Tuesday, November 17, 2015

November Learning Objectives

November has been busy!  Check out our learning objectives for the start of Trimester 2!

Kindergarten:  I can hear high and low music.
1st Grade: I can hear and sing high and low tones.
2nd Grade:  I can compose and perform my own rhythms.
3rd Grade:  I can identify Do, Re, Mi, So, and La on the music staff.
4th, 5th, and Level 3:  I can rehearse my musical performance for the 12/15/15 music program.

Level 3 Music Program is coming!


Chicago Teams

On December 15, the Level 3 students will present

An Evening of Chicago Sports!

That's right- all of your favorite Chicago sports teams have fight songs or songs that are associated with each team.  The Level 3 students have been hard at work learning these songs to share with you on December 15th.

Our schedule for the night is as follows:

6:30 Performance: Students who have Mr. Bower, Mrs. Everett, Mrs. Harte-Naus, and Mrs. Vail

7:30 Performance: Students who have Mrs. Brennan, Mr. Klingberg, Mrs. Mason, and Mr. Pindar

Parents and students, please feel free to dress in your favorite sports team's colors and gear.  It doesn't have to be a Chicago sports team- any sports team will do!

If your student is looking to practice some of our songs, I have added some links to videos on YouTube for practice.

Let's Go, Go White Sox!
Bear Down!
Go, Cubs, Go!
Here Come the Hawks

See you on December 15!

Thursday, October 1, 2015

October Objectives

I have been an absent blogger and I have to apologize.  All of the sudden it's October 1st!  What happened to September?
Well, it's been busy in the Music Room!  We are actively learning, playing instruments, reading stories, moving, dancing, playing games...  Check out or objectives for October!

Kindergarten:  I can keep a steady beat (this is the same as September, but it's a skill that serves as the foundation for all music concepts).
1st Grade:  I can identify sounds that go up, down and stay the same.
2nd grade:  I can find the strong beat in recorded music.
3rd Grade:  I can identify instrument families by sound, sight, and name.
4th grade:  I can explain the role of a time signature.
5th Grade:  I can name rhythms using numbers.

If you're checking the blog this week, come in and tell me the secret password for a blog-checker prize!  This week's password is 'candy corn'!

Friday, September 4, 2015

Level 3 Drumming begins!

Over the past two weeks, Level 3 students have started drumming in the Music room.  We have learned to play open tones on the drums and have tried our best to avoid the 'poison patterns' (thank you Aileen Miracle!).  Soon everyone will have learned "Annie Ate Jam" (from Hands On!) and how to play bass tones and open tones on the drum.  Be sure to ask your child about it!

Students!  If you read this blog entry, come and tell me the secret password sometime this week (September 7-11).  I'll have a prize if you do!  This week's password is 'Italy'.  See you soon!

Friday, August 21, 2015

Welcome Back!

Welcome back everyone!  I hope you all had a relaxing summer filled with loads of fun.  I had a wonderful summer traveling and spending time with my family and friends.  On Monday, we are back to school and back to making music!

This year, I will be checking in with you to see if you have been reading the blog!  There will be little mini-incentives for checking out the blog and telling me about what you saw.  I will let you know exactly when it starts.  It's so exciting!

Here are our objectives for the first few weeks of school:

Kindergarten:  I can keep a steady beat.
1st Grade:  I can sing alone and with the group.
2nd Grade:  I can read and perform rhythms with ta and ta-tee.
3rd Grade:  I can sing So-Mi-Do melodies.
4th Grade:  I can play 3 note recorder songs.
5th Grade:  I can describe and analyze music.

I can't wait to see you!  Enjoy the last few moments of summer vacation :)

Friday, April 10, 2015

Jazz in Level 3

We have been studying form and order again in Level 3!  This time, we worked with one of my favorite jazz pieces called "Potato Chips" by Slim Galliard.  I used a sequence I learned from Marcie Kumor at an institute day several years ago with the students to create our motions to go with the form of the song.  Students had to remember what music went with what stick patterns.  Students also had to improvise a section of the music by using the names of different kinds of chips (i.e. crunchy cheesy, cool ranch, sour cream and onion, etc.).  You can hear several of the students (and sometimes me) speaking the different chip names during the videos.  You'll also see some stick tricks which were tricky but super fun to learn!