Music Games
The students identified steady beats within the songs played for them. Upon listening to the musical examples from the Making Music cd, they wrote if the beat was steady or if it was a rhythm that was not steady. The class also danced to a song called Step in Time. We started with a march and proceeded to perform the silly movements commanded in the song. In this class, we are learning to identify the amount of beats a note takes and clap the rhythm of a musical exercise. One of our favorite activities is carried out while moving to the beat of a song called The Entertainer. This activity is to act out the word given on a card, while the class individually guesses and writes their word on a small white board and holds it up. The teacher signals yes, if their answer is correct. For this game, the only sound that is to be heard is the music of The Entertainer!
Ms. Farrell
Learning the Recorder
For 3rd grade music, we are teaching the students how to play the recorder. We have learned out first three notes, how to identify these notes on a musical staff, how to position the hands on the instrument and which recorder openings to close for each note. We’ve had a student request to play a song in front of the class, which included the three notes we just learned. Very impressive! They are ready to start playing song selections, and songs they will play!
Ms. Farrell
Music Theory
In the 4th and 5th grade music classes, recently we have been starting with a review of music theory. This includes one student at a time using the smartboard to identify each noted presented to them on the treble cleff musical staff. Each student identifies as many notes as they can, without making a mistake and the score is recorded. In this class we have practiced the C Scale, playing high and low notes with clear tones and are in the process of playing a song selection. Prior to playing the song, we are clapping the beat of the song, which currently includes quarter notes and half notes. The students are in approximately four groups and there is teamwork in identifying the notes and playing the music accurately. The class is very attentive and excited to play each music exercise and learn the song!
Learning the Guitar
The 6th, 7th and 8th Grade Music classes have been practicing the chords to the songs More Precious Than Silver. The first line of the song says, Lord, You are more precious than silver. The last line of the song says, Nothing I desire compares with You. Prior to working with this song, the students had been giving a song to play one finger at a time, with three notes. The song was Joyful Joyful, also sung as a church hymn. In playing this song, one finger at a time, it taught the student how to get a clear sound, one string at a time. We always start off the classes by tuning the guitar and becoming acquainted with the correct pitch of the string as opposed to a sharp or flat sound.
Ms. Farrell
Cell Structure Lab
The Living Environment Lab classes have become very familiar with the differences between an animal cell and a plant cell. In lab class they have observed each type of cell under the microscope while sketching the parts of the cell. Hypotonic and Hypertonic solutions were poured onto the cell to see its effects. In the case of the hypertonic solution (salt water), the student observed a shrinkage of the cell. This is the same type of outcome that would occur if salt water was poured in the soil of a plant. A diffusion lab was also performed in which a semi-permeable membrane was filled with glucose and starch. Small molecules would diffuse through the membrane while larger molecules would not. Students also observed osmosis, which is the diffusion of water through a semi-permeable membrane into a solution where the solvent concentration was higher. Color changes inside the cell and a color change of the solution outside of the cell gave an indicator if starch and/or glucose were detected.
Ms. Farrell
Earthquake Lab
The Earth Science Lab classes have located an earthquake in the lab exercise. The earthquake occurred in the middle of three cities. The task was to find the epicenter by calculating the distance between the seismic waves. The class learned how to specify when the earthquake initially occurred under the earth. One of the subsequent labs included groups of students building an earthquake-proof house. Items were provided to each team, such as a limited amount of tape, straw, paper, and a few other small items. The house was built with an egg in the middle. The task was to have an uncracked egg after the earthquake literally hit the house. We had winners!
Ms. Farrell
How Fast Can You Type
We have been at our spring Mavis Beacon typing practice unit for a few weeks now. Many of the students have improved their typing speed by 5-10 words per minute! Congrats to Lucas Gomes, the fastest typist in 7th grade. He types 49 words per minute!
Mr. Boyd
Notepad, Word Pad, and Word
In class we are working on learning three different word processing programs, Microsoft Notepad, Word Pad, and Word. We have finished the lists and are now focused on writing a critical comparison review of the three programs to find out which one we like the best.
Adobe Illustrator
We have begun doing Adobe Illustrator tutorials, which the students are loving! We started from the ground up, learning first how to choose the correct settings for a new file. I spend about 2-3 minutes showing the new material, and the students copy the steps for a grade. We’ll be getting more advanced as we go!
Mr. Boyd
Mavis Beacon
We have begun our spring Mavis Beacon typing practice unit, and are getting baseline measurements of typing ability before starting to do daily lessons and speed tests.
Mr. Boyd