MUSIC NOTES Happy Fall to you all!
This year our students have been learning various musical elements while singing seasonal and interdisciplinary songs. Each month we learn about the patriotic song and sing at morning program. We have sung “ America ” and are now singing “ This Land is
Your Land, This Land is My Land
”. Below are specific lessons we have studied in
September and October.
In November we are all studying Veteran’s Day (patriotic songs) and Thanksgiving.
Kindergartners have been learning to march to songs at different tempos: presto, allegro, andante, and largo. Ask your child to sing letter or color songs and march to different tempos.
The first graders learned about steady beat through the song “ Windshield Wipers ”.
We listened to jazzy “ Watermelon man ” and “ Seven Apples of the Moon ” which we all thought quite strange as it has no beat at all!
Another area we studied is sound: how our voices can be used in different ways, how music can be made from junk, and how both our voices and musical instruments sound high or low in pitch. We enjoyed going up and down with our voices as our bodies were “Going up in an elevator. Going down in an elevator” We spend a lot of time listening and echoing rhythms and short melodic phrases.
The Second graders echo rhythms and tonalities. We, also, sing along curved lines moving our voices up and down and around. In September we rapped to “ A Kid
Like Me ”, a song about Martin Luther King Jr. during their literacy unit about causes. We discovered that rap is speaking in rhythm. We have listened for various elements of music and analyzed a song about a tall tale hero. When we studied Halloween songs we discussed dynamics and how we use our voices for effect. We really enjoyed watching Saint Saens’
Dance Macabre played by a youth orchestra and then watching an animated interpretation of the famous piece.
The Third graders have been busy studying dynamics and form and honing our listening skills as we take turns recognizing rhythms that are performed by classmates.
We learned a dance to Old Dan Tucker and Johnny Appleseed . We are sharpening our listening skills as we try to pick out specific musical elements in a piece. The past week we compared two songs and defended our opinions by giving evidence.
Musically Yours,
Mrs. B. Crampton