Our Weekly Info: | We began celebrating our first Composer of the Month of the 2021-2022 school year, Antonin Dvorak as we listen to his music and learn facts about his life each class. You can see the facts that they learned about Mr. Dvorak on display on the home page of this website :) Congratulations to: Billie (K), Zane, (K), Maisie (K), Harrison (K), John Michael (2), Luella J. (3), Jaiyah (3), Taeyo (3), Leo (4), Gigi (4), Ainsley (4), and Paloma on becoming the FIRST "music detectives" of the school year and bringing in facts they learned about Mr. Dvorak! 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:
**Pre-K 3 and 4 have started 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" in our singing echos 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 will begin our work with Pre-School Prodigies, rhythm band, fall themed songs, and sooo much more!!! It's going to be a wonderful year to explore!!!
**Kindergarten has been singing, dancing, and playing their way through their first few music classes! We've started 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" in our singing echos 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 will begin our work with Pre-School Prodigies, rhythm band, fall themed songs, and sooo much more!!! It's going to be a wonderful year to explore!!!
**First Graders have started 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. Right now, First Graders are exploring the very many ways that music can be....loud / soft...fast / slow, etc. and learning all sorts of magical music vocabulary words. Last week we learned the music words for dynamic levels (volumes) including: piano (soft), mezzo (medium), and forte (loud.) We explored these dynamic changes with our bodies and through singing songs. We also experimented with crescendos and decrescendos (making the music get louder and softer). this week we're hoping to head outside and add a fun activity with the parachute to demonstrate our knowledge of musical volumes and terminology! 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.
**Second Graders are back playing their first EVER NOTES ON THIER RECORDERS!!!!! Now, we're going to being learning the first song of the Recorder Karate Program..... "Hot Cross Buns" and will be taking their white belt tests in a few weeks! We're mastering fingering and playing B, A, and G so that we will be ready to play the song! Parents, you can find more information about the recorder program HERE along with some helpful links for at home practice :)
**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 exploring 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.
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 Graders will have Band Class each week on Tuesday and will have their instrumental lessons on Thursdays or Fridays each week. This week, we will be learning how to put their instruments together this week as well as learning the first note on their instrument! We will be working towards mastering pages 2 through 4 of our Band Brilliance Method Book. Special challenge...can you put your instrument together in under 2 minutes???? We will also be beginning the Band Karate Challenge in our lessons this week. Be sure to ask your child what that's all about! They're going to be excited to share!!
** Fifth and Sixth Graders will have Band Class each week on Tuesday and will have their instrumental lessons on Tuesdays or Wednesdays each week on a rotating schedule. 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: "Creatures in the Attic" and "When Santa's Away, the Elves will Play." We will also be beginning the Band Karate Challenge in our lessons this week. Be sure to ask your child what that's all about! They're going to be excited to share!!
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 can't wait!!
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.
** Kindergarten Violin has begun!!! We 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.
** First Grade Violin has begun!!! We reviewed 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
** Second Grade Violin has begun!!! We reviewed how to hold our bows, balance our violins, and control our bodies so nothing falls down! We also reviewed all of our songs from last year including: 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. We're also learning all of the parts of our violin and the names of the open strings......you can quiz us at home if you check the class violin page HERE
** Second Grade Violin has begun!!! We reviewed how to hold our bows, balance our violins, and control our bodies so nothing falls down! We're also reviewing all of the parts of our violin and the names of the open strings. We refreshed all of our songs from last year including: 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. You can help us with some at home practice HERE
** Third Grade Violin has begun!!! We reviewed how to hold our bows, balance our violins, and control our bodies so nothing falls down! We're also reviewing all of the parts of our violin and the names of the open strings. We refreshed all of our songs from last year including: 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. And then got our fingers moving by playing Elephants and Frogs and The Kangaroo Song. This week we're also taking our first peek inside our brand new Strictly Strings Method Book. You can help us with some at home practice HERE
** Fourth Grade Violin has begun!!! We reviewed how to hold our bows, balance our violins, and control our bodies so nothing falls down! We're also reviewing all of the parts of our violin and the names of the open strings. We refreshed all of our songs from last year including: 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. And then got our fingers moving by playing Elephants and Frogs and The Kangaroo Song. This week we're also taking our first peek inside our brand new Strictly Strings Method Book. You can help us with some at home practice HERE
** Fifth Grade Violin has FINALLY arrived!!! Interested Fifth Graders are coming to the music room at RECESS on FRIDAYS to finally have a chance to play the violin after our initial efforts were derailed by COVID last year! This past Friday, we learned how to hold our bows, balance our violins, and control our bodies so nothing falls down! We're also learning all of the parts of our violin and the names of the open strings. This week we're also taking our first peek inside our brand new Strictly Strings Method Book. You can help us with some at home practice HERE
Stay tuned for more information right here each week :)
Mrs. Kamp :)