Third Quarter Music Summaries
Pre-K:
Our focus this third quarter in Pre-K has been on singing songs with each other,
continuing our use of steady beats, listening activities, and discovering sounds of
the orchestra.
Students have taken their knowledge of steady beats and learned the art of
“body percussion”, which is using their arms, hands, feet and legs to create
rhythmic patterns to songs. Students also spent a class taking apart the piano to
see how it worked!
Our listening activities included learning about Duke Ellington and swing music,
as well as the Baroque composer, Antonio Vivaldi. As students continued to
learn about the orchestra and its instruments, we watched excerpts from
Disney’s Fantasia. Inspired by these composers and artists, we created our own
images drawing inspiration from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”. Students have been
working hard to prepare for their first solo show, “the Silly Songs of Bryant Oden.”
Next quarter, we will continue learning about the sounds of the orchestra and
also learn a little more about jazz music, as April is National Jazz Appreciation
Month.
Kindergarten:
Our focus for third quarter in Kindergarten music has been on developing our
vocal skills, rhythmic training, basic note reading, listening activities and
discovering sounds of the orchestra.
All of our Kindergarten classes gave great performances at PRIDE time as they
sang self-composed blues for donuts.
Students have also been working hard as they prepare for their storybook
musicals!
Our listening activities included learning about Duke Ellington and swing music,
as well as the Baroque composer, Antonio Vivaldi. As students continued to
learn about the orchestra and its instruments, we watched excerpts from
Disney’s Fantasia. Inspired by these composers and artists, we created our own
images drawing inspiration from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”.
Next quarter, we will continue learning about the sounds of the orchestra and
also learn a little more about jazz music, as April is National Jazz Appreciation
Month.
First Grade:
Our focus for third quarter in first grade music has been on developing our vocal
skills, rhythmic training, basic note reading, listening activities and discovering
sounds of the orchestra.
Students have already begun preparations for the spring concert, learning about
different stage terms and watching Broadway performances. Their performance
of the Stinky Cheese Man promises to be exciting!
Students completed their combined music and gym jump rope project this
quarter. Students learned the history behind this simple game, and then worked
collaboratively to create original jump rope rhymes. Students then took their
compositions to the gym to create an iMovie of what they learned!
First grade has been working on learning to read notes on the staves of both
treble and bass clef. Students “brainstormed” different pneumonic phrases to
remember the letters associated with the line and space notes of each clef.
Our listening activities included; learning about Duke Ellington and swing music,
and the Baroque composer, Antonio Vivaldi. Students also “brainstormed”
adjectives to describe the seasons and created images to match drawing
inspiration from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”.
Next quarter, we will continue focusing on our note reading and also learn a little
more about jazz music, as April is National Jazz Appreciation Month.
Second Grade:
Our focus for third quarter in second grade music has been on developing our
vocal skills, rhythmic training, basic note reading, listening activities and
discovering sounds of the orchestra.
Students have already begun preparations for the spring concert, learning about
different stage terms and watching Broadway performances. Their performance
of the Stinky Cheese Man promises to be exciting!
Our listening activities included learning about Duke Ellington and swing music,
as well as the Baroque composer, Antonio Vivaldi. Inspired by the music and
poetry of Vivaldi, students worked to create poems of their own about the
seasons.
Students have just started their unit on world music! Next quarter, students will
begin to learn about Javanese gamelan music. This is a collaborative project for
both the art and music classes, as students will work with Mrs. Seltzer to create
Indonesian shadow puppets and myself to compose gamelan music using the
Orff percussion. Upon completion, we will put on a shadow puppet presentation
for the school. Look for more details coming soon!
We will also continue focusing on the upcoming spring concert and will learn a
little more about jazz music, as April is National Jazz Appreciation Month.
Third Grade:
Our focus for third quarter in third grade music has been on developing our vocal
skills, rhythmic training, recorder instruction, listening activities and discovering
sounds of the orchestra.
Students have already begun preparations for the spring concert, learning about
different stage terms and watching Broadway performances. Their performance
of the Stinky Cheese Man promises to be exciting!
Our listening activities included learning about Duke Ellington and swing music,
as well as the Baroque composer, Antonio Vivaldi. Students read non-fiction
biography passages about composers, including Vivaldi, in preparation for their
composer research projects.
Each student researched a composer of their choice, completed a job application
as if they were that composer and then presented a free project to the class
demonstrate what they learned. From iMovies to live ballet performances, Power
Points, scrapbooks, Prezis, live musical performances, each of our students did
an excellent job!
Many of our students also participated in CBA’s annual theater trip, this time to
see Annie at the Academy of Music! It was a great experience for our students
to see a live musical theater production with their friends. Next year’s trip is
already in the works…and it is good one…stay tuned!
Next month, we will also continue focusing on the upcoming spring concert and
will learn a little more about jazz music, as April is National Jazz Appreciation
Month.
Fourth Grade:
Our focus for third quarter in fourth grade music has been on developing our
vocal skills, rhythmic training, technology integration, listening activities and
discovering sounds of the orchestra.
Students have already begun preparations for the spring concert, learning about
different stage terms and watching Broadway performances. Their performance
of the Stinky Cheese Man promises to be exciting!
Our listening activities included learning about Duke Ellington and swing music,
as well as the Baroque composer, Antonio Vivaldi.
Fourth grade students combined with the fifth grade to collaboratively work on a
project about how the art of storytelling exists beyond the literary form, but also
as a means of musical expression. Students learned about the film composer
John Williams and were shocked to learn that he had written the music for some
of their favorite movies! Inspired by the idea of using music to communicate
stories, students created a project in which students created their own
characters, character traits and plot of an original story. Encompassing music,
technology and Language Arts, students wrote their short stories, complete with
illustrations, and imported them in to computer software to create and exhibit a
comic book story complete with music.
Many of our students also participated in CBA’s annual theater trip, this time to
see Annie at the Academy of Music! It was a great experience for our students
to see a live musical theater production with their friends. Next year’s trip is
already in the works…and it is good one…stay tuned!
Next month, we will also continue focusing on the upcoming spring concert and
will learn a little more about jazz music, as April is National Jazz Appreciation
Month.
Fifth Grade:
Our focus for third quarter in fifth grade music has been on developing our vocal
skills, rhythmic training, technology integration, listening activities and
discovering sounds of the orchestra.
Students have already begun preparations for the spring concert, learning about
different stage terms and watching Broadway performances. Their performance
of the Stinky Cheese Man promises to be exciting!
Our listening activities included learning about Duke Ellington and swing music,
as well as the Baroque composer, Antonio Vivaldi. Students read non-fiction
biography passages about composers and inventors in preparation for their
upcoming music-science project, building their own gramophone!
Fifth grade students combined with the fourth grade to collaboratively work on a
project about how the art of storytelling exists beyond the literary form, but also
as a means of musical expression. Students learned about the film composer
John Williams and were shocked to learn that he had written the music for some
of their favorite movies! Inspired by the idea of using music to communicate
stories, students created a project in which students created their own
characters, character traits and plot of an original story. Encompassing music,
technology and Language Arts, students wrote their short stories, complete with
illustrations, and imported them in to computer software to create and exhibit a
comic book story complete with music.
Many of our students also participated in CBA’s annual theater trip, this time to
see Annie at the Academy of Music! It was a great experience for our students
to see a live musical theater production with their friends. Next year’s trip is
already in the works…and it is good one…stay tuned!
Next month, we will also continue focusing on the upcoming spring concert and
will learn a little more about jazz music, as April is National Jazz Appreciation
Month.