Our Weekly Info: | It's a new month...,and that means there's another chance to become "Music Detectives" and help us celebrate our Composer of the Month, Antonio Maria Valencia by finding facts about his life and bringing them in to share. You might notice that you've possibly never heard of Mr. Valencia...that's what I'm hoping for :) In an effort to diversify our "Maestro of the Month" studies, you'll be seeing lots of new names and faces intermixed with composers we have learned about in the past. I'm starting this year to create 7 different lists of "Maestro's of the Month" so that you'll be exploring the lives of new people every year...starting in Kindergarten!! I hope you're as excited as I am about this change to our programming!! We will begin to listen to Mr. Valencia's music and learn facts about his life each class starting today. You can see the facts that they learned about Mr. Valencia on display on the home page of this website :) 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! We'll also be celebrating Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving in our music classes this month! Students in many grades will be working on songs to share on the school website...so make sure you check often...you never know who or what you might see!! |
General Music:
**Pre-K 3 and 4 continued using our "Hello Routine" songs and many of us can already sing along! We're working on rhythmic and melodic passages and echoing them when Mrs. Kamp goes first. So far, we've explored "do," "mi," "sol," and "la" and are beginning to experiment with "re" and "fa" in our singing echoes and ta (quarter note), ti-ti (eighth note), shh (quarter rest), and alligator (sixteenth note) in our rhythms but we're adding more all the time! We're experimenting with different classroom instruments including: Rhythm Sticks, Shaker Eggs, Jingle Bells, Tambourines, and Drums and using them to echo short rhythmic patterns as well as to accompany ourselves while singing a variety of songs. We're also using our bodies to show different things we notice in songs...like the speed, volume level, or way the music is moving. We're incorporating learning skills like "listening" and "following directions" as we participate in action songs during class. We are continuing our work with Pre-School Prodigies and are working our way through the bell songs and "Sweet Beats" activities of chapters 1 and 2. We're also trying out some of the workbook pages and activities included in the curriculum! We're adding Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving themed songs to coordinate with themes from our General Education classroom and will be exploring rhythm, beat, and melody through them. And....get ready families.....the EVER FAMOUS "TURKEY WOBBLE" IS ON THE WAY!!!!!
**Kindergarten continues to use our "Hello Routine" songs and many of us can already sing along! We're working on rhythmic and melodic passages and echoing them when Mrs. Kamp goes first. So far, we've explored "do," "mi," "sol," and "la" and are beginning to experiment with "re" and "fa" in our singing echoes and ta (quarter note), ti-ti (eighth note), shh (quarter rest), and alligator (sixteenth note) in our rhythms but we're adding more all the time! We're experimenting with different classroom instruments including: Rhythm Sticks, Shaker Eggs, Jingle Bells, Tambourines, and Drums and using them to echo short rhythmic patterns as well as to accompany ourselves while singing a variety of songs. We're also using our bodies to show different things we notice in songs...like the speed, volume level, or way the music is moving. We are continuing our work with Pre-School Prodigies and are working our way through the bell songs and "Sweet Beats" activities of chapters 3 and 4 which focus extensively on songs using do, re, and mi. We're also trying out some of the workbook pages and activities included in the curriculum! We're adding Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving themed songs to coordinate with themes from our General Education classroom and will be exploring rhythm, beat, and melody through them!
**First Graders First Graders are diving into note reading and playing in two parts as we return to our studies with Pre-School Prodigies this week! We'll be exploring chapters 5 and 6 this month....working with all different pitches, melodies and rhythms, AND learning to play in tow parts...having some students work on the melody while others add a percussion line to the song!!! We're having fun with songs, games, instruments, dancing, and some pretty cool surprises as we build our music vocabularies and learn to speak the language of music. We're adding Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving themed songs to coordinate with themes from our General Education classroom and will be exploring rhythm, beat, and melody through them!
**Second Graders will be continuing their work on our Yellow Belt song, "Gently Sleep." Students will use the same three notes: B, A, and G...reorganized into different patterns and adding in some new rhythmic concepts to play a completely different song! Parents, you can find more information about the recorder program HERE along with some helpful links for at home practice :) We're adding Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving themed songs to coordinate with themes from our General Education classroom and will be exploring rhythm, beat, and melody through them!
**Third Graders are "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're beginning to masker reading the treble staff and sooo much more!!! This week, we'll be continuing to learn how music can move including step, leap or skip, and stay the same motion. We'll also be working with reading notes on the treble staff and beginning to try reading the staff without the color coding system we have used in the past. We received our first "music workbooks" and will be going through all of the activities there including note copying, note writing, note searches, and composing activities as we work to grow our music reading fluency. We're also reviewing how to play in multiple parts by dividing into groups: some students playing bells and the melody line, some students playing drums and adding the percussion line, and, for the first time EVER...some students playing chords and adding a harmony line to the piece! I can't wait!!!
