Our Weekly Info: | This week we will finish up exploring the works of our newest composer of the month, Tan Dun! This will be Mr. Tan Dun's first time EVER being featured as our Composer of the Month and I'm so excited to introduce our students to his work! Although, as you will find out, Mr. Tan Dun was born in August and not May, our celebration of his music comes in part as we salute May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! As always, all students are invited to complete one or more of the activities about Mr. Tan Dun that can be found in their red "Go Home" folders this week. Student work will be displayed don the music website and on a bulletin board outside of the music room :) Who will be the first students to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with me by learning a bit more about Mr. Tan Dun and his music? 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 Music Website! |
General Music:
**Pre-K 3 and 4 will continue 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 continuing 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! then we'll get back into Prodigies with Pre-K 3 continuing Chapters 1 and 2 and meeting each of the bells and Pre-K 4 continuing with Chapter 3 learning familiar songs based on the first 3 pitches of the C Major scale...do-re-and mi! We'll also be doing a "Sweet Beets" song to work on our rhythm and steady beat skills! Be sure to ask your child to sing you some of the new songs we're working on! We'll also be doing a special bell activity to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday, coming up next Monday, May 30th!
**Kindergarten will continue 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 MASTERED "do," "mi," "sol," and "la" and are continuing to explore "re" and "fa" in our singing echoes. We can even sing the patterns if Mrs. Kamp only gives us the first sign!!!!! We're continuing to work with: 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! Then we'll be back in our Prodigies curriculum continuing through Chapter 5! We've learned soo many new songs....so be sure to ask your child to share some of them with you :) We'll also be doing a special bell activity to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday, coming up next Monday, May 30th!
**First Graders will be back to their normal weekly music schedule after missing class last week! We'll return to our studies with Pre-School Prodigies this week! We'll be finishing up chapter 6 and beginning to work through chapter 7 this month....working with all different pitches, melodies and rhythms, AND learning to play in two 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'll also be doing a special bell activity to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday, coming up next Monday, May 30th!
**Second Graders will be continuing to work with our TWO new recorder notes in music class this week: The High C and the High D! Then, we'll be putting these notes together with our old notes to being working on our Blue Belt song, "Lightly Row!" Students will also continue working with the notes of: B, A, G, and E!!!!! We'll be reorganized all of the pitches into different patterns and adding in some new rhythmic concepts including eighth notes (ti-ti) 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 :) TODAY'S THE DAY........ the big BLUE BELT TEST!!!! We'll also be continuing to work as a "Orffestra" by playing some of our older recorder songs (and some special new ones) on recorders, boomwhackers, desk bells, and drums! It's soo much fun to work together to master our parts and to get to try out all of the different instruments! We're going to be sooo ready when we get to Fourth Grade Band!! I can't wait to start working on our Black Belt Song, "Oh When the Saints Go Marching In" at the end of class!! We'll also be doing a special bell activity to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday, coming up next Monday, May 30th!
**Third Graders are continuing to work as an "Orffestra" in their General Music Class starting this week. Students will be assigned an instrument for the rest of the month and we will work towards mastering one or two songs on that instrument for the month. Then, in March, we'll rotate so that students have a chance to learn one or two more songs, but on a different instrument!! We're going to be putting together everything we have learned in music class since Pre-K and performing on: Recorders, Desk Bells, Percussion (mostly drums, but maybe some other non-pitched percussion instruments) and Xylophones / Metallophones!!! This is going to be AMAZING!! We'll be playing songs from previous chapters of Prodigies as we start this project using the color coded music staff to help us gain familiarity on the different instruments...but then....later in the Spring...we hope to move away from the color coded staff and start playing with the REAL BLACK ND WHITE MUSIC NOTATION!!!! You can read more about our "Orffestra" and what I hope to accomplish HERE. Third graders will also be taking a little time from music classes this week to choose their instruments for next year's Fourth Grade Beginning Band!! I can't wait to see what they all choose!!!!! We'll also be doing a special bell activity to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday, coming up next Monday, May 30th!
Performance Music
SPRING CONCERT SCHEDULED FOR A LIVE PERFORMANCE ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8th!!!
CAN'T WAIT TO BRING BACK LIVE PERFORMANCES AT THE AMAGANSETT SCHOOL!!!
PLEASE MARK YOUR FAMILY CALENDARS AND PLAN TO ATTEND AS THIS CONCERT IS MANDATORY FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES 3-6....we can't wait to show you all of our hard work this year!!
Band Classes:
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Grade Band are also continuing 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 034 this week and will be continuing to look at "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Modest Mussorgsky (arranged by Maurice Ravel)! This week, we'll be listening to "The Great Gate at Kiev." Some of 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:
ALL FOURTH GRADERS WILL HAVE INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS ON THURSDAY THIS WEEK DUE TO THE EXTENDED MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND HOLIDAY!
