And We're Back in 5....4....3...

Just two weeks to go everyone!  Are you ready for a brand new school year?  I AM!

As always, I've already been to school in early August making preparations for the new school year.  Selecting music, setting up the classroom, hanging posters, and getting the calendar ready for a musical year are all tasks I like to take on way before school begins.  I'm excited to see the children again-who have grown up a bit over the summer- and challenge them with new musical concepts.  And of course, I can't wait to meet our newest students, the Kindergarteners. The remind me of how it all begins... fresh, wide-eyed, and ready to take on the world.

I'll be seeing you on August 22nd,
Mrs. Whitney

I Could Have Danced... All Day!

Ah.....Dancing!  The perfect combination of Music and PE, linked together for the children to learn.  Rhythm, steady beat, tempo, on/off beat, pattern, form; the list goes on.  Dance encompasses so many of the skills we teach in the music room that it would be a shame not to include this in our yearly lessons.

For the next two weeks, I take my students and combine with the PE classes so that we have anywhere from 50 to nearly 100 students in the gym dancing and learning together.  Mrs. Treptow and I have planned for the next two weeks to be a wonderful experience for the kids.  This will be happening from November 29th through December 10th.

We have all the children, kindergartners through 5th graders, meeting in the gym for Music and PE to experience many types of dance.  We teach social dance, circle dances, square dances, folk dances, country and line dances as well.  They are great exercise for the children.  Once they get moving, they keep moving until the music finishes!  And as teachers, we keep them moving right into the next song.

Chorus and Orff Ensemble are gearing up for the concert on  December 9th.  They are very excited to present their musical selections to the audience.  Look for another email to come home early the week of the concert with reminders for the concert. 

November Notes

The music room is alive with singers!  The past few months have been a big study of rhythm for our young learners.  Now in November we are focused on the singing aspect of our music making. 
The kindergarten and first graders are finding their solo voices.  They have had opportunities to sing by themselves. I ask them to take turns singing a short song alone so that the children get to hear the sound of their own singing voice.  Sometimes it is a surprise what they hear!  They all receive a little reward paper for singing a solo that is theirs to take home and show their family.
Second Grade:  It's concert time!  Their big show is Thursday, November 18th at 6:30 pm.  Families should have received an email about the details for this fun event.  We will see you there!
Third grade and fourth grade have been incorporating singing with challenging movement activities.  You can ask your child about John Kanakanaka and Makowe Koteoh!
Our fifth grade students have been creating movement and dance to different musical forms like Theme and Variation and Rondo as well.  However they are finding that listening to a piece of music and following the form is trickier than the thought...they will get better through discussion and using our form following tools this next week.
The Fry Chorus and the Orff Ensemble are getting geared up for December 9th.  They have their first concert of the year that night.  Their official information letter will come home in email through your child's classroom teacher.  Please look for this at the end of this week.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving,
Mrs. Whitney

October...Rhythm, Rhythm, Rhythm!

The past two weeks have been rhythm-reading focused.  Most grades are experiencing multiple ways of reading, playing and dancing to their new rhythms.  Kindergarten and first grade are reading short and long notes like ta and ti-ti. The third and fourth grade have added half notes, sixteenth notes, all kinds of rests, and are into composing rhythms.  The second graders even made an ABA performance of a rhythm and march to share with their classmates.  And what's up next for the second grade?  They are going to be learning music for their 2nd Grade Music Program...Novemeber 18th will be here before we know it!  Their program will be at 6:30 pm, and they will be showcasing the things they have learned since their last program in Kindergarten.
Scarves, feathers, rainbow ribbons and giant fabric pieces have been flying around my room!  The 5th graders have been launched into their new project.  They have been learning about the form called Rondo, and are now making a dance that shows the form.  They will be performing in the next week and a half.  I can't wait to see what their creative minds have come up with now!  They always manage to surprise me.
The Chorus, The Chorus...How I Love Thee!  A very talented bunch of kiddos have signed up to be a part of the chorus, and I am sure they will be wowing their audience in December.  How's singing in 4 parts? Is that a challenge?  Not for these kids!  They were singing in 4-part canon in their third rehearsal.  Mixed.  For those of you who don't realize...that's a pretty neat trick!   We will have to show that off at our first concert!
The Orff Ensemble loved creating their rhythm composition on the SMART board in the music room.  In small groups, they created a measure of music to be played as part of a larger performance at the December concert.  It should be quite an accomplishment!  They have also begun orchestrating their songs "Little Bit" and "Viva la Musica."  It does my soul good to see how ready they are to add their creative ideas to our compositions!
So here's to October!  A great time for digging into the tricky music, and accomplishing lots of great learning! Thanks for stopping in!