October is one of my favorite months- there are so many spooky songs and stories to share, and imaginations just seem to be in full gear! All grade levels continued to do some review from last year and began preparation for new concepts. (Remember, they only have music once a week, so I've only seen them 8 times so far!) Our composer of this month is german composer Richard Wagner (pronounced RI-hahrd VAHG-ner). First and third grade listened to excerpts from Wagner's opera, Siegfried, which is part of the famous "Ring Cycle." Second grade did a scarf-movement routine to the infamous "Ride of the Valkyries" from Die Walkure. Fourth grade listened to the Overture from The Flying Dutchman. Did you know that Wagner also wrote what we call "The Bridal Chorus"- or better know as "Here Comes The Bride?"
Below, as usual, are some highlights from each grade:
First grade- Ms. Hunter's "Halloween Friends"- "Gretchen the Ghost", "Wanda the Witch", and "Simon the Skeleton" helped first grades explore different parts of their singing voices, as we continue to find our singing voices and recognize high and low sounds. First grade also started playing instruments- rhythm sticks, hand drums, triangle, finger cymbals, and so forth; culminating in a sound story. We added instruments to create sound effects for The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams. Other songs included "Apple Tree," "The Witch Rides," "Pass the Pumpkin," "Chop Chop Chippity Chop," and a movement activity for Prokofiev's "Dance of the Knights."
Second Grade- We added a new hello song- "Jambo," in which we sing "Hello, my friends," in Swahili, English, French, and Spanish, with students playing the bass xylophone as accompaniment. Focusing on rhythm, (It's part of my state-mandated SGO) we did some practice performing quarter and eighth notes (ta and ta-ti) in Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King," and in the chant "A Round Little Pumpkin." Students determined the notation for "A Round Little Pumpkin," on a worksheet that will go home by the end of this week. Another focus for October was storytelling in music. We are preparing to turn the story of Abiyoyo into a musical story, similar to the first grade activity, but the musical ideas come from the students instead of the teacher. We analyzed the story, identifying characters, actions, events and objects that were important and could use a sound or a song. Then, students decided what instruments would be most appropriate for those characters, actions, etc. (Due to early dismissal days, assemblies, special events, and teacher's convention, some classes might not get to perform their story for another week or so.)
Third Grade- We are practicing playing and singing more than one part at the same time. The movement canon game has been a big hit- many students have been great leaders for the game. After clapping and singing "Falling Leaves" in 2 and 3 parts, we added bass bars, alto metallophones, glockenspiels, hand drums, and chimes to the song. Everyone got a turn to play every instrument, and students were encouraged to create movement that represented the leaves falling with scarves while waiting their turn to play. We also did an improvisation activity with different types of leaves. Another round (or canon) song we worked with was "The Ghost of John." Students determined the rhythm for one measure each using coffee-stirrer straws to "build" the rhythm, in addition to creating movement that represented all the different types of notes in the song- half note, quarter note, and eighth note. Third grade's sound story was the folktale "Who Took My Hairy Toe?" Just like in second grade, students came up with ideas to illustrate the story in a musical way.
Fourth Grade- Form was something we focused on in fourth grade, with the Orff piece "Bumps in the Night." It is a piece that requires good mallet technique, and all classes really rose to the challenge! We added a "B" section for improvisation, and then added movement to both the "A" and "B" sections, including some improvised movement. It was really cool to hear everyone improvising so well and coming up with some very creative movement. Another song we worked on was "The Month of October." In this song we focus on the octave leap and singing through the phrase instead of singing note to note (carry-over from chorus). As we did quite a bit of playing this month, we also spent a good deal of time reviewing names of the Orff instruments and how to tell them apart, and why it is so important to play with good technique (light-bouncing touch, alternating hands, uniform rest position). I'm sure you'll see how our hard work paid off when you see them playing in the spring program! (In case you are wondering what this whole "Orff" thing is, this video is a good introduction to the philosophy and implementation of the approach, although it is from another school, and we don't do recorder.............yet...)
Below, as usual, are some highlights from each grade:
First grade- Ms. Hunter's "Halloween Friends"- "Gretchen the Ghost", "Wanda the Witch", and "Simon the Skeleton" helped first grades explore different parts of their singing voices, as we continue to find our singing voices and recognize high and low sounds. First grade also started playing instruments- rhythm sticks, hand drums, triangle, finger cymbals, and so forth; culminating in a sound story. We added instruments to create sound effects for The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams. Other songs included "Apple Tree," "The Witch Rides," "Pass the Pumpkin," "Chop Chop Chippity Chop," and a movement activity for Prokofiev's "Dance of the Knights."
Second Grade- We added a new hello song- "Jambo," in which we sing "Hello, my friends," in Swahili, English, French, and Spanish, with students playing the bass xylophone as accompaniment. Focusing on rhythm, (It's part of my state-mandated SGO) we did some practice performing quarter and eighth notes (ta and ta-ti) in Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King," and in the chant "A Round Little Pumpkin." Students determined the notation for "A Round Little Pumpkin," on a worksheet that will go home by the end of this week. Another focus for October was storytelling in music. We are preparing to turn the story of Abiyoyo into a musical story, similar to the first grade activity, but the musical ideas come from the students instead of the teacher. We analyzed the story, identifying characters, actions, events and objects that were important and could use a sound or a song. Then, students decided what instruments would be most appropriate for those characters, actions, etc. (Due to early dismissal days, assemblies, special events, and teacher's convention, some classes might not get to perform their story for another week or so.)
Third Grade- We are practicing playing and singing more than one part at the same time. The movement canon game has been a big hit- many students have been great leaders for the game. After clapping and singing "Falling Leaves" in 2 and 3 parts, we added bass bars, alto metallophones, glockenspiels, hand drums, and chimes to the song. Everyone got a turn to play every instrument, and students were encouraged to create movement that represented the leaves falling with scarves while waiting their turn to play. We also did an improvisation activity with different types of leaves. Another round (or canon) song we worked with was "The Ghost of John." Students determined the rhythm for one measure each using coffee-stirrer straws to "build" the rhythm, in addition to creating movement that represented all the different types of notes in the song- half note, quarter note, and eighth note. Third grade's sound story was the folktale "Who Took My Hairy Toe?" Just like in second grade, students came up with ideas to illustrate the story in a musical way.
Fourth Grade- Form was something we focused on in fourth grade, with the Orff piece "Bumps in the Night." It is a piece that requires good mallet technique, and all classes really rose to the challenge! We added a "B" section for improvisation, and then added movement to both the "A" and "B" sections, including some improvised movement. It was really cool to hear everyone improvising so well and coming up with some very creative movement. Another song we worked on was "The Month of October." In this song we focus on the octave leap and singing through the phrase instead of singing note to note (carry-over from chorus). As we did quite a bit of playing this month, we also spent a good deal of time reviewing names of the Orff instruments and how to tell them apart, and why it is so important to play with good technique (light-bouncing touch, alternating hands, uniform rest position). I'm sure you'll see how our hard work paid off when you see them playing in the spring program! (In case you are wondering what this whole "Orff" thing is, this video is a good introduction to the philosophy and implementation of the approach, although it is from another school, and we don't do recorder.............yet...)