Thank you Guest Musicians!

A HUGE round of applause for our Guest Musicians!

Enid Williams, Dr. Andrew Briddell, Ryan Casey, Arick Ecker, Jamie Sercombe, Jamie Cash, 

Kaci Bailey and John Weekes!

Such a great learning experience for 2nd graders to see music important in lives of adults!

 

We have some great videos from our time together as well...

Sounds Abound! Sound Poems/Stories for each grade level

All of the students have been experiencing classroom instruments in sound poems/stories/songs.
It's been a big hit! (pun intended!)

2nd Grade: "The Spider and the Fly"
By Cristi Cary Miller

First Grade: "Something Went Bump"
By Teresa Jennings

"Ananse Was A Spider"
By Cristi Cary Miller

"Did You Hear That Sound?"

By Teresa Jennings

Kindergarten: "The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything"
By Linda Williams

Kindergarten: Solfege, Boomwhackers and the "Sound of Music"

The Kindergarten Kids have been learning to sing with solfege, practicing the hand signs, and transferring their new knowledge to playing Boomwhackers (pitched tubes).
Clips that I show from a favorite movie of mine, "The Sound of Music", are perfect for the solfege unit.


















Our Solfege Hand Sign Wall

Playing solfege songs with Boomwhackers!

Kindergarten kids engaged in "The Sound of Music"

Kindergarten kids practicing hand signs with "Do, A Deer..."

African Music Unit...Enjoyed By All!

First graders have enjoyed experiencing African singing games, instruments and stories!
We made the connection to singing games American children play, and talked about how really all you need to have fun is a circle of friends, a rock, and in our case, shaker eggs!

Instrument Families of the Orchestra in a Fun, Engaging Learning Experience

The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Instrument Safari

In second grade music classes we are learning about the instrument families of the orchestra. This website presents the concept in an engaging and fun way.  

Students are welcome to explore this at home, and can register for a free account.

By creating their own "secret name", password, and hint, students are able to experience all of this for themselves. This is an advantage because we take turns when we are learning as a class.

And Just Like That, We're Back! Welcome to Music Classes!

And....We're Back!

Primary Expectation Video

CE Expectation Video

Our first music classes include getting to know each other, viewing the expectation videos 

(see above), and "setting the stage" for our year together!

Coming Up:

2nd Grade will be starting to work on The Instrument Families of the Orchestra Unit.

1st Grade will start the "African Music" Unit.

Kindergarten begins "Nursery Rhyme " Unit.

I am excited to be starting Year 5 in McFarland! 

It is my goal to teach the children  musical skills and above all the love of music activities 

to grow life long enjoyment of music!

First Grade Class Composing in Groovy Jungle

After learning experiences throughout the year on the software "Groovy Jungle", 

each first grade class created a composition that every child contributed items to.

It was fun for the students to choose elements: 

Melody, Rhythm, Chords, Arpeggios, Bass Line, and Animal Sounds

Everyone enjoyed listening to the composition multiple times!