Happy Holidays!... and a Happy New Yeaaaaaaar!!!

Wishing you all a great vacation! Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!

Love, Mrs. Mac

 

5th Grade Mrs. Kroeber's Class

(Music Show and Tell)

 

3rd Grade Mrs. Wilmarth's Class

(Working on form using "March" from The Nutcracker. Students put this together after only 15 minutes! Special thanks to Mrs. Green for her camera work:)

 



Music Show and Tell!

Music Show and Tell is an opportunity for students to share with their classmates and music teacher musical talents or instruments that they may have or practice at home.

Some examples are: singing part of a song, playing a piano song you learned during piano lessons, bringing in an instrument that your grandparents got you from Ireland, etc.

This is completely optional. Whatever they do it must be something they have prepared at home.

This happens twice a year in December and June.

JFK: Show and Tell is next week.
Parmenter: Show and Tell is next week or in January for fourth graders.

Looking forward to hearing some wonderful talents!

AUSTRALIA!

This month we are featuring Musicians of the Month from Australia! This week I brought in one of Australia's most famous instruments, the didgeridoo! Check out the picture and video below!

Mrs. Bliss' 1st grade class and Mrs. Mac's Didgeridoo

 

Some modern day didgeridoo players!

JFK 4th and 5th MixCraft/Recorder Projects!

Parmenter 4th graders are currently working on this project as well. Their projects will be done and posted the week before winter break!

What is MixCraft?
Mixcraft 6 is a powerful music production and multi-track recording workstation that comes packed with thousands of music loops and dozens of audio effects and virtual instruments. Mixcraft 6 music recording software enables you to record audio, arrange loops, remix tracks, compose with MIDI and virtual instruments, add effects, score and edit video, and mix and master your tracks to create polished, professional compositions. This program is only for PCs but very similar to GarageBand for Macs.

What were the students' objectives?
*4th: We can perform an 8 measure piece on the recorder using the notes B and A.
*5th: We can perform an 8 measure piece on the recorder using the notes B, A, and G. (Students were able to choose which piece they performed.)
*4th and 5th: We can record, arrange, and evaluate using the program MixCraft.

4th Grade:

Mrs. Merten: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/attv1zhiedlc4p1/WelafVUs6A

Mrs. Williams: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/js9sp2hb1cfyga6/-8joudl4lg

Mrs. Adams: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sq7dawrn8yngozk/24olkJjtUV

Ms. Farrell: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/re79iy9gw8756mp/1DEJru-lyI

5th Grade:

Ms. Etzel: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bkmg062qq8gyk2k/47um2i_EEo

Mrs. Vicente: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/feomq9kdijt83z9/PQI8Ha56hX

Mrs. Lacerda: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6duzejx4sw0s3n0/Q9VsvDhnLI

Mrs. Kroeber: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/musmosl62tp05rc/bpTvJOVsoa

November Celebrity Singers and Happy Thanksgiving!

Our November Celebrity Singers!

 

JFK 3rd

 Parmenter 3rd

 

 

 JFK 4th

 

 Parmenter 4th

 

 

JFK 5th

 

Happy Thanksgiving from Mrs. Dulmaine's 2nd Grade class at JFK!

(This is a song I did with many grade levels at JFK and Parmenter this week. I'm sure your children will be able to teach you the moves!)

 

What were the music teachers doing yesterday?

Yesterday's Professional Development Day was really special because we got to work with conductor, Dr. Rachel Lauber. See her bio below. She facilitated great discussion about why creativity and the arts are so important and how we have to give students more opportunities to create. The high school repertory orchestra came in on their day off to play while the teachers conducted. What an amazing orchestra we have here in Franklin! Here are Horace Mann and Remington's band directors working with Dr. Lauber. Thank you to Dr. Lauber for helping us really bring the score to life!

