Grade 2 Unit 3 Newsletter Journeys

Grade 2 Music is focusing on the phrase "Journeys we have made, influence our musical expression" for Unit 3 Music's theme. Students are exploring the different musical roles of a solo voice and an accompanying voice or voices in a musical work. After listening to a variety of different types of music, students were able to discern the difference between main musical lines and secondary or accompanying musical lines in a work. They showed understanding by drawing and writing down their impressions. To further engage students in these concepts, eight sentences or "lyrics" to describe their Holiday journeys were written. Students were encouraged to use their photo journey texts from the homeroom class activity as lyrics as well. Next, a four beat instrumental rhythmic pattern was created to accompany an invented 3 note melody, in order to compose a song with accompaniment! Small group in class performances of the musical Journey compositions allowed students opportunities to reflect and describe in musical terms a performance  (benchmarks MU.2.A.) and to demonstrate an awareness of others as they perform in an instrumental group (bench mark MU1.2 I.)

The Hawaiian instrument, the Ukulele  whose name means "the gift that came here" (" Uku" meaning "gift" and " lele" meaning "to come" in the Hawaiian dialect and was brought to Hawaii by Portuguese explorers) was introduced. Students explore the chordal and accompanying role of the instrument through out the unit.