October is one of my favorites month for music! Doing Halloween and other "spooky" activities is always so much fun and the kids seem to have a great time :-)
Kindergarten: This month has been the month of beat exploration on instruments and other related props! We started the month by listening to the "Imperial March" from Star Wars and identifying the form of the song. Next, each child was given a pool noodle to use as a "light saber" to practice tapping the steady beat to the main theme of the song! You can see some pictures of this below. After we felt stable with the steady, we read a story called Possum Come A-Knockin' and students identified the sound effect in the story (knocking). We explored some classroom instruments and found ones that closely matched the sound of knocking on a door to accompany the story! We also learned a fun song called "Who Has the Pumpkin" which gives students a chance to solo sing, and also guess who the singer is! This is a great opportunity to put those listening skills to good use!
Kindergarten: This month has been the month of beat exploration on instruments and other related props! We started the month by listening to the "Imperial March" from Star Wars and identifying the form of the song. Next, each child was given a pool noodle to use as a "light saber" to practice tapping the steady beat to the main theme of the song! You can see some pictures of this below. After we felt stable with the steady, we read a story called Possum Come A-Knockin' and students identified the sound effect in the story (knocking). We explored some classroom instruments and found ones that closely matched the sound of knocking on a door to accompany the story! We also learned a fun song called "Who Has the Pumpkin" which gives students a chance to solo sing, and also guess who the singer is! This is a great opportunity to put those listening skills to good use!
First Grade: We have been very busy in first grade, working on identifying songs in meters of 2, 3, or 4. We also played some fun games to reinforce the three new rhythms we learned: quarter note (ta), eighth notes (ti-ti), and rest! Below you'll see some pictures of them playing "Bee Bee Bumblebee" and "Pumpkin, Pumpkin". We also had to do Quaver's "Monster Groove" to get in the spirit of Halloween while we had music in the STEM room for a day!
Second Grade: We start applying all the aural knowledge we've learned in music to written and visual knowledge! We learned how to read the line and space notes on the music staff with the help of our friend, Quaver! We reinforced this newfound knowledge with a Lines and Spaces Relay Race challenge using our treble clef rug, as well as by writing our "Ghost Melodies". We've now been working on applying our knowledge of lines and spaces to our Orff xylophones by playing a simple accompaniment pattern to our Halloween song "Skin and Bones." We also played a game along with it, which you can see below :)
Third Grade: Throughout the month of October, we finished learning about our four time periods: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Impressionist. Next month, the students will get to write a rap, along with accompaniment music, about one of those styles of music, bringing its ancient characteristics to modern life! Below you will see a student who really got into the Classical period and embraced the hip style of wearing white powdery wigs during that time.
Fourth Grade: In fourth grade we are starting our unit on the evolution of rock and roll! We started by learning about Blues music and practiced writing our own blues songs while playing the 12 bar blues chord progression on a variety of melodic instruments. Next we're learning about Elvis, Doo Wop, and the Beatles! Stayed tuned for more information regarding your child's assigned band or musician :)