This week (9/10-9/14)

What a great first sing along on Friday! I loved it!

This week in...

Kindergarten- we are learning about loud and soft sounds. We discussed the soft ways we use our voice (whispering) and the loud ways we use our voice (calling.) We moved to lots of loud and soft music- tapping or doing something small for soft music, and stomping or doing something big for loud music. We practiced playing drums to the steady beat both loudly and softly. We played a listening game- students lined up behind a picture of a lion if they heard loud sounds and a picture of a mouse if they heard soft sounds.

1st/2nd grade- we are learning about dynamics! Dynamics is the "fancy music word" that means the volume of the music. We learned about loud (forte) sounds, and soft (piano) sounds. We identified pictures that showed forte and piano sounds, and we practiced using our 4 voices- singing, speaking, whispering, and calling. We learned the fun game "Grizzly Bear", which utilizes a medium, soft, and loud singing voice. We played rhythm sticks loudly and softly and heard many examples of loud and soft music. We also explored moving around the room in soft and loud ways, e.g. tiptoeing and stomping.

3rd/4th grade- we worked on mirroring with a partner- facing each other and copying movements exactly. We also worked on shadowing- one person stands behind the other and acts as their shadow. We also did this as a class and in groups of 4 when each person got to be the leader. We learned about call and response form with the song "Way Down Yonder in the Brickyard." Some students volunteered to sing duets for the class with a friend. We began exploring hand drums, tubano drums, a djembe drums with call and response form. I created a 4-beat call, and students improvised their own 4 beat responses.

5th grade- we had another go at our Mad Minutes with the notes B, A, and G on the music staff. We played a fun stick passing game with a song we learned last week called "Zigs and Zags." We began our study of famous composers by discussing the life and some well-known pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750.) We will be completing a year-long project called "Music logs" this year. Every time we learn about a new composer, we will keep track of which pieces we listen to and our reactions to them. This will help us remember all the unique musical styles that we will hear! We also began to learn a new folk dance called the "Galopede."