Pre-Kindergarten Unit 3 Newsletter

Pre-Kindergarten Unit 3 “Playing my part” in a musical setting, defines the musical exploration activities in Unit 3, “How we express ourselves”. The children explored fast and slow tempos with the song “Paige’s train” and long and short sounds in “2 little Sausages”.  Musical cues lead the children to actively respond by jumping, singing, walking or jogging to the music examples. Haydn’s Surprise Symphony was played giving the children a chance to respond to the short surprise sounds found in the new piece of music. The children were in fact surprised during the first listening! The children enjoyed story about why Haydn wrote the music. It was to play a joke on the King and his courtiers because they often fell asleep during his concerts. (MU6.PK.B) The children selected instruments they felt reflected the various musical characteristics of short and long sounds found in the listening examples and then created accompaniments.(MU2.PK.A) Listening games like hide the instrument were played and the song  "Goldilocks and the three bears" was added to the class singing repertoire to developed high, medium and low voice awareness. (MU1.PK.B. Movement games were regularly played such as Bean bag boogie and Body movements  allowing the children to feel the beat in groups of 8 counts.

Grade 2 Unit 4 Newsletter

Grade 2 Unit 4 How the world works- Materials

The Grade 2 students finished Unit 4 “Properties of materials influence musical sound” by comparing the wooden xylophone and the metal glockenspiel. The role of the mallets' material make up was evaluated and compared as well. The solid plastic mallet and the softer padded mallet were played interchangeably on the two instruments and the students noted the results. Sound production properties and characteristics of other instruments were investigated also and were categorized into Membranophones: any instrument in which the sound is produced by means of a vibrating membrane, Aerophones: any instrument in which the sound is produced by means of moving air, Idiophones: any instruments in which a resonant solid material—such as wood, metal, or stone—vibrates to produce the initial sound, or Chordophones: any instrument in which a stretched, vibrating string produces the initial sound. Students practiced and applied their understanding of traditional notation (MU3.2.A) in musical writing activities. The students sang and played Tortoise tune on the glockenspiel using appropriate dynamics and interpretation (MU1.2.C) in large and small groups (MU1.2.F1) and were able to transfer their practiced skills to sight reading simple rhythmic sequences in traditional notation (MU3.B2.1).

Grade 1 Unit 5 Newsletter

Grade 1 Unit 5 Homes and Shelters:
 Drawing to different moods in music

 

Grade 1 Unit 5 focused on “Where we are in place and time” with the music connection investigating how “Music creates ambiance in places and spaces”.   Students started the unit by drawing “homes” in association to the music from Holst’s planets. Each movement describes musically the ambiance one might imagine to be found on a planet. The first movement listened to was called Mars-the Bringer of War  and had themes of energy and aggression, which contrasted greatly to the next movement played; the serene melodies of Venus. In their drawings, students were asked to illustrate a “home” or “habitat” that connected to the music’s mood. A variety of pictures depicting unusual habitats and homes were looked at and discussed as well. The students then tried to imagine what kind of music would go with the habitat pictures. (Bench mark MU6.1.B.) The Jamaquacks rhyme and sound game ( initiated in Unit 4) integrated the visual and audial learning, more specifically, the  site to sound connections in this unit. A musical comic strip score was listened to. Students were given sound flash cards which displayed sound suggestions. After working with the model sound scape of the comic strip recording, students were placed in small groups to practice the flash card sounds. They soon created their own musical sound scapes and drew them on a blank comic strip. The groups’ practice involved sharing each others' work. One student conducted the passage of sounds of another student’s comic strip’s sound scape composition as the others in the group performed them. (MU1.1.C) The graphic notation in the sound scape activities, lead to student understanding about traditional  and non traditional musical notation. The central idea became apparent; that musical sounds can be represented visually or a visual cue can be transformed into music sounds. Skills, which identified and interpreted graphic notation in the comic strip activity, transferred nicely to reading and writing traditional notation: quarter notes, paired eighth notes and half notes. (MU3.1.C) These skills are regularly refined in games such as the musical Restaurant  during music class.

http://media.techeblog.com/images/musical_homes_1.jpg

Grade 1 Unit 4 Newsletter

Grade 1 Unit 4 Sharing the Planet 

“Music like water can flow and take us to different places…”

Grade 1 explored the science of sound and the various properties of instruments in this Sharing the Planet Unit. The students listened to sounds puzzles to learn to identify instrumental sound characteristics. Sound production properties were investigated and categorized into Membranophones: any instrument in which the sound is produced by means of a vibrating membrane, Aerophones: any instrument in which the sound is produced by means of moving air, Idiophones: any instruments in which a resonant solid material—such as wood, metal, or stone—vibrates to produce the initial sound, and Chordophones: any instrument in which a stretched, vibrating string produces the initial sound. Finger drums were made with cut PVC pipe and balloons. The students used these in several class activities. (MU5.1.C)

The students listened to a variety of musical works such as Benjamin Britten’s Sea Interludes and Debussy’s La Mer  and drew descriptive scenes reflection the music. The song the Water is Wide, which describes getting from one side of a big body of water to the other side to find a special person, was learned. The song is sung in conjunction with another song called You get a line and I’ll get a pole which describes a small body of water for fishing. (MU2.1.C)  The songs’ themes illustrate how water can play many different roles in daily life, and how it can inspire song writing and musical compositions. Students enjoyed singing the 2 parts together in class.

The Danish holiday Fastelaven was celebrated during this time and allowed the students a moment to learn the song Kan du gætte hvem jeg er. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFDVuvBGuvc

A listening and sound exploration game called Jamaquacks was introduced. Students responded to sound flash cards and learned to conduct each other’s sounds cards. This activity paved the way for the next 2 units.

Grade 3 Open House: The Highlights!