which helps musicians understand how music is organized. We have been finding the form of songs we know. Students then worked in groups to compose their own percussion pattern using cups as drums, to create a new section of a known song, adding to the form. I was very impressed with the creative patterns the students composed!
Kindergarten
In Kindergarten, students have been starting to explore the difference between fast and slow music through singing, movement, stories, and games. This week, we learned how to play a hand drum, which we used to practice our different kinds of steady beats!
First Grade
First grade students have been very excited to learn all about their first rhythms in music - Ta and Titi! In the next few classes, first graders will focus on reading, writing, composing, and performing these rhythms so they can become Ta and Titi experts.
Second Grade
Second grade students also discovered a new rhythm - the half note, or Ta - a. Students learned that Ta-a is a rhythm that is one sound over two beats, and how to listen closely to find this rhythm in songs. We practiced this by working as a class to identify the rhythm of a known song.
Third Grade
Third grade students have been very excited to be in the music room the last few weeks, as we have started our long anticipated unit on recorders! Students have been amazing with following expectations with their recorders, as we review all of our “Recorder Basics”on how to be excellent musicians and make the best possible music with our instruments. We have learned how to play two notes successfully - G and E!
Fifth Grade
In Fifth grade, students have been working on five note songs on the recorder - using G A B C D. This requires a lot of technical skills and coordination, as fifth graders have to be able to read the notes, know how to play each of the five notes with the correct fingers, all while playing the recorder! Our fifth grade students are working hard on these combinations of skills as a way to prepare for middle school music next year.
Kindergarten
Students in Kindergarten have been working hard on learning how to find the steady beat in music. We have been finding the beat through singing, rhyming, clapping, patting, movement, and even instruments! Some of the songs and rhymes we have been learning are “Queen Caroline”, “Apple Tree”, “Johnny With One Hammer”, and “Apples Peaches Pears Plums”, just to name a few.
First Grade
Grade 1 students have recently been learning how to show where the steady beat is in a song. We knew from kindergarten how to feel the steady beat, but are learning how to match the sounds of a song to each beat in order to show where the beat is. Students practiced as a whole class, then in small groups by showing the beat to our song “Bee, Bee, Bumblebee”. Next, we will learn all about rhythm - or the way the words go in music.
Second Grade
In Grade 2, students have been working on their beginning compositional skills by using our new knowledge of ostinatos. Students have been working in small groups to compose ostinatos around a theme, and are then using their musical knowledge to turn the words into rhythmic ostinatos, which we then play on instruments!
Third Grade
Third Grade students have been learning how to read notes on the treble clef. This is a very important skill as we will soon get recorders, and students will need to read music in order to play this new instrument. We have been doing many activities to practice these music reading skills.
Kindergarten
Students in Kindergarten have been learning all about their different voices - whisper, call, speak, and sing. We have been using a song about apples to be able to both identify what voice they are hearing, and to demonstrate their understanding of the different voices. Students also really enjoyed the dance and game that goes along with this song!
Second Grade
In Grade 2, students have been learning all about ostinatos - or short repeating musical patterns. We have been focusing on apples, and exploring many different movements related to picking apples or turning them into something new. Next week, students will work in small groups to develop their own ostinatos.
