Fuzzoodles
In Pre-K Music, we are continuing to rehearse the letter of the week and incorporate some of the words in the songs of the day. The children love to guess what the music teacher is creating with fuzzoodles. Recently the creation was a bee, which we sung about. For another song, the teacher created a spider, which we also sang about. Shapes were also created and sung about. And one creation that had all the children giggling for a while, was a little creation of a person what would dance to the song they were dancing to. The children love to sing and move, and dance, and march!
Ms. Farrell
Percussion Fun
In Kindergarten music we did a review of loud and soft sounds, seasons, and also practiced clapping on the beat of a song. This class does lots of singing, moving and dancing to the words of the song. One of the songs which required various movements is a song called Locomoto-vation. It talked about a child going to school and included walking, running, crawling, and hopping. Kindergarten has also had the privilege of playing the xylophones, percussion instruments, small bells, and triangles to the beat of our class music for the day. They have fun with the musical instrument provided to them!
Music Games
In 1st grade music, we learned long and short musical patterns, high and low sounds. We also talked about all the sports games we could think of that used a ball. The class did an excellent job and named over 15 sports games, without any help. Our focus and song was Soccer Sounds and Silences. The song was about soccer, also known as futbol in some Spanish countries. The song has musical rests in it, which means there are silent sections with no singing. The class was given the music and taught about musical rests such as a quarter note rest. The activity with this song was to bounce their ping pong ball on their desk while the song was played and sung, and to hold the ball when there was silence in the music. The ball could not touch the ground. Whenever there was silence in the music, the students would say shhhh to over emphasize the break and rest in the music. It sounded great! It is a fun musical game, which also may have become one of their favorites!
Ms. Farrell
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