Our Weekly Info: | This week, we will begin a special feature Composer of th e Month Salute to Black History Month! Instead of assigning a single person as our Composer of the Month, I'm challenging all of the children to go out and learn about an African American in the world of music.....composers, performers, producers, DJs, ANYONE who sparks your interest! Bring in a fact or two and help the whole school learn about the rich diversity that African American musicians have brought to the world of music! We'll be listening to music from all different African American traditions including folk songs, spirituals, music from Africa, jazz, the blues, hip hop and rap as well as music performed produced, or composed by African Americans and and learning facts about their lives all month! You can see the facts that the students learned about African American contributions to music on display on the home page of this website :) You can see their work on the bulletin board outside the music room, or HERE on our February Salutes Black History Month Page! Congratulations to Noah (K) and Grace (3) on being the FIRST students in the Amagansett school to celebrate Black History Month and the important contributions of African Americans to the world of music! Who will join our Music Detective Wall of Fame for January 2024?? I can't wait to see who will join the ranks of Music Detective and what knowledge they will bring us about this amazing thematic connection???? Check your child's go home folder for this month's composer fact sheet as well as the directions for how to become a "music detective" and have their work featured on the bulletin board outside the music classroom and on the Music Website! Or...click the button below for more information about how we will be celebrating Black History Month in the Music Room! |
In Other News....
Lunar New Year
What it is:
Also known as the Spring Festival in modern China and one of the Lunar New Years in Asia, is an important Chinese festival celebrated at the turn of the traditional lunisolar calendar.
Celebration Ideas and Resources:
* The Chinese New Year Tradition
* Chinese New Year for Families
* Chinese New Year Songs and Games
* Traditional Chinese Music Information for Children
* Chinese Music to listen to
* Lion Masks!
General Music:
**Pre-K 3 and 4 are continuing our journey through the music world by singing, dancing, and playing instruments in every class! I can't wait to share all of the fun with all of you! In Pre-K 4, we've even begun our work with Prodigies melody bells! Right now, we're learning all about the note of C and it's corresponding solfege sound, do! We're also branching out to include the other letters of the music alphabet: D, E, F, G, A, and B! We'll be working our way through the entire music alphabet singing, signing, playing the melody bells and boomwhackers, and even reading colored treble clef notation on the Smart Board! Mr. Rob and the prodigies program are also teaching up about rhythm as we incorporate his, "Sweet Beets" songs and activities into our classes as well! Pre-K 3 will begin using this curriculum later in the school year... right now, we're focusing on connecting with our friends and our music in a more "screen free" way. You can learn a bit more about Mr. Rob and his program HERE. It's going to be a wonderful year to explore!!! Even though we haven't had any yet, we're also singing songs and learning games all about snow....maybe our songs will bring some our way :)
**Kindergarten continues exploring the world of music, learning our hello routines and songs, experimenting with the different classroom instruments. Right now, we're learning all about the note of C and it's corresponding solfege sound, do! We're also branching out to include the other letters of the music alphabet: D, E, F, G, A, and B! We'll be working our way through the entire music alphabet singing, signing, playing the melody bells and boomwhackers, and even reading colored treble clef notation on the Smart Board! Mr. Rob and the prodigies program are also teaching up about rhythm as we incorporate his, "Sweet Beets" songs and activities into our classes as well!...making music a VERY Exciting place to be! Even though we haven't had any yet, we're also singing songs and learning games all about snow....maybe our songs will bring some our way :) We've also begun coordinating a special presentation for Lunar New Year with our world languages teacher, Mrs. Tracy! We can't wait to share all of our new-found knowledge about Lunar New Year and the cultures that celebrate it with you at our next "Wake Up Amagansett" Presentation on Thursday, February 15th!!
**First Graders continue exploring the very many ways that music can be! We're expanding our knowledge this week ...and playing some super fun games as we learn about two very important parts of many songs...the VERSE and the REFRAIN. We'll be meeting a special friend named Polka Dot the Penguin who's songs and games will help us master these new terms! We colored a picture of Polka Dot to help Mrs. Kamp know if we understand the difference between the Verse and the Refrain! Now we're working on some other snowy songs and finding the verse and refrain inside of them, too! We will also continue our work with the Prodigies program and out melody bells and boomwhackers which we began last year. We've also begun coordinating a special presentation for Lunar New Year with our world languages teacher, Mrs. Tracy! We can't wait to share all of our new-found knowledge about Lunar New Year and the cultures that celebrate it with you at our next "Wake Up Amagansett" Presentation on Thursday, February 15th!!
