Friday, December 21, 2018

December Music 2018

Wishing everyone a wonderful vacation filled with music and happy memories! See you next year!:)

December Celebrity Singers in Chorus!

 

JFK 3rd Grade


JFK 4th Grade


 JFK 5th Grade



 Parmenter 3rd Grade






December Musician, Culture, and Composer of the Month!


1st Grade Musician: Ludwig van Beethoven 



2nd Grade Culture: Europe - Russia



3rd Grade Composer: Pyotr Tchaikovsky
"The Nutcracker Suite" premiered December 18, 1892


Other snapshots of Music in December!
Below are pictures and videos of different activities and concepts we explored in music. I plan to feature every class that I teach at JFK and Parmenter by the end of the year. Stay tuned!
Also follow me on twitter @MrsMacMusic1

Grades 1st-5th Music Show and Tell
Thank you to everyone who helped transport instruments etc. during this busy week so students could perform for myself and their classmates. If your child forgot, don't worry! We'll be doing this again in June. Here a few small highlights.
5th Grader playing the Baritone in Mrs. Lacerda's Class.

A student playing a song he learned on the piano in Mrs. Lussier's 3rd grade class.
Two friends singing together in Mrs. Emord's first grade class.
A student playing the cello in Mrs. Henneberry's 3rd grade class.

A student playing the piano in Mrs. A. Williams' 4th grade class.


This is a student in Mrs. Consilvio's class looking very dapper for his performance of his own original song!


1st Grade
Here in Mrs. Emord and Mrs. Kolodny's class, students learned to listen to parts that sound the same and different. This is how students start learning about form or how composers organize music. This is "Dance of the Reed Flutes."



2nd Grade
Below students in Mrs. Sandford's class are having no fun at all exploring form through "The Russian Dance" from The Nutcracker. :)


3rd Grade

This is Mrs. Consilvio's class also exploring form by performing "The March."

This is a sneak peek at a Planet composition project we've been working on in third grade. Parmenter will actually be performing these pieces as part of their 3rd grade concert. At JFK, I will be recording their full performances.



4th Grade
Students are still working diligently at growing as recorder players. I spent a lot of time in term 1 not only building good recorder playing habits but also good recorder practice habits. Students are being taught how to learn a piece without my help by first clapping and saying the rhythm, then clapping and saying the notes, then adding fingerings and finally playing the song.

Here is Mrs. E. Williams' class performing notes B and A on the song "Starburst." Notice how diligently they are following their music! 


Recorders go home and recorder karate starts in January! Get ready!


5th Grade
I was finally able to find time to get a recording of our fifth graders in action on the ukulele! This month I gave students a packet filled with all different winter songs. Students could pick whatever song they wanted to practice and perform for me on the recorder and they were given a couple of songs to learn on the ukulele. Here they are performing the C chord and newly learned F chord. Enjoy!


3rd Grade Chorus Parmenter
Here the third grade chorus adapted a warm up called "Donkeys Always Love Their Carrots". Once mastered this warm up can be turned into a round to create harmony. This month they created their own version:)




Friday, December 7, 2018

Heads up!

Looking ahead in music...
Chorus auditions
Next week  during general music classes. 
December 10-14
JFK 3rd and 4th grade and Parmenter 3rd grade (Optional)
*Chorus concert dates are listed on the right side of this blog*


Music Show and Tell
Week before vacation during your child's music class!
December 17-21
JFK 1st-5th grade, Parmenter Mrs. Mac’s classes
Some important notes:
1. This is completely optional. Usually only a few students in each class share.
2. This is for students who would like to show a song they learned in piano lessons or other instrument lessons, sing a favorite song they learned at home, or maybe bring in and share a special instrument!
3. All sharing must be musical! While dancing is very musical, I've had to eliminate this option for time sake.
4. Please keep all songs to one minute or under.

Thank you! Mrs. MacMurray

Piano - Free images on Pixabay




Monday, December 3, 2018

November Music!

November Celebrity Singers in Chorus!



JFK 3rd Grade

JFK 4th Grade

 JFK 5th Grade



 Parmenter 3rd Grade






November Musician, Culture, and Conductor of the Month!

1st Grade Musician: John Philip Sousa 



2nd Grade Culture: Australia




3rd Grade Conductors: Marin Alsop and Andris Nelsons


Other snapshots of Music in November!
Below are pictures and videos of different activities and concepts we explored in music. I plan to feature every class that I teach at JFK and Parmenter by the end of the year. Stay tuned!
Also follow me on twitter @MrsMacMusic1


1st Grade
Here in Ms. Fitzgerald's class students are marching to their musician of the month's famous march, "Stars and Stripes Forever." His nickname was the March King! This is also a great way to reinforce the macro beat. 




2nd Grade
Below students in Mrs. Henault's class are learning a popular Australian song, "Kookaburra." Students are also working on identifying music that is in duple and triple meter. Here the beat on the barred instruments creates a duple pattern. 

3rd Grade
This month I shifted gears and focused on two conductors of the month instead of a composer of the month. At the end of the month I taught students how to conduct a pattern and different jobs the conductor has when leading musicians. Students really enjoyed leading their classmates!

Conductors from Mrs. Lussier's Class



Conductors from Mrs. Consilvio's Class







Conductors from Mr. Tighe's class




4th Grade
Students are still working diligently at growing as recorder players. I spent a lot of time in term 1 not only building good recorder playing habits but also good recorder practice habits. Students are being taught how to learn a piece without my help by first clapping and saying the rhythm, then clapping and saying the notes, then adding fingerings and finally playing the song. Here is Mrs. A. Williams' class going through these steps and learning how to work in groups. So proud of their focus! 





3rd Grade Chorus JFK
Here the third grade chorus adapted a warm up called "Donkeys Always Love Their Carrots". Once mastered this warm up can be turned into a round to create harmony.