I can't believe how fast time flies around here! Spring break is a short 2 weeks away and personally, I'm glad spring is starting to show its beautiful face once in a while.
Kinder friends are beginning to explore high and low sounds with xylophones! We've had fun with a slide whistle for vocal exploration all year as part of our warm-up but now we're transferring that experience to xylophones. First we learned how to hold our mallets like bicycle handlebars and practiced different techniques with our fun "amusement park" lesson. Next, we've talked about the difference between "slide" and "climb" and are pairing it with "Up, Up, Down" by Robert Munsch. We've also enjoyed moving to classical pieces such as Dvorak's "Humoresque" with guided movement videos. This one was particularly fun because we got to wonder what the movements could be representing. A lot of students thought it was a butterfly because it climbed up our arms and flew gently. I love that music is open to interpretation and we can create our own connections to it!
First grade is working on so-mi melodies and reading it on a three line staff. We learned the game "SoLaMi" early in the year and have sang these pitches but are now transferring it to written notation. I can't wait to start composing so-mi melodies with them after spring break! We've also been hard at work on our upcoming Dino-Soaring performance. It's been a fun time of learning dino facts, songs, dancing, stage presence, and all things prehistoric! Students have even worked on peer critique watching each other on risers and sharing feedback. It's such a beneficial skill to be able to observe, critique, give feedback, and improve.
Second grade continues to work on their portion of Dino-Soaring, developing the same skills as first grade. I have to give a shoutout to Mrs. Moss and Ms. Mohler for their willing collaboration by adapting their animal research projects to be dinosaur themed and extending this theme into their classrooms. Your support is tremendous and I'm so lucky to have you both as colleagues. :) We've also been reviewing half note rhythms and used the game "Messenger, Messenger" to practice.
Third grade went back in time by about 1000 years to meet Guido d'Arezzo. 1000 years ago, words could be written but there wasn't a way to write down the sounds of music. If you forgot the melody, the song was gone forever! We read the story "Do, Re, Mi: If you can read music, thank Guido d'Arezzo" by Susan Roth. Turns out, Guido gave us more than a system for recording sounds; he gave us the beginning of solfege as well. (That's the do-re-mi-fa-so-la system) Sometime between Guido and today, people decided to come up with mnemonic devices to help remember the order of pitches on the treble clef staff. Students have spent time creating their own sentences, building a story around it, and illustrating it. I can't wait to display our EGBDF story books during conferences this week. Stop by the music bulletin board and take a look!
Fourth grade has been enjoying singing games in partner groups. One is a folk song from the caribbean called "Four White Horses". I love the adaptability of this one for its 3 variations on the clapping game depending on how intricate the groups want to make it. Next we learned "Draw a Bucket of Water" and used scarves. Everyone loved this one because you duck under the scarves closely together and hop around. So much fun!
