December Happenings!

So much to post, so little time!

First of all congratulations to all my former JFK and Parmenter students on their amazing concerts last week! It makes me so happy to see so many of my students pursuing music after they leave me and sounding wonderful!

Thanks to our very cool sound recording teacher at FHS, Mr. Peacock, and his crew, you can listen to the Horace Mann, Remington, and FHS winter concerts at FHS's Sound in the Hall web site.

 www.soundinthehall.com/albums

Speaking of some very cool music teachers here in Franklin, you can find Mr. Barrett (DT, Jefferson, and formerly Parmenter's music teacher) performing tomorrow afternoon at the Franklin Public Library! Who knows, you might even see me and my little guy there singing along!

Holiday Sing-Along 

at the Franklin Public Library 

Wednesday, December 19th, at 5:00 p.m.!

Check out the following link for more info:

http://franklinpl.blogspot.com/

Finally, we have been having some fun at Parmenter and JFK! Check out these classes learning about form:how music is organized. See if you can figure out what famous ballet these two pieces are taken from!

"Dance of the Flutes" Mrs. Zarrella's 1st Grade Class

"March" Mrs. Schreiber's 3rd Grade Class

Celebrity Singers

Celebrity Singers

Q: What's a celebrity singer?
A: A celebrity singer is a student in chorus that demonstrates great effort, leadership, and focus. They also show great singing technique such as good posture, vowel shapes, pitch, breathing, etc. Sometimes I also pick a student whom I feel has shown great improvement. With the help of the educational assistants and celebrity singers from the previous week, I try to chose one boy and one girl per week. Some weeks I can't help myself and pick more!

Q: Where did this idea come from?
A: I wanted to show students that anyone can join and love chorus and become a singer. It's not just for a certain type of person. On my bulletin board in the cafeteria, I have pictures of celebrities such as Anne Hathaway, Beyonce, Matt Damon, etc. that were all in chorus when they were younger. Sometimes the best singers are the people you would least expect!

September 4th Grade Parmenter

September 4th Grade JFK 

September 5th Grade JFK

October 5th Grade JFK

October 4th Grade Parmenter

October 4th Grade JFK

October 4th Grade JFK

November 4th Grade Parmenter

November 4th Grade JFK

November 4th Grade JFK

November 5th Grade JFK

November 5th Grade JFK

Musicians of the Month

Musicians of the Month!

Every month 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders love to celebrate a musician's birthday along with their fellow classmates' birthdays!  We learn a little about a new musician and their music. Students with birthdays that month put their name up on the bulletin board for the school to see! Check out our past musicians along with our very famous December composer!

September 23, 1932

Ray Charles

"Hit the Road Jack"

October 7, 1955

Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma on Sesame Street

November 6, 1854

John Philip Sousa

"Stars and Stripes Forever"

December 16, 1770

Ludwig Van Beethoven

"Ode to Joy" Flashmob!:)

JFK Barnes & Noble Fundraiser

So fun to see so many JFK students at Barnes & Noble this afternoon! I love connecting books with music. Here are the books I shared today along with a couple other favorites. 

The Animal Boogie By: Debbie Harter (Kindergarten)
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day By: Judith Viorst (1st and 2nd)
The Remarkable Farkle McBride By: John Lithgow (3rd Grade)
Horace and Morris Join the Chorus (but what about Dolores?) By: James Howe (4th and 5th)
Pete The Cat: I Love My White Shoes By: Eric Litwin (I can't pick just one grade!)

Skin & Bones

In grades 1-3 we have been spending a fair amount of time re-establishing the beat and identifying the meter: triple or duple.

Students K-5 and I love the song "Skin & Bones". It's a great example of a song in triple meter and minor tonality. I also like that it has multiple verses that tell a short story and leaves lots of room for texture. 

This year for the first time, I let students explore ALL of the percussion instruments in my room to create texture for this song. Every student had a turn to select an instrument and verse in which to play. I originally was only going to do this with 1st and 2nd grade but it was so much fun I even let 3rd and 5th grades give it a try! I wish I had recorded my 5th graders playing the melody on recorders. I was so impressed!

Listen below to a couple of examples. You should be able to hear students singing the melody, 6 or 7 percussion instruments creating texture one at a time, and 6 or 7 students playing the macrobeat on the barred percussion instruments (xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiels).

Mrs. Henneberry's 3rd Grade Class JFK

Mrs. Sanford's 2nd Grade Class Parmenter

Finally, one of my favorite parts of this project was when, the following week, students were able to listen to their performances and evaluate what they heard. Here are just a few of the things they were looking for.

1. Could you hear the singers? Were they on pitch? Did their voices match the mood of the music?

2. Could you hear the barred instruments? Were they on the beat?

3. What was your favorite percussion instrument besides your own? Why?

Here's a little peek into my classroom when I told students to share what they had heard with another student.

Mrs. Dulmaine's Room Grade 2 JFK

Welcome!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to my blog! This is my first time attempting a blog so please bear with me. I'm excited to show everyone what goes on in the music room at Parmenter and Kennedy Schools! This year at Kennedy, I'm teaching K-5 general music and 4th and 5th grade choruses. At Parmenter, I am teaching Mrs. Sabanosh and Mrs. Zarrella's 1st grade classes, all of 2nd grade, 4th grade, and 4th grade chorus.

Here is a young musician checking out the instruments in my room at JFK:)