Our Weekly Info: | Happy Fall Everyone!!!! With a new month, comes a new composer in our "Composer of the Month" program. I'm excited to introduce you all to this year's Mr. October -- William Grant Sill! This week, we will begin to listen to his music and learn facts about his life each class. You can see the facts that they learned about Mr. Sill on display on the home page of this website :) Who will join our Music Detective Wall of Fame for October 2023?? I can't wait to see who will join the ranks of Music Detective and what knowledge they will bring us about Mr. Sill! 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! |
General Music:
**Kindergarten is busy exploring the world of music, learning our hello routines and songs, experimenting with the different classroom instruments. We have begun incorporating our Prodigies lessons with Mr. Rob and our Rhythm Band Curriculum into each class visit...making music a VERY Exciting place to be! October is going to be an exciting month in Pre-K music as we celebrate the beginning of Fall and the Halloween season through music! I can't wait to share all of the fun with all of you!
**First Graders continue exploring the very many ways that music can be....loud / soft...fast / slow, etc. This week, we're finishing up our unit about dynamics...the volumes of music. We've learned some magic music words for loud (Forte) and soft (piano) and explored how music can be these ways. 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 expanding our knowledge this week and discussing how music can move from piano to forte (crescendo) and from forte to piano (decrescendo)...and playing some super fun games as we learn to understand these musical terms. We will also continue our work with the Prodigies program and out melody bells and boomwhackers which we began last year. I'm soo excited to see how we can grow as musicians this year! October is going to be an exciting month in Pre-K music as we celebrate the beginning of Fall and the Halloween season through music! I can't wait to share all of the fun with all of you!
**Second Graders took their FIRST EVER Recorder Karate Belt test in last week's music class as they performed, "Hot Cross Buns" and demonstrated their mastery of the notes, rhythms, and recorder skills needed to play the song on their own and without teacher assistance. All of the students did AMAZING work and I was super excited to award them their first belts on their recorder journey! This week we're diving into the second level of Recorder Karate as we being learning our yellow belt song, "Gently Sleep." We'll be using the same 3 notes: B, A, and G, but mixing them up into different musical patterns AND introducing playing the half note or holding out our note for two long, strong counts. Parents, you can find more information about the recorder program HERE along with some helpful links for at home practice :)
**Third Graders are back on track...singing, dancing, and playing their way through their first few music classes! We will begin our work with Prodigies melody bells, rhythm band, fall themed songs, and sooo much more!!! It's going to be a wonderful year to explore!!! This year, you'll watch as we begin "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! We're beginning to masker reading the treble staff and sooo much more!!!
Performance Music
Band Classes:
If you're interested in learning more about our school's Instrumental Music Program, follow these links to the band's individual websites:
CONCERT BAND (FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES)
Just a reminder:
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.
Remember, practice trackers are a MANDATORY part of your music grade this year! Practice trackers can be found on your individual child's Music Google Classroom and are listed in the "Classwork" section each week. Trackers are due by midnight on Sunday nights, but you can hand it in any time that is convenient for your family :) Aim for 10 - 15 minutes per day for as many days as you can during the week....if you build music practicing into your family schedule now are the beginning of the year, it will be there for you all year..let's build those habits and, "put first things first."
Chorus Classes:
We're up and running and starting to prepare the songs we will perform in our big December Holiday Concert.
We've also started preparing some selections to share with you in November for Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving!
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 :)
** Kindergarten Violin are 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. 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!
** First Grade Violin reviewed 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 continuing to use the Colorstrings method in conjunction with our Suzuki method studies this week. Be sure to ask your child what the "violin colors" are and what they mean...they are excited to share their new knowledge with you!
** Second Grade Violin will need to BRING THEIR VIOLIN TO SCHOOL WITH THEM EVERY TUESDAY 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 adding our fingers to the strings to expand our repertoire of notes, starting combining note reading on the treble staff with playing the violin, introducing 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 PLEASE NOTE THIS IMPORTANT CHANGE TO OUR MUSIC CLASS SCHEDULE...DUE TO CONFLICTS WITH OTHER PROGRAMMING, THIRD GRADERS WILL NOW NEED TO BRING THEIR VIOLIN TO SCHOOL WITH THEM EVERY MONDAY 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 adding our fingers to the strings to expand our repertoire of notes, starting combining note reading on the treble staff with playing the violin, introducing 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. 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 adding our fingers to the strings to expand our repertoire of notes, starting combining note reading on the treble staff with playing the violin, introducing 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.
Stay tuned for more information right here each week :)
Mrs. Kamp :)