Our Weekly Info: | This week, we will begin celebrating our new "Composer of the Month," Fanny Mendelssohn! We'll be listening to Ms. Mendelssohn's music and and learning facts about her life all month! You can see the facts that the students learned about Ms. Mendelssohn's life 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 Ms. Mendelssohn's page! Who will join our Music Detective Wall of Fame for November 2023?? I can't wait to see who will join the ranks of Music Detective and what knowledge they will bring us about Ms. Mendelssohn! 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:
This month, we begin a month long celebration of Native American Music and Culture to coincide with November as Native American Heritage Month! Check out the link below to see how we're celebrating the contributions of Native American cultures to the world of music this month! Also, have a resource to share?? Be sure to send it to Mrs. Kamp so I can add it to our celebration!!
**Kindergarten is right back to 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! November is going to be an exciting month in Kindergarten music as we celebrate Thanksgiving through music! I can't wait to share all of the fun with all of you!
**First Graders Due to the SUPERINTENDENTS CONFERENCE DAY, First grade will not have music this week, but next week, but next week, we will continue exploring the very many ways that music can be....loud / soft...fast / slow, etc. Last week, we finished up our unit about dynamics. and articulations. We've learned some magic music words for loud (Forte) and soft (piano) and explored how music can be these ways as well as and discussing how music can move from piano to forte (crescendo) and from forte to piano (decrescendo). We know that music can be smooth (Legato), bumpy and choppy (Staccato), or even really REALLY heavily accented (Marcato)! Now, we're going to learn about Tempo... the SPEED of music!! We'll be singing, dancing, and moving our bodies to slow (Legato), medium (Moderato or Andante) fast (Allegro), and even CrRAZY FAST (Presto) tempos all week!! We're even going to bring a little literature in as we listen to a special story from our friend, Freddie the Frog! We're expanding our knowledge this week ...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! November is going to be an exciting month in First Grade music as we celebrate Thanksgiving through music! I can't wait to share all of the fun with all of you!
**Second Graders Due to the VETERAN'S DAY CELEBRATION, First grade will not have music this week, but next week, but next week, we will continue to dive into the second level of Recorder Karate We've earned our White and Yellow Belts and, this week, we will begin to work with "Merrily We Roll Along" to work towards earning our Orange belts!! I can't believe how far the students have come since September!!! We've been 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 :) November is going to be an exciting month in Second Grade music as we also celebrate Thanksgiving through music! I can't wait to share all of the fun with all of you!
**Third Graders Due to the SUPERINTENDENTS CONFERENCE DAY, Third grade will not have music this week, but next week, but next week we'll be right back to 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!!! November is going to be an exciting month in Third Grade music as we also celebrate Thanksgiving through music! I can't wait to share all of the fun with all of you!
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.
PRACTICE TRACKERS:
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 Due to the VETERAN'S DAY Holiday, Kindergarten will not have violin class this week, but next week, we'll be 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! Hard work can be soooo much fun and is soooooooo rewarding as we can really begin to see our progress!
** Second Grade Violin Due to the SUPERINTENDENT'S CONFERENCE DAY, Second Grade will not have violin class this week, but next week, we'll be 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. Third Grade is 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, 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. Fourth Grade is 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, 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 :)