Kindergarten Program April 19, 2018

The Kindergarten kids are very excited to share their music program "The Seasons of Kindergarten" on April 19, 2018, in the McFarland Primary School gym.

At 5:30, classes include Mrs.Heim's, Mrs. Dettlaff's, Mrs. Gray's, Mrs. Marking's and Ms. Doll's. (Please do not arrive before 5:15)

At 6:30, classes include Mrs. Cook's, Mrs. Mosso's, Mrs. Kuehl's, and Mrs. Paugel's. (Please do not arrive before 6:15)

This is an informal performance, called "The Seasons of Kindergarten",  giving families a taste of what we've done in music class! Each class will be standing on a colored riser group, and the children will sing all the songs standing on the risers.

You can plan your seating for the best view of your child's class!

5:30 group: 
Heim- Gray

Dettlaff- Red
Doll- Blue
Gray- Yellow
Marking- Green

6:30 group:
Cook -Red

Kuehl- Blue
Mosso- Yellow
Paugel- Green

Doors to the Primary School will open no earlier than 5:15 pm! 

Please drop your child off in the following rooms at MPS:

Marking, Gray (5:30) Paugel, Mosso (6:30) in the ART Room
Heim, Dettlaff, Doll (5:30) Kuehl, Cook (6:30) in the MUSIC Room

Please take your child's coat with you into the gym.

The "dress code" for the program is up to your discretion. I want the children to feel special, and in the past there have been many girls in dresses and boys in nice shirts/pants with the occasional suit and tie. Again, this is between you and your child!

Kathy Kellen, Music Teacher

kellenk@mcfsd.org

First Graders Have Fantastic Style at Music Program

We are so fortunate to have the district video record our programs! Thanks to Mr. Steve Pennekamp and his team!

Stylin' Musicians First Grade Music Program February 22, 2018

Second Graders Shine at Music Program

We are very fortunate to have the district video record our programs!
Thanks to Mr. Steve Pennekamp and his team!

2nd grade Music Program February 20, 2018

Snowman Group Project for 2nd Grade

Snowman Rhythm Group Project

2nd graders have been working on composing 4 beat rhythm patterns. In this project they determine the best order of their rhythm patterns in a group and create a composition to be performed.
Each group member chooses an instrument to play and the performance is filmed.
I'm hoping this has been a fun learning experience!

Kindergarten Kids Learn About My Favorite Composer...

During part of the past few music classes, the kindergarten kids have been watching and interacting with Little Einsteins Rocket's Firebird Rescue.
This features the Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky (my favorite composer).

I love that Little Einsteins adventures teach about art and music and give the viewers lots of opportunities to move and interact.

I've been having the kids reflect on what they've learned, and the responses have been really great:

"We learned not to give up!"  "We learned that music can give us clues of who is coming or what is going to happen."   "We learned about crescendo and diminuendo."

Here are a couple photos of a class interacting with the video:

 Conducting diminuendos  

Doing a dance

February Songs for Kindergarten Kids

Viva Valentine... a song with only 2 words and a spelling lesson as a bonus!

100th day songs

3 Baby Groundhogs

Who Is On A Dollar Bill?

February songs are a lot of fun!

Rhythm Unit Begins for all 3 Grade Levels

I am excited to be implementing a rhythm unit for 2nd grade with the use of 1:1 iPads.

I created this unit as a class project in Lifelong Learning-taught by Brooke Hauser and Kim Brown this past summer.

Pear Deck is the new technology tool I'm using to review rhythm concepts with 2nd graders and give them some practice identifying 4 beat rhythm patterns. Further review will use Kahoot...a fun "game-like" way of assessing students' knowledge.

We'll be using some non-technology games and composition practice, and wrap up with an exciting group project! (More on that to come!)

1st graders are having fun with Snowflake Rhythm Math...an interactive Smart Notebook that helps strengthen their knowledge of note and rest values, and also encourages them to think about the relationship between music rhythm and math!
1st graders will be working as rhythm composers creating 4-beat rhythm patterns with quarter notes and rests, beamed eighth note pairs, half notes and half rests.










Kindergarten kids are learning about beat in music and how it relates to our heart beats.
We have been working with Groovy Shapes on the Smart Board (an interactive software program that does a wonderful job of exploring music concepts in an age appropriate way).
Other teaching resources I'll be using are episodes of "The Music Show" from Music Express Magazine, and song videos from K8 Music- Plank Road Publishing.

K8 SongVideos

 Quarter Note

Give it a Rest