Dr. Rachel C. Lauber, Conductor

Rachel C. Lauber is instructor of Conducting at the Eastman Community Music School and is currently a freelance conductor.
Dr. Lauber has served as Music Director of the Livingston Symphony Orchestra, Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra, and has appeared as guest conductor with the Romanian-American Music Festival (with members of the DSO), the Slee Sinfonietta, and the Holland Symphony Orchestra (MI). In Detroit, she shared the podium in concert with Neeme Jarvi, Tom Wilkins and Mark Wigglesworth. She was also director of the Detroit Symphony’s Unmasked Series working to plan camera shots, direct live cameras and collaborate with guest conductors (Nicolas McGegan, Roger Norrington, JoAnn Falletta, John Adams, Hans Graf and Tom Wilkins) on their pre-, post-, and interactive-concert discussions and lectures.
Other podium work includes conducting the University of Michigan Orchestras and the University at Buffalo Orchestra. For the University of Michigan Opera Productions she conducted performances of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi & Suor Angelica. She has directed the University of Michigan Campus Symphony, the Nazareth College Orchestra, and the Shady Side Chamber Music Festival Orchestra.
Ms. Lauber has studied with Kenneth Kiesler at the University of Michigan where she received her doctorate in orchestral conducting. Additional studies have included the Conductor’s Retreat at Medomak with Mr. Kiesler, the Brevard Music Center with Gunther Schuller, the Oregon Bach Festival with Helmuth Rilling, and numerous workshops of the Conductor’s Guild and the American Symphony Orchestra League. She has studied in Italy at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena and the Catania International Conductor’s Workshop in Sicily.

November Musicians of the Month

As we celebrate November birthdays in music this month, we will also be celebrating music from India! I'm really excited to introduce our musicians of the month, Ravi Shankar and daughter, Anoushka Shankar. 

Ravi Shankar was an incredibly talented sitar player and one of the first to popularize Indian Classical Music in other parts of the world! Probably one of his most famous students was George Harrison from the Beatles who studied the sitar with Ravi Shankar for six weeks in India and became lifelong friends. Listen to this Beatles song and see if you can hear the Beatles love for Indian music.

 

Anoushka Shankar is carrying on her father's tradition. She recently released an album of Indian music fused with Spanish music. Here is an example, Raga Flamenco.

Fun fact! Norah Jones is Ravi Shankar's daughter and Anoushka's half sister. Here's a beautiful song they perform together.

Happy Halloween!

Here is Mrs. Dulmaine's 2nd grade class performing "Skin and Bones". I did variations of this song with almost every grade level from singing to moving to instruments to even recorders in fifth grade! Enjoy!

October Celebrity Singers!

Check out these 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade celebrity singers from JFK and Parmenter. Do I have the best students or what?!

 Parmenter 3rd

 

JFK 4th

Parmenter 4th

JFK 5th

 

JFK 3rd

Survey and Name This Chorus Warm-up!

Next month I will be selecting a musician from India and I could use your help!

 

If you know any musicians that the students would enjoy whether from India, China, Australia, Ireland, Brazil, etc. Please take this two minute survey!

 

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q66XBFV

Check out what this talented fifth grader from JFK figured out on her recorder! Do you recognize this warm up?

 

5th Grade HW Practice Video

This week 5th grade students should have earned their PINK belt playing the song of their choice from a few songs I provided. This week students should be practicing another song in the same packet entitled, "Flutter by, Butterfly." Beautiful song that is challenging with its slow tempo in triple meter. Here's a video I made that hopefully will help! Can't wait to hear everyone next Wednesday (Ms. Etzel's class) or Friday (Mrs. Kroeber, Mrs. Lacerda, and Mrs. Vicente's classes)!

September Celebrity Singers and Musician of the Month!

October Musicians  and Dancers! of the Month are from Guinea, AFRICA!

Les Ballets Africains

Find out a more info at: http://lesballetsafricains.net/

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, everyone was born to sing! I began thinking about celebrities such as Anne Hathaway, Beyonce, Matt Damon, Theodore Roosevelt, etc. that were all in chorus when they were younger. Sometimes the best singers are the people you would least expect!

Q: What can I do to help?
A: Never tell your child they can't sing! Also be careful about how you joke about your own singing. We're all born with the right equipment to sing. Some of us unfortunately just never learned how to use it!
Science and Art

September Celebrity Singers!

 

Parmenter 3rd

 

Parmenter 4th

 

 JFK 3rd

 

JFK 4th 

 

JFK 5th



Australian Girls Choir at Parmenter School

We were very fortunate here at Parmenter today! The Australian Girls Choir is on tour in the United States and Canada and thanks to Mr. Morris' Boston City Singer connection chose to stop at Parmenter school on their way to NYC! Check out a couple clips from today's concert. It was quite a treat! Students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade (when they weren't dancing!) were mesmerized!