Fourth Graders will be continuing our work with the first FIVE notes on our instruments! isn't it AMAZING how many different songs we can learn using only 5 notes! We will be working towards mastering pages 9 through 13 of our Band Brilliance Method Book and will be reviewing pages 7 and 8!! Remember to focus on your rhythm and counting as we've added whole, half, quarter, and eighth notes and their corresponding rests at this point so the rhythms are getting much more interesting. If you need extra time working with rhythm you can always turn to the rhythm challenges on page 32-33 of the Band Brilliance Book.
We will also be continuing work on the Band Karate Challenge ORANGE BELT in our lessons this week. Try and complete the vocabulary and notation portions of your White Belt and Yellow Belt Sheets before your lesson :) Students who have already completed their Yellow Belts will be receiving their sheets to begin the Orange Belt level 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:
THERE WILL BE NO FIFTH GRADE BAND ON WEDNESDAY AS WE WILL BE CELEBRATING OUR THIRD QUARTER BATTLE OF THE BANDS VICTORY!!!
FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADERS WILL HAVE A COMBINED BAND REHEARSAL THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON!! PLEASE BE PREPARED!!!!!!!
Concert Band members will be continuing to work on the repertoire for our Spring Concert heading your way on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8th!!! At this point, you should have almost completely mastered "Boot Scootin' Barn Dance," "Royal Crown March," "Dr. Rock," and "Big Rock Candy Mountain!" We will also be continuing the Band Karate Challenge in our lessons this week.
BEGINNING BAND (FOURTH GRADE)
CONCERT BAND (FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES)
Chorus Classes:
Students in our Third through Sixth Grade Chorus will be continuing to work on the repertoire for our upcoming Spring Concert headed your way on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8th!!! We'll be learning some songs to perform all together and some selections that will be voted on by the students of each grade for performance by their grade only! Students are encouraged to share ideas for song selections with Mrs. Kamp through email, google classroom, or by writing them on papers and passing them to her during the school day!! Please remember our rules about "school appropriate" repertoire and help me find some fantastic selections incorporating your voice and choice into the music program!!!!
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!
I thought it might be fun to explore the singing and its 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 :) Did anyone notice the connection to Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month in this week's video?
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! Did anyone notice the connection to Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month in this week's video?
** Kindergarten Violin will be taking the week off this week due to the extended Memorial Day Weekend Holiday! Have a wonderful weekend and keep practicing :)
** First Grade Violin will be taking the week off this week due to the extended Memorial Day Weekend Holiday! Have a wonderful weekend and keep practicing :)
** Second Grade Violin will be taking the week off this week due to the extended Memorial Day Weekend Holiday! Have a wonderful weekend and keep practicing :)
** 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're working on pages 18 and 19 in the book.....learning to read the notes of the treble staff while we add our fingers to the D string. 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! And this week, we're beginning to learn major scales! We'll be adding our fingers to the G and D strings as we learn the finger pattern for the G major scale! You can help us with some at home practice HERE We're also embarking on a new journey with our violins...VIOLIN KARATE!!! This week, we will continue on our Karate journey and begin to build towards earning our Purple Belts!!!! You might have noticed that we've added some color coded stickers to help us with fingering on the strings....we're super familiar with the colors of Mr. Rob's desk bells, so Mrs. Kamp thought it might be interesting to see what happens when we combine those colors with our violin studies....stay tuned to see our progress as this little finger experiment plays out :) Third Graders have been invited to join the older students and complete practice trackers each week to record their at home practice with their violins! As part of the "Building Blocks for Success" students receive a Lego brick for every 10 minutes they spend practicing throughout the week. More information can be found in your child's Music Google Classroom Assignments Tab.
** 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're working on page 19 in the book.....learning to read the notes of the treble staff while we add our fingers to the D and A strings AND combine notes on those TWO strings to form single 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! AND we've mastered the G and D scales and have begun working on the A scale!! You can help us with some at home practice HERE We're also continuing our journey VIOLIN KARATE!!! Now we're on to working towards that Purple belt!! Can we master the new song "Can Can" ??? You might have noticed that we've added some color coded stickers to help us with fingering on the strings....we're super familiar with the colors of Mr. Rob's desk bells, so Mrs. Kamp thought it might be interesting to see what happens when we combine those colors with our violin studies....stay tuned to see our progress as this little finger experiment plays out :)
** Fifth Grade Violin will be continuing on inside the Strictly Strings Method Book. We'll review open string notes and our CRAZY string jumping this week! We're working on pages 18 and 19 in the book.....learning to read the notes of the treble staff while we add our fingers to the D string. 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 HEREYou might have noticed that we've added some color coded stickers to help us with fingering on the strings....we're super familiar with the colors of Mr. Rob's desk bells, so Mrs. Kamp thought it might be interesting to see what happens when we combine those colors with our violin studies....stay tuned to see our progress as this little finger experiment plays out :)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.
Stay tuned for more information right here each week :)
Mrs. Kamp :)