November 16, 2012
Sixth graders are still working on singing in rounds. They have done such a great job so far
learning how to sing in parts that I introduced a new twist, singing in French. We first learned the
song Let's Put the Rooster in the Stew in English. Then, once we had the melody down, we
learned how to sing it in French.
Our critical listening skills are getting better by the day, and we spent some time analyzing the
current popular song Good Time as well as a piece from the Baroque Era, Bach's Invention #8 for
piano.
As we delved deeper into the Baroque period, we were fortunate enough to have a guest visitor.
The famous Baroque composer, Johann Sebastian Bach, came to our classroom and talked to
the students about his life and music. We’ve now learned enough about this era of music that we
started making a graphic organizer as a study guide to highlight important information. Students
listed key composers, instruments and vocabulary, And since we now know that Baroque music
is elaborate, complicated, and highly decorative, students also drew columns to represent visually
what Baroque music sounds like.
We spent some time learning/reviewing the notes in the treble clef and playing some word games
where we deciphered words spelled with notes. Then, we used our knowledge to name the notes
in a short piece of music by Bach. Once notes were named, students got a chance to learn how
to play this piece on glockenspiels and xylophones. It was so great to see the smiles on their
faces when they were able to play a recognizable melody!