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.