**Second Graders are continuing to dive into the fourth level of Recorder Karate We've earned our White, Yellow, Orange Belts, and Green belts and, this week, we will begin to work with "Acka Backa" to work towards earning our PURPLE belts!! I can't believe how far the students have come since September!!! This week, we'll be having a quick review of our NEW NOTE: E...AND about using TWO HANDS on the recorder! WOW! January's going to be. a busy month!! So...make sure you're practicing and ready :) Parents, you can find more information about the recorder program HERE along with some helpful links for at home practice :) We're combining our love for recorder and our interest in African American musical traditions to learn a bit about the Blues and even writing our VERY OWN SONG....The Second Grade Recorder Blues (2024 edition)! We've also begun coordinating a special presentation for Lunar New Year with our world languages teacher, Mrs. Tracy! We can't wait to share all of our new-found knowledge about Lunar New Year and the cultures that celebrate it with you at our next "Wake Up Amagansett" Presentation on Thursday, February 15th!!
**Third Graders are right back to singing, dancing, and playing their way through their first few music classes! Watch as we continue "putting it all together" as we incorporate everything we've learned over the past few years into larger ensemble playing through Pre-School Prodigies!! We've been assigned our first moth's instrument for instrument rotation and were able to play through sooo many songs! Students are excited to take monthly turns on: Percussion, Recorder, Orff Xylophones, and Desk Bells! Mr. Rob and our Prodigies friends have even introduced us to some special Holiday Songs that we can now play on the desk bells and boomwhackers!! We're beginning to masker reading the treble staff and sooo much more!!! We've taken our Orffestra to the Blues and are workign on some blues progressions, themes, and improvised solos as we combine our study of music with the school wide salute to Black History Month! We've also begun coordinating a special presentation for Lunar New Year with our world languages teacher, Mrs. Tracy! We can't wait to share all of our new-found knowledge about Lunar New Year and the cultures that celebrate it with you at our next "Wake Up Amagansett" Presentation on Thursday, February 15th!!
Performance Music
Band Classes:
FOURTH GRADERS NEED THEIR BAND INSTRUMENTS FOR BAND CLASS AND INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS EACH THURSDAY.
FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADERS NEED THEIR BAND INSTRUMENTS FOR BAND CLASS AND INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS EACH TUESDAY.
PRACTICE TRACKERS:
If you're interested in learning more about our school's Instrumental Music Program, follow these links to the band's individual websites:
Chorus Classes:
We're working on a very special song to share with everyone at this week's WAKE UP AMAGANSETT PRESENTATION ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15th!!!!
I also thought it might be fun to explore the singing and it's importance to people around the world as part of this year's Choral Program in grades 3 - 6. Each week, the children will be watching a SHORT youtube video of a different singer or singing group from somewhere in the world or somewhere in time. We'll be watching, listening, and then pairing and sharing with a partner to discuss our thoughts about the performance. Older students will also be keeping a "listening journal" to express a few short sentences about their throughs on the performance.
Interested in seeing where this exploration will lead us?? Check out the "action" as HERE as I'll be adding the video of the week each week :)
We can't wait!! If you want to learn more about what we're up to in Chorus class or you want to help your child practice the chorus music at home, you can do so by following the link below:
String Classes:
Parents and parent involvement is an essential part of a students success in music, particularly in the Suzuki style of teaching. Although we can't have parents attend each and every one of our class meetings, it will be very important for your child's success that they begin practicing at home and that they see you excited and enthusiastic about all of their violin playing.
Be sure to check your child's string class page often. I will be posting videos, handouts, songs, and other helpful materials there for each of our classes to help build this bridge from violin at school to violin at home!
As we begin our journey through learning to play the violin, I thought it might be fun to explore the violin (and other string instruments) "in action." Each week, the children will be watching a SHORT youtube video of a different string performer from somewhere in the world or somewhere in time. We'll be watching, listening, and then pairing and sharing with a partner to discuss our thoughts about the performance. Older students will also be keeping a "listening journal" to express a few short sentences about their throughs on the performance.
