September 24th, 2018 Grades 3 & 4

Today in grade 3/4 music we learned a new greeting song called, "Good Morning."  The song was simple and easy to learn for the students.  We then practiced singing and signing it using solfege (hand signs for do, re, mi etc..) . We then transferred the sol. mi, do into body percussion to practice what we would eventually do on the xylophones.  After practicing this 3-4 times, we moved to the xylophones, reviewed which note names were sol, mi and do, and then played and sang the song. 
Ask your child about what they learned about proper mallet technique when playing the barred instruments.

September 21, 2018

This week in music with grade 1/2 we have been singing and dancing to a song called, "Boogie Up!" This song is teaching them about form as the children sing the A section and do a hand jive for the B section. We've talked about how sections of music are labelled just like different terms in a pattern. We've have also been reciting several nursery rhymes and moving to the beat. This week we have focused on Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater. The children have been splitting into two parts with one group saying the poem, and the other group saying, Pumpkin Eater in half notes. This has helped them learn about beat and focusing on their part while another part is happening at the same time.

The grade 3/4s have been reviewing note values through singing, reading and playing rhythms of familiar songs.  For a warm-up the children have been singing a "Hello" song in French and Spanish.  This week we have learned the song, "Frère Jaques," to explore the concepts of singing in canon, and playing an ostinato using un-pitched percussion instruments.  

Ask your child to explain what an ostinato is.

In grade 5/6 we have been working on developing soundscapes to accompany a poem.  The students have written the rhythm to the words and are currently adding instruments to enhance the recitation of their poem. Next week they will be performing their soundscapes for their classmates.

September 14th, 2018