Hello, all!
This has been a
whirlwind of a month in the music room at Lannoye! Here’s a snapshot of what
we’ve been doing this month:
The kindergarteners are continuing to learn
about steady beat, forte/piano, fast/slow, high/low, while singing songs and
playing musical games to reinforce concepts.
First graders learned about the difference between rhythm
and steady beat, and have begun learning ta and ti-ti (quarter note and two
eighth notes). We have explored this using human rhythms (chairs represent
steady beats, and students create ta and ti-ti rhythms by sitting on the chairs
alone or with a partner to show how many sounds are on each beat) and food rhythms
(paper plates represent steady beats, and students create ta and ti-ti rhythms
using one- and two-syllable play food).
The second graders have done rhythm
studies, learning about the half note (ta-a) and half rest. One of their
favorite parts of learning rhythm is music math – it gives them a different way
to look at addition and subtraction when we’re using rhythms instead of
numbers!
Third graders have also continued their rhythm studies,
adding tiri-tiri (four 16th notes) to their rhythmic vocabulary. We
have danced and played games to reinforce this concept.
The fourth and fifth graders have been
learning about the instrument families in preparation for their trip to see the
Civic Symphony of Green Bay perform in a couple weeks. So far, we’ve gotten
through the percussion, woodwind, and brass families, and they’ve really
enjoyed seeing and hearing the instruments in class. Their knowledge retention
is phenomenal!
The fifth graders are also preparing for
the first-ever district-wide Kaleidoscope concert, to be held in the Pulaski
High School gym at 7 pm on Thursday, November 14. They will be performing
“Music Alone Shall Live” with fifth graders from all of the other elementary
schools. There will also be performances from middle school band, middle school
choir, high school band, and high school choir. The concert will conclude with
a mass performance of “An American Celebration,” a medley of patriotic tunes
performed by all of the music students in the concert! I’m very excited to see
our students share their talents with the district.
Looking ahead, we
will begin preparing for our winter concert quite soon! There are all sorts of
fun songs picked for the students, and I’m looking forward to sharing our
musicianship with everyone! J
As a reminder, the
Lannoye Music Blog is still up and running! There are a lot of instrument
videos posted for anyone who is interested – I tried to find a video or sound
clip for every single instrument that we learned about! (Students – these are
some of the videos I told you about in class, and many more! There’s even a
link to a video of me playing a silly piece on the piccolo for my senior
recital in college.) Bookmark it on your computer, or sign up for email alerts
every time there’s a new blog post! The website is:
I love making music
with your children, and hope to meet some of you at parent/teacher conferences
next week! If you’d like to schedule a conference, please email me. J
Ms. Galligan
(920) 822-0433
cmgalligan@pulaskischools.org
lannoyemusic.blogspot.com