Performance Music
Band Classes:
A new addition to our Band Program this year is the opportunity to adopt a "practice pet" to help you with your daily instrumental practice :) Adorable plush unicorns and dragons are up for adoption and will be arriving at the Amagansett School later this week! If your child is interested in adopting a practice pet, remind them to complete their application letter telling me how having a pet is going to help them on their journey into the world of playing a band instrument :)
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Grade Band are also embarking on a journey through the world of classical music this month! We will be listening to a series of short classical excerpts and then discussing them as a class. You can tune in and listen along with us here (we're on Video 005 this week) The videos look blank on our website, but if you click the "Youtube" icon on the bottom of each video you will be re-directed to the correct place :)
** Fourth Graders will be continuing our work with the first THREE notes on our instruments! We will be working towards mastering pages 4 through 5 of our Band Brilliance Method Book. We will also be completing the Band Karate Challenge WHITE BELT in our lessons this week. Try and complete the vocabulary and notation portions of your White Belt Sheet before your lesson :) Be sure to ask your child what that's all about! They're going to be excited to share!!
** Fifth and Sixth Graders Although Fifth and Sixth graders are meeting separately as individual pods this year, we will continue to work on the same repertoire and will be performing either virtually or live as one large ensemble. This week, we're reviewing our skills from last year as well as introducing some new Holiday Concert repertoire: "Frosty, the Snowman," and "When Santa's Away, the Elves will Play." We will also be beginning the Band Karate Challenge in our lessons this week. Fifth Graders will be receiving another piece to add to our concert repertoire this week!!! Make sure you ask your child what their special bonus song is!!
FIFTH GRADE LESSONS THIS WEEK WILL ALSO INCLUDE A PLAYING TEST ON ONE OF THE FOLLOWING SONGS: DREIDEL, UP ON THE HOUSETOP, JINGLE BELLS, JOLLY OLD ST. NICHOLAS. I'll give you ONE BIG hint which is most likely to be chosen...Hanukkah is very early this year and we want to have a certain special surprise ready for filming in the next two weeks so we can post it on the website for the First night of Hanukkah.....
SIXTH GRADE LESSONS THIS WEEK WILL ALSO INCLUDE A PLAYING TEST FOR THE ENTIRE "FROSTY THE SNOWMAN" AS WELL AS THE FIRST 13 MEASURES OF "WHEN SANTA'S AWAY THE ELVES WILL PLAY" Be sure to practice those lines!
BEGINNING BAND (FOURTH GRADE)
CONCERT BAND (FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES)
Chorus Classes:
We're building our teamwork skills as we work together to become STAR Singers and fill Mrs.Kamp's class pom-pom jars! How long will it take your class to earn another "STAR Singers Day??" Remember.....the challenge gets harder each time now that I know what AMAZING work you can do!
We can't wait!!
I 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 :)
String Classes:
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 :)
** First Grade Violin will be back in action this week, reviewing some of our songs from last year as well as learning a new warm up song! At home, you could use your box violins to practice The Monkey Song and The Ant Song or some of the 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
** Second Grade Violin will be busy working on adding your fingers to the E string to play The Kangaroo Song and Elephants and Frogs. We're getting better at moving our hands up to the scroll and playing in the proper position with the correct fingers! At home, you could review Up Like a Rocket, The Grand Old Duke o f York, The Monkey Song, The Ant Song, GDG Stomp! and The Wheels on the Bus or take things a little further and work on adding your fingers to the E string to play The Kangaroo Song and Elephants and Frogs during your at home practice sessions this week! Be sure to get out those practice pets and work with them to build your violin skills and fill in those practice journals! You can practice at home if you check the class violin page HERE
** Third Grade Violin This week we'll continue working inside our Strictly Strings Method Book. We'll review open string notes and our CRAZY string jumping this week! We will also start looking at notes on the Treble Staff and working with adding our fingers to play some new songs. We're continuing with the Four String Warm Up, but have also added a new warm up working with different rhythms and patters on the open strings! You can help us with some at home practice HERE
** Fourth Grade Violin This week we'll continue working inside our Strictly Strings Method Book. We'll review open string notes and our CRAZY string jumping this week! We will also start looking at notes on the Treble Staff and working with adding our fingers to play some new songs. We're continuing with the Four String Warm Up, but have also added a new warm up working with different rhythms and patters on the open strings! You can help us with some at home practice HERE
** Fifth Grade Violin This week we're continuing on inside the Strictly Strings Method Book. We'll review open string notes and our CRAZY string jumping this week! We will also start looking at notes on the Treble Staff and working with adding our fingers to play some new songs. We're continuing with the Four String Warm Up, but have also added a new warm up working with different rhythms and patters on the open strings!You can help us with some at home practice HERE
Stay tuned for more information right here each week :)
Mrs. Kamp :)