Music Notes: End of February 2015

Music Notes

End of February 2015

Hello, everyone!

As always, I invite you to check out our music classroom blog, which now includes our How the Penguins Saved Christmas videos, at:

http://lannoyemusic.blogspot.com

Looking for donations: If you’ve got any empty small tissue boxes (not the long rectangular ones), I’ll take them from now until the end of the year! I’m planning ahead for a 3^rd grade rhythm activity next winter…

Here’s what we’ve been working on in February:

This month the kindergarteners learned a new song, “Oliver Twist.” They’ve enjoyed coming up with different ways to show the steady beat with this song. They have continued practicing their leadership with the echo song and game “Charlie Over the Ocean.” The kindergarteners have continued to practice pointing to beat symbols in a left-to-right pattern (preparing for future music reading skills). They added long/short to their opposites listening practice, in addition to their existing knowledge of fast/slow, loud/soft, and high/low using actions and listening skills. They also read the book Frog in Love (Max Velthuijs) and played along on key words with hand drums, tambourines, and guiros.

The 1^st graders have been practicing quarter note, quarter rest, and two 8^th notes. They’ve been clapping, speaking, reading, and writing these three rhythms. Our rhythm dictation activities combine all four of those actions! The 1^st graders got to use their rhythm skills with a Valentine’s Day word sort and composition activity. They learned the song “Oliver Twist” as well, and have been creating different ways to show the steady beat while singing the song. They also read the book Frog in Love (Max Velthuijs) and played along on key words with hand drums, tambourines, and guiros.

The 2^nd graders added whole rest to their rhythm repertoire. They’ve been practicing half note, half rest, whole note, and whole rest, in addition to the three 1^st grade rhythms in their vocabulary. They’ve been clapping, speaking, reading, and writing their rhythms, using rhythm dictation activities and other games to practice their skills. They got to utilize their rhythm knowledge with a Valentine’s Day word sort and composition activity. The 2^nd graders learned the song “Oliver Twist” as well, and have been creating different ways to show the steady beat while singing the song. They also read the book Frog in Love (Max Velthuijs) and played along on key words with hand drums, tambourines, and guiros. We finished out the month by learning the folk song and dance “Alabama Gal.”

The 3^rd graders reviewed their quarter note, two 8^th notes, and four 16^th notes rhythms with a Valentine’s Day word sort and composition activity. They also learned some new rounds (including “Ho! Every Sleeper Waken”) and partner songs (including the combination of “One Bottle of Pop,” “Don’t Throw Your Junk in My Backyard,” and “Fish and Chips”) and have been singing 3-part rounds regularly. The 3^rd graders have also practiced music math while learning the process of how musical dots work (for example, in the dotted half note rhythm they just learned), and they prepared to learn a syncopated rhythm (ti-ta-ti, or 8^th note quarter note 8^th note). We finished out the month by learning the folk song and dance “Alabama Gal.”

The 4^th and 5^th graders continued to review their treble clef literacy skills. We’ve practiced using rhymes and acronyms to remember the lines (EGBDF) and spaces (FACE), always building from the bottom to the top. The students worked together to create their own acronyms. This month, they played SMART Board games, did written practice (including a Valentine Poem that used treble clef reading to fill in missing letters), and continued to take timed tests to improve their accuracy and speed. They all started out labeling 24 pitches in 90 seconds. Once they got 100% in that time limit, they moved to 60 seconds, then 30 seconds. Congratulations are in order for 5^th graders Madison and Jake, who have passed the 30 second test as of February 21^st! For at-home practice links and apps, please check the music blog. The 4^th and 5^th grade students have also begun their recorder unit, in which they began combining their treble clef literacy with recorder fingerings. They also finished February with the folk song and dance “Alabama Gal.”

The 5^th graders took a fantastic field trip to Milwaukee at the beginning of the month! They attended a Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra youth concert and explored Discovery World. This field trip has been in the works since last April. The students were great, with a strong work ethic and drive to learn. They learned about five orchestral pieces, two songs, and four composers in a month! They supplemented this knowledge with fun facts, historical and cultural context, music excerpts, full recordings from Naxos and YouTube, photographs from Europe, and activities like square dancing and singing. Within that month, they also reviewed treble clef reading with short activities and timed tests every class, and they learned about 6^th grade music options before our Google Hangout with the middle school music team.

At the concert, I saw my sweet, hard-working 5^th graders nod and grin with recognition when the conductor gave a brief background of each piece and composer. I talked to chaperones who shared that they enjoyed the concert far more than they had expected. I watched the students fulfill my behavior expectations in the concert hall. I giggled when one of them turned to me incredulously before the last piece and said, “Wait, that’s it?!”

I’m so proud of the 5^th graders, and I’m glad we got to experience this trip to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra together. It was fun watching them explore all sorts of hands-on exhibits at Discovery World during the afternoon too. What a growth-packed day with a variety of knowledge and applications! I’d like to extend thanks to the Lannoye PTO for funding the transportation for our trip, as well as to Mr. Klawiter and my colleagues for supporting our students’ music education and personal growth opportunities.

Earning DRUM cards outside of class: If students are able to attend any performances outside of the school day, I ask that they bring in a program with their name on it and tell me (or write on the program) something about it (something new they learned, their favorite part of it, etc.).

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me! Please feel free to stop in the music room during conferences on March 10^th. J

Ms. Corinne Galligan
(920) 822-0433
cmgalligan@pulaskischools.org
lannoyemusic.blogspot.com

How the Penguins Saved Christmas

Here are the concert videos from our 2014 holiday musical, How the Penguins Saved Christmas. (I'm posting both videos because of the double casting in two of the 5th grade roles.) Enjoy!

12:30 performance

2:30 performance