Interested in seeing where this exploration will lead us?? Check out the "action" as HERE as I'll be adding the video of the week each week :)
** Pre-K 4 Violin is continuing learning how to hold our bows, balance our violins, and control our bodies so nothing falls down! We're also making "box violins" so we can use them int he classroom and have them at home to practice with. Be sure to ask your child about some of the song activities we've learned including: Up Like a Rocket, The Grand Old Duke o f York, and The Wheels on the Bus. We're also learning all of the parts of our violin......you can quiz us at home if you check the class violin page HERE.
** Kindergarten Violin is right back to learning how to hold our bows, balance our violins, and control our bodies so nothing falls down! Be sure to ask your child about some of the song activities we've learned including: Up Like a Rocket, The Grand Old Duke o f York, and The Wheels on the Bus. We're also learning all of the parts of our violin......you can quiz us at home if you check the class violin page HERE. We're also beginning to use the Colorstrings method in conjunction with our Suzuki method studies this week. Be sure to ask your child what the new "violin colors" are and what they mean...they are excited to share their new knowledge with you! We're becoming masters of "The Monkey Song," "The Ant Song," and "G-D-G STOMP!"
** First Grade Violin is moving QUICKLY through their violin repertoire! Be sure to ask your child about some of the song activities we've learned including: Up Like a Rocket, The Grand Old Duke o f York, and The Wheels on the Bus. We're also learning all of the parts of our violin......you can quiz us at home if you check the class violin page HERE. We've mastered "The Monkey Song," "The Ant Song," and "G-D-G STOMP!" And now we're working HARD at adding our fingers to the E string to create new pitches and learn, "The Elephant Song" and "The Kangaroo Song." We've added stickers to our fingerboards to help us know which note we're playing AND where our fingers should go! We've also started working with reading the notes of the staff as we journey into our "String Street" method books! Hard work can be soooo much fun and is soooooooo rewarding as we can really begin to see our progress!
** Second Grade Violin will will need to BRING THEIR VIOLIN TO SCHOOL WITH THEM EVERY TUESDAY THIS YEAR. The students are excited and are moving forward and expand our musical learning and violin playin! We're adding our fingers to the strings to expand our repertoire of notes, starting combining note reading on the treble staff with playing the violin, continuing to work through the String Street method book, and also starting our journey through the fun of Violin Karate, and so much more! You can learn more about what we're doing in violin class if you check the class violin page HERE.
** Third Grade Violin will will need to BRING THEIR VIOLIN TO SCHOOL WITH THEM EVERY MONDAY THIS YEAR. We're right back to moving forward and expanding our musical learning and violin playin! We're adding our fingers to the strings to expand our repertoire of notes, starting combining note reading on the treble staff with playing the violin, continuing to work through the String Street method book, and also starting our journey through the fun of Violin Karate, and so much more! You can learn more about what we're doing in violin class if you check the class violin page HERE.
** Fourth Grade Violin will will need to BRING THEIR VIOLIN TO SCHOOL WITH THEM EVERY MONDAY THIS YEAR. We're right back to moving forward and expanding our musical learning and violin playin!We're adding our fingers to the strings to expand our repertoire of notes, starting combining note reading on the treble staff with playing the violin, continuing to work through the String Street method book, and also starting our journey through the fun of Violin Karate, and so much more! You can learn more about what we're doing in violin class if you check the class violin page HERE.
** Fifth Grade Violin will will need to BRING THEIR VIOLIN TO SCHOOL WITH THEM EVERY THURSDAY THIS YEAR. Now that we've reviewed all of the skills we learned in the past two years of violin class, we're ready to move forward and expand our musical learning and violin playin! We're branching out of the method book and beginning to work with some REAL string orchestra repertoire! You can learn more about what we're doing in violin class if you check the class violin page HERE.
** Sixth Grade Violin will will need to BRING THEIR VIOLIN TO SCHOOL WITH THEM EVERY WEDNESDAY THIS YEAR. Now that we've reviewed all of the skills we learned in the past two years of violin class, we're ready to move forward and expand our musical learning and violin playin! We're branching out of the method book and beginning to work with some REAL string orchestra repertoire! You can learn more about what we're doing in violin class if you check the class violin page HERE.
Mrs. Kamp :)