Mrs. Drake's class

Ms. Lopez's class

Mrs. Baxter's Class

First Grade Music--budding composers

Primary goals with first grade during October include:
1. Keeping a steady beat
2. Pitch-matching (sol-mi-la)
3. Listening walks and "found sounds"
4. Sounds their voices can make
5. Moving safely through shared space
6. Feeling one sound, two sounds or no sound on a beat (preparing reading quarter notes, quarter rests, and paired eighth notes)

The students will work together composing, arranging and performing an original piece inspired by the changing colors of the leaves.

We're also going on a listening walk through the school, noticing the ambient sounds all around us as we go through our day. Inspired by Paul Showers' book "The Listening Walk" (1991. New York, NY: Harper Collins), the students will collaborate to write about our own walk around the school and describe the different sounds they hear. During music class we will record their ideas of sounds using their own voices, classroom instruments or body percussion and create a sound track.

Kindergarten Music--Spooktacular October

Our primary goals in kindergarten music this month focus on
1. Keeping a steady beat
2. Pitch-matching (sol-mi)
3. listening to sounds around us ("found sounds")
4. Sounds their voices can make (whisper, sing, shout, speak)
5. Moving safely through shared space.

I've been teaching all the children my favorite song "The Tree Song" (New England Dancing Masters. 2000. Down in the Valley. Brattleboro, Vermont.). It's a beautiful about the changing seasons and they really love it. We've also sung a song about different ways to get to school (walk, bike, ride the bus, etc.) and created ways to move showing each. This month we will continue our study with a focus on leaves changing, the season of autumn, Halloween and pumpkins.

The Tree Song
This is my trunk
I'm a tall, tall tree
In the springtime the blossoms grow on me
They open, they open.

This is my trunk
I'm a tall, tall tree
In the summer the breezes blow through me
I bend, I bend.

This is my trunk
I'm a tall, tall tree
In the autumn the apples grow on me
They drop, they drop

This is my trunk
I'm a tall, tall tree
In the winter the snowflakes fall on me
Brrrrr. Brrrrrr.

This is my trunk
I'm a tall, tall tree
In the springtime the blossoms grow on me
They open, they open.

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!"

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.