January Learning Objectives

Here are our learning objectives for this month!

Kindergarten:  I can sing high and low music.
1st Grade:  I can sing, hear, write and read so-mi melodies.
2nd Grade: I can hear and sing rhythms that last longer than one beat.
3rd Grade:  I can identify do, re, mi, so and la on the music staff.  I can hear and sing rhythms that                           last for longer than two beats.
4th Grade:  I can perform recorder songs that use Low E.
5th Grade:  I can perform recorder songs that use Low E and C.

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!

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!

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!

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 :)

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!

Brennan AM

Brennan PM

Harte-Naus AM

Harte-Naus PM

Mason AM

Mason PM

Vail AM

Vail PM

Thanksgiving Dinner Fun

It's the week of Thanksgiving and we are all dreaming of the plate we will construct for Thursday's dinner.  Whatever your favorite, everyone's plate looks just a touch different even when the same dishes are on the table.  Level 3 students used Thanksgiving Dinner Rhythm Cards (click here for the TPT link) to create a rhythmic Thanksgiving dinner to perform for the class.

Some groups went back for seconds (it's hard not to on Thanksgiving!).

Students performed their Thanksgiving dinner rhythms for the class on the drums.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Level 3 "Thrills"

Level 3 student have been studying the form of Michael Jackson's 1982 hit song, "Thriller".  Instead of working with pictures on a page, we studied the form using movement.  I found the choreography on music educator Tracy King's blog mrskingrocks.blogspot.com.  The students and I had a great time learning the moves, performing as a large group (almost 100 kids at a time!) and learning the form to this popular song!  Check it out in the links below.

** Disclaimer:  These videos may not be viewable in some countries due to copyright laws.  I downloaded the song from iTunes and am not using it for any profit; just for educational purposes. **

PM Literacy Classes
AM Literacy Classes

Things are getting Spooky!

October is a spooky month, so why not celebrate with some spooky songs in music!  First grade is currently working with a song called "Mrs. White had a Fright" to learn about music syllables (rhythm).  We are working with this adorable set of ghost pictures made by Emily at The Sweetest Melody (click here to link to the TPT store).

Level 3 is working on reviewing sixteenth notes and sixteenth/eighth note combinations with Aileen Miracle's Ghost Rhythms (click here to link to the TPT store).

On the less spooky side, Second grade is singing a song about Columbus and adding in the notes they know on the xylophones (so, la and mi) while singing the song.

I'm hoping to post some pictures and video of the fun soon.

Welcome Back to Music!

Welcome back to Music at Lincoln! I hope you all had a musical summer.  My family and I sure did!  We went to WDW for the first time with our kids (ages 9 and 6) and they are still singing the songs from the "Festival of Fantasy" parade and from "The Carousel Of Progress" (believe it or not, that was one of their favorite things there).  It was a great time with my family and I satisfied my Olaf cravings with a few new souvenirs for my classroom and closet!

Now that we are back to school, I can tell you that the blog is easily accessible this year!  Simply go to the Lincoln School webpage, click on Staff Directory, scroll down to find my name, and click the word "WEB" to be instantly linked to the blog!  It's that simple.  Once you've done that, bookmark the blog to your browser's toolbar and you can check it anytime!

Our concert and open house schedule should be coming my way soon.  As soon as I have that, you will have your program dates for 1st grade, 3rd grade, and Level 3 (Kindergarten and 2nd grade do not have music programs).  Please contact me anytime with questions or comments!

Happy Tuesday!