Read more about the group at http://www.ausgirlschoir.com.au/

NEW secret password!

Wow! So many students at Parmenter figured out my secret password and got to play the gong today! I want to give my friends at Parmenter another chance to play! The secret password for next Monday is AUSTRALIA! Can't wait!

Students at JFK can still use spaghetti or I'll accept Australia as well!

The secret word is....

spaghetti!

Tell your son or daughter my secret password and they can play one of their favorite instruments for the whole class, the gong!

All they need to do is whisper to me the secret word at the beginning or the end of music class! Make sure you tell them not to share it with their friends! This offer expires October 1st!

On this blog you'll find important dates, information and see what your children do at music! Make sure you follow by e-mail or become a follower!

5 Points of Posture!

At JFK and Parmenter this week the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade choirs are off and singing! This week our learning objective was singing with Mrs. Mac's 5 points of posture. 1. Feet shoulder width apart. 2. Knees unlocked. 3. Backs straight. 4. Shoulders relaxed. 5. Eyes and heads towards the conductor. Thanks to the 3rd grade Parmenter chorus for demonstrating! Looking forward to their concerts in January!

 bad posture

5 points of posture!

Musician of the Month!

In the past few years, in an effort to enrich your child’s musical experience, I have created a bulletin board for first, second, and third graders that ties their birthdays to famous composers and musicians. This year I hope to broaden their musical tastes by introducing musicians from different parts of the world. My hope is that in addition to helping them grow as musicians it will also help them grow in their acceptance of people’s differences.

While I hope to present music with as much authenticity as possible, I know I will be learning much of the music alongside your children. I also recognize that within a small region there are many different musical styles. Therefore it will be impossible to represent all regions and styles. 

Here is where you come in! If you have any expertise in a musician from another culture I would love to hear from you! Please take this short survey below to share your idea!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q66XBFV

I decided to start with a musician born right here in the U.S. with a style that started right here in the U.S. The Blues! Here is the King of Blues himself! B.B. King! Born September 16, 1925.

Happy First Day!!!

Welcome back everyone! Hope you all have a great first day! Here is a picture of my new room at JFK! You can now find me on the other side of the building in room 10. Can't wait to make music with you all!

Look what I can do!

Hope everyone is having a great summer! While you are all taking a break from school I get to be a student myself! This week I took a really neat graduate class in music production with Professor Stefani Langol from Berklee College of Music. I'm learning a new program for PCs called MixCraft. This is very similar to GarageBand for Macs. I'm excited to say I was able to order this software for both PC labs at JFK and Parmenter. For my final project, I'm creating some projects I plan to use with 4th and 5th graders this upcoming year. I can't wait!

Here is a fun project I did the first few days using MixCraft. Notice the first clip is almost entirely without sound. In the second clip I was able to create all the sound using a microphone and sound clips in MixCraft. Enjoy the rest of your summer and see you soon!

Gromit leaves Home - silent

Gromit Leaves Home - sound

Summer Music Program 2013

Great opportunity for students who love to sing entering 4th and 5th grade!

Summer Music Program 2013

July 22 - August 2, 2013

Ms. Nancy Schoen, Director

For entering grades 4 to 12

Morning Program, 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM

Concert Band

for entering grades 5 to 9

This class is for students with at least one year of playing experience. Students will continue playing while improving their musical skills. Small group instruction, supplemented with daily games and activities will be used to help strengthen the sense of a music community. Older students will work in chamber music groups or act as music mentors for the younger students. $200 for 2-week program

Elementary Strings

for entering grades 4 and 5

This class is for students with at least one year of playing experience with a stringed instrument. Students will review the concepts learned in previous lessons, break up into small groups for new concepts, and get together again as an orchestra. $200 for 2-week program

Afternoon Program, 12:30 PM to 3:00 PM

Jazz Band Workshop

for entering grades 7 to 9

This class is for students with at least two years of playing experience. Students will learn the styles and

influences of modern jazz greats like Charlie Parker in a fun, relaxed setting. Using Bebop melodies, Latin Drum Beat, and 70’s Funk Rock, students will experience the excitement of playing jazz, while developing technical and musical proficiency. Traditional and non-traditional jazz instruments are included. Improvisation and simple chord progressions are addressed. $200 for 2-week program

Summer Orchestra

for entering grades 6 to 9

This class is for students with at least two years of playing experience with a stringed instrument. Students will receive small group instruction and will perform with the larger string ensemble. Students will perform music literature representing a variety of musical genres and styles. $200 for 2-week program

Summer Glee

for entering grades 4 to 7

If you enjoy "Glee", then you will love Summer Glee! This is a performance-based group that combines

singing and dance movements. A varied repertoire of age-appropriate music will be presented. $200 for 2-week program

All groups will showcase their talent with a short performance at the end of the 2 weeks.

