September Music!

September Music!

Every month I'm going to be posting pictures of celebrity singers in chorus. I will also be posting the musician, culture and composer of the month for first through third grade. (Thank you for all of your suggestions! Please feel free to still send in recommendations for your families' cultures!) Finally, I'm trying to include pictures and videos of what goes on in the music room! September was a bit of a blur but there will be more next month. I teach 33 classes a week (25 JFK and 10 Parmenter) so while I can not capture every class, every month, (I would need a personal videographer!) I'll do my best to capture each class before the end of the year. Hopefully, by seeing another class in your child's grade you'll still be able to have a great conversation with your child about what they're learning in music! 

Thanks for reading! Mrs. Mac(Murray)

Kindergarten:

This first term students are focusing on two things. 1. Learning that the beat is a steady pulse. (We've been exploring our surroundings and finding the beat everywhere! Our hearts, tools, clocks, music, instruments, our bodies, buses, windshield wipes, swings and so on can all move with a steady pulse!) 2. We can use our voice to shout, speak, whisper, sing, chant, and audiate! (Ask them to show you all the voices we use in music!) 

Mrs. Trottier's Class JFK

Students explored a new instrument, the tambourine and found the beat in Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog".

1st Grade:

In first grade we took a few weeks to review our concepts from kindergarten. We are now focusing on two learning objectives. 1. We can echo patterns in duple meter using syllables. (We are using syllables such as Du (pronounced Doo) and Du de (pronounced Doo day). This is the second step in learning how to become fluent in rhythm. 2. We can accurately find and sing the resting tone. (The resting tone is one of the most important notes in a song sometimes referred to as "Do" pronounced "Doh" when in major tonality. Students could not get enough of our musician of the month, Ray Charles. We talked about how there must have been times when things were hard due to being blind but he never gave up! 

2nd Grade:

In second grade we spent a few weeks reviewing end of the year first grade objectives. This year we are echoing and identifying two different kinds of patterns in duple meter (Macro/micro patterns and Division/Elongation patterns). We are also learning to sing patterns in major tonality using solfege starting with the resting tone! (Think Sound of Music Do-Re-Mi:) We decided to start our cultures right here in the United States! How lucky are we that we are the home to the King of Blues, Rock, Pop and many more? Students also met a jazz favorite Louis Armstrong!

3rd Grade:

In third grade we spent a few weeks reviewing end of the year second grade objectives. This year we are focusing on composers. We are singing solfege syllables in major tonality and we have been reading and creating rhythms in duple meter. We learned about the composer Gustav Holst who used the planets as inspiration for his composition "The Planets Suite". 

Sneak peek at the one of our planet compositions. Students created this rhythm as a class, talked about revisions with friends and then voted on the final 16 beats!

We listened to Mars in class. Here students can see what it looks like in concert.

4th Grade:

Students in fourth grade spent the first month learning the names of the notes on the treble clef staff and reviewing rhythms in duple meter and their names. Ask your students to teach you the tricks for the line and space notes! Recorders are beginning in just two weeks! They will come home in January:)

5th Grade:

We have been so busy catching up on recorder from last year! We are reviewing notes from last year and adding some new practices to our bag of tricks! Students are learning how to count rhythms! Their middle school teachers will be so impressed! Remember, recorders should always be in backpacks and every student should be practicing the recorder 5x a week for 10 minutes each time. Can't wait for ukuleles will begin this month! 
Feel free to check out my previous post: Thinking of buying a ukulele?

3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Chorus
All choirs have been learning or reviewing their chorus objectives. So far we have done...
1. We can sing with the 5 points of posture.
2. We can sing with great breath support!

Reminder that concert dates are on their right side of this blog page. These kids are going to sound amazing!

September Celebrity Singers

3rd Parmenter

3rd JFK

4th JFK

5th JFK