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! Second grade families, don't forget you can tell me about an important culture in your family here 2nd Grade Musical Culture Survey) 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!) but 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 and more importantly what that feels like. (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. Bradley's Class 

Students explored a new rhythm to the chant "Stretch and Bounce." Students are also at a young age seeing the phrasing in the music.

Mrs. Forde's Class 

Students explored different ways they could use their voices and are also exploring new and exciting instruments!

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.) Later this can translate to instruments like guitar and hearing the I chord. 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 term we are going to take our rhythm skills to the next level by adding some new rhythms and more exploration into reading and writing these rhythms. We are also learning to sing patterns in major tonality using solfege (singing syllables) 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?

We also explored the significance of folk music and folk instruments. Students loved the old folk song, "Old Dan Tucker." Below students learned a folk dance to accompany the music and played the musical washboard and the musical spoons.

2nd Grade Arnold

Mrs. Grinley's Class

Friend from Mrs. Maiato's Class who made a cool connection and brought in his book to show me the Elvis Presley Shield Bug!

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. This term 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". We plan to use our skills to create our own planet. Stay tuned!

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 within the next couple of 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, rhythms and fingerings from last year and adding some new practices to our bag of tricks! I also am taking time to review how students can practice at home and work productively in groups. Remember, recorders should always be in backpacks and every student should be practicing the recorder 5x a week for 10 minutes each time. This year to allow more time for ukuleles and students who need to do make-ups practicing will be expected every other week. We'll see how it goes! 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!

New date! 

5th graders at JFK and Parmenter will be invited to sing the National Anthem with the Providence Bruins! The date is January 17th (evening). More information to follow! 

September 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 support personal and celebrity singers from the previous week, I try to chose two students each 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

JFK 4th Grade

JFK 5th Grade

Parmenter 3rd Grade

JFK 3rd Grade