Full Day Program, 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM

Music Mentors

for entering 10th graders or higher

Students who intern as Music Mentors work with summer chorus, string and band musicians under the supervision of Ms. Schoen. $25 for 2-week program

Register online at

www.franklin.k12.ma.us, select Departments, Lifelong, Summer Program508-553-4814 or lifelong@franklin.k12.ma.us

Freddy can sing!

Thank you so much to my JFK kindergarteners!

This is Freddy the frog. The one thing he wanted to do more than anything in the world is sing! In learning to use their singing voice and sing in tune, kindergarteners taught our beloved Freddy how to sing! Now he can't stop! Check out his video below!

Thank you!!!

A big thank you to all the JFK and Parmenter families for all your love and appreciation! I am one lucky teacher!

Important Dates:

Parmenter: Tuesday, May 28th 9:30 AM Memorial Day Program
*Parmenter 4th graders should be practicing America at home to honor our veterans!
JFK: Thursday, May 30th 10:00 AM 4th grade chorus and recorder concert
Parmenter: Tuesday, June 4th 4th and 5th grade chorus concert
9:00 for 5th grade families, 9:45 for 4th grade families
Parmenter: Monday, June 10th 9:00 2nd Grade Earth Our Home Show
JFK: Friday, June 14th 9:00 AM 5th grade Proud To Be An American Show

So proud to be a Franklin music teacher!

What an amazing week at Parmenter and JFK last week! Congratulations to Parmenter 4th grade on an unbelievable Night of the Arts performance! Students and their families should be so proud of their accomplishments! Remember there is still time to get your black belt before the terms ends!

Here's a sneak peek at one of our chorus songs! You will NOT want to miss this concert! Coming Tuesday, June 4th 9:00 AM!

5th grade at JFK had an amazing concert last Friday! From singing to recorders to flashlights! What can't these kids do?! Here is a short clip from our song, "Fireflies."

Proud to Be American performance scheduled for Friday, June 14th!

April Celebrity Singers!

 Parmenter 4th

 JFK 4th

JFK 4th Grade chorus concert Thursday, May 30 10:00 AM!

JFK 5th

May Musician of the Month!

Definitely a "Beautiful Day" today!:)

Bono from U2

Field Trip to perform with Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra

Wow! What a great trip! Today, 3rd and 5th graders from JFK and Parmenter 5th graders performed at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Providence, RI with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra. It was really neat to hear so many students singing, playing instruments, and moving with a professional orchestra! A very cool experience that I hope the students appreciated as well! Over the past three days over 10,000 students participated!

Special thanks to the PCC's for making this trip possible and all the teachers and administrators who helped with the logistics. This is a three year series. This year we saw The Orchestra Moves. Next year, The Orchestra Rocks!:)

Here are a couple of clips that really don't do the the field trip justice!

Nocturne

Toreador

Cidade Maravilhosa

So much going on in music this month!

Parmenter Night of the Arts!

May 1, 2013 6-7pm

Everyone is welcome! 4th and 5th grade will be performing. 4th graders received a paper today with details. Please return the bottom portion ASAP so I have an idea of how many will be there. We would love to have the whole grade! Thanks in advance for supporting the arts at Parmnenter School!

Vote FHS!

2013 WMRC Local Music Awards

Franklin High School has been chosen among other local schools to receive a 2013 WMRC Local Music Awards for it’s commitment to local music, including the growth and dedication of Sound in the Hall Records and the Indie Outbreak Radio Show which has been highlighting local and national music for the last three years. To VOTE please follow the link to WMRC Local Music Awards

http://www.wmrcdailynews.com/localmusic/index.html.

Click VOTE HERE - scroll down to #28 Best Local High School Music Programs and choose Franklin High School.

Please pass the word to others. A link to VOTE can be found on our Indie Outbreak web site at www.indieoutbreak.com. Thank you for your support and wish us luck.

