September 2019

 Our first month of music has been a flurry of activity!

Kindergarten has met a variety of animal friends that help us explore musical concepts.  Puff the Magic Dragon has made a special visit (we've decided, he's pretty full of himself, but fun to be around) and Mr. Frog continues his attempts to trick us. He devises all sorts of traps using ta ti-ti, clapping patterns, and vocal exploration.  He thought he had us stumped at aural dictation (he would clap a rhythm and we would write it down), but the Kindergarteners triumphed!
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1st Graders are learning how to notate and perform their own rhythmic compositions.  We spent two classes exploring sounds/tone colors of instruments and asking friends to play our composition with us.  We continue to work with mi-re-do as we find those little guys hiding everywhere in songs like, "Mary Had a Little Lamb", "Hot Cross Bus",  "Joy to the World", and the "ABC's"!

2nd Graders are learning lots of song games to integrate our mind and bodies. Our music-note reading skills are taking off as we grab our music packets and head to our piano lab to show what we know.  We are singing and playing piano at the same time and using both left and right hands!

3rd graders are learning about peer assessment and are helping one another along the Recorder Karate Journey towards becoming Black Belts! We are learning drum rhythms from all over the world, not only using djembe, but our bodies! Ask your 3rd grader for a demonstration:)

4th graders are learning how to play the ukulele and some ridiculously silly movement games (check out:  Dum Dum Da Da ) that keep our brains sharp and our hearts laughing.  We are honing our rhythmic and melodic reading skills as well as learning the ukelele.  Our first song is "Day-O", made famous by Civil Rights leader and musician,  Harry Belafonte. We'll look more into his life and influence later in the year.

5th graders learned a rousing rendition of "Baby Shark" on our Orff Instruments (yes, the one that never leaves your head.)  If you cringed when you heard "Baby Shark", watch this James Cordon spoof. It promises a good laugh.

We performed for the Kindergarten-2nd grade students during our 5th grade music time, complete with a puppet show.  They loved it!

5th grade has also been receiving lots of support around reading music notation and rhythm which will give them extra super powers as they start their first year of the BVSD Instrumental Music program in band or orchestra.

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