Big and Small, Low and High

Kindergartners have been working throughout the year on keeping a steady beat while singing, moving and playing instruments. We've also explored melodic direction and are noticing how large things make low sounds and small things make high sounds. The Orff instruments provide the perfect platform for melodic exploration: visually, aurally and kinesthetically the students are free to create and explore melodic direction and pitch while creating music together. This week we are using the book "Mortimer," by Robert Munsch and Michel Martchenko (Annick Press) to practice steady beat and upward downward on the Orff Instruments. When the characters go up the stairs the students play the thumps on any pitches going up; when the characters go down the stairs the students play the thumps in a downward direction. Ask your kindergartner to sing the "Mortimer" song for you after the next music class! "Clang, clang, rattle bing bang, gonna make my noise all day. Clang, clang, rattle bing bang, gonna make my noise all day!"

PSO String Quartet

As part of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra's BRAVO education outreach program, all 2nd and 3rd graders will enjoy a visit from members of the string section on Tuesday January 22nd in the APR. The musicians will perform for the students and explore topics of timbre, harmony, melody and dynamics with them. In May, students in 3rd and 5th grade will travel to Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University for a full formal children's concert performance. More details and field trip permission slips will be sent home in April.

First Graders arrangements of Autumn Leaves

First graders completed their unit study of quarter and paired eighth note rhythms with original arrangements in this rondo form composition entitled "Autumn Leaves." please click on the link below to hear each homeroom's unique version of the piece. Using the fall leaf colors of red, orange, gold, yellow and brown leaves, students worked in small groups to compose original rhythms to perform on unpitched percussion instruments. Our final performance of their leaf compositions was filled out with the students singing the song "Autumn Leaves" in between each group's 8-measure compositions.