 

Musician of the Month - April

Ella Fitzgerald

Born: April 25, 1917

Check out this incredible scat singing!

March Celebrity Singers!

 Parmenter 4th

 JFK 4th

JFK 5th

2nd Grade (Mrs. Wilmarth's Class) learning their Do-Re-Mi's

5th JFK - Gold Medal Practice!

Field trip is quickly approaching! Make sure you're practicing to get your gold medal this Friday! Let's show everyone what great musicians we are at Kennedy School! Here's a video I made to help you practice:)

Happy St. Patrick's Day from JFK 4th Grade!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

JFK 4th Grade

February Celebrity Singers and Composer of the Month

February Celebrity Singers!

 JFK 5th

 Parmenter 4th

JFK 4th

Happy Birthday Bobby McFerrin!

Our Musician of the Month

First Black Belts!

Hats off to these fourth graders! While most students are doing a great job working on their blue or red belts, these students could not be stopped! Way to go!

 JFK Black Belts

Parmenter Black Belts

Don't forget that if you need help with the rhythm or melody you can go to the Recorder Karate Dojo type in the username and password (on the front of your packet) and play along with the recordings!

HONK!

I'm definitely going to see my former students in this really funny musical! Come join me!

(The musical adaptation of the Ugly Duckling)

MARCH 8 AND 9

7:00 PM

HMMS

$10 Tickets available at the door

The Blue Danube

Attention JFK 5th graders!

Here is the video to help you with your Silver medal like I promised! Remember there will be no testing for silver medals the week after vacation. If you would like to challenge yourself and learn the harder version of The Blue Danube on page 17, go for it!

Students who need to retest for their Bronze medal, February vacation is a great time to get caught up!

Have a great vacation!!! Mrs. Mac

January Celebrity Singers and more!

Happy Birthday John Williams!
February Composer of the Month
Friday, February 8th

January Celebrity Singers!

 Parmenter 4th Grade

 JFK 4th Grade

JFK 5th Grade

Check out 5th Grade as they begin to learn the harmony to the chorus of Fireflies by Owl City. Not bad for two weeks in!

 

First Compositions!

A student today raised her hand and said, "I was born to sing!" It's true! We are all born to sing! Kindergarten students and I have been working on vocal exploration to find our singing voices.

We talked about how composers write music and then each child created their own composition. Mozart was composing music when he was only 5! We then took turns singing each others compositions. Compositions should be in your child's take home folder today!

Check out our JFK Kindergarten composers!

Mrs. Trockman's Class

Mrs. Trottier's Class

Ms. Shortt's Class

Two Unbelievable Concerts!

First of all, a belated congratulations to all 4th and 5th grade Parmenter students on their concert last week! I was blown away by your sound, energy, and focus! Bravo!

Also congratulations on last night's after school district-wide music concert. Outstanding job by all 3rd, 4th, and 5th band, string, and chorus students! You made your schools and directors very proud!

Here is a small clip from an Honors Chorus song, Proud Mary. Amazing what students can do with talent and hard work!

Who Has Seen The Wind

Who Has Seen The Wind - Green Belt

This song I added a few years ago and can not be found on the Recorder Karate website. With the help of 4th grade student teachers at JFK, Ms. Boulay and Ms. Decker. I was able to make a video to help students practice at home. Enjoy!

JFK Winter Chorus Concert Highlights

Bravo to all my 4th and 5th grade students! What an amazing concert! Looking forward to starting some new music next week! (Parmenter Parents - don't peek!:)

Thanks to Mrs. Williams for these videos of 4th!

"Rounds Around the World"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Yr0ar2mWM-U

"Sleigh Ride"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pRMJuAi65_A

"Just The Way You Are"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=A-IFabUzepA

Here are some short 5th grade highlights!

"Come Dance a Jig"

"Gaudeamus Hodie"

"Sleigh BAG"

"One Small Voice"

"Stereo Hearts"

More talent at JFK and Parmenter!

Here are my promised highlights of "music show and tell" at Parmenter and JFK for 1st and 2nd grade. Looking forward to hearing more in June!

        JFK 1st and 2nd Grade

Parmenter 1st and 2nd Grade

December Celebrity Singers!

4th Grade Parmenter

5th GRade JFK

4th Grade JFK