Mrs. Mac Music

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

September Musician of the Month!

Happy Birthday to our Musician of the Month, Ray Charles!

This year each month, we will be celebrating students' birthdays in grades 1-3 along with a birthday of a famous musician born the same month! I try to pick musicians from different cultures and musicians that might broaden students' musical experiences, Last year, I focused on composers. This year, many musicians will be composers but I may have a few that are more known for their performing skills. As always, I will take class time in December and June to showcase our musicians at JFK and Parmenter Schools!

This month I picked Ray Charles because I find him inspiring. Sometimes we want to give up when things get tough. Ray Charles could have given up when he lost his eyesight. I'm sure reading and writing music was not easy. Instead he worked hard and he went on to become a world famous musician! With hard work anything is possible!

Ray Charles ABC's

Speaking of musicians! Here is one of our very own singers at Parmenter singing the National Anthem at Fenway Park Saturday! Wow!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIw33sVkbxQ

Do you have a musician that would be appropriate for grades 1-3 that you think I should showcase? Please leave a comment with the musician and why you think that musician should be picked!

Support the Franklin Music program by bringing this coupon to Froyo World! Wednesday, September 30th

Friday, June 12, 2015

Peter and the Wolf and Concerts

Peter and the Wolf

A special thank you to JFK and Parmenter PCCs! Thanks to them, I was able to bring my Instruments of the Orchestra unit to life! Today Parmenter 3rd graders joined 3rd graders at JFK to watch musicians of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra perform Peter and the Wolf! It was a real treat to see the instruments we learned about up close and personal. The musicians were able to stay and do a repeat performance for grades K-2 as well!

Bravo!

I can not begin to explain how proud I was of my students this week. At both Parmenter and JFK, the 3rd and 4th graders had wonderful concerts that showed great enthusiasm and hard work! Yesterday 5th graders performed in their Proud To Be An American Show. It has been such an honor to watch them grow into wonderful musicians. It seems as though they just walked through the doors as Kindergarteners not too long ago! They will be greatly missed and I hope they come back and visit!

I was not able to get clips from all performances but I'm including a couple below! If someone has a clip from the JFK 3rd grade concert, please e-mail me! macmurraym@franklin.k12.ma.us Thank you!

JFK 4th Grade "Hey Brother"

(Fourth grade student, Ben, playing the drums!)

Parmenter 4th Grade "Hey Brother"

Parmenter 3rd Grade "Brave"

5th Grade practice "Taps"

Thursday, June 11, 2015

End of Year Celebrity Singers and Musicians of the Month!

May and June Celebrity Singers!

Thank you to all the singers that went beyond the call of duty this year! So proud of your hard work!

JFK 5th

JFK 4th

JFK 3rd

Parmenter 3rd

Parmenter 4th

June, July, and August Musicians of the Month!

The Beatles

I was trying to tell students how this band was more popular than One Direction! I think this video gives you an idea of how popular they were:)

Thursday, May 21, 2015

5th Grade JFK Special Guests!

Big thank you again to JFK PCC for bringing Eine Kleine Konsort Recorders to Kennedy School!

JFK 5th grade students worked very hard this spring to learn some very challenging pieces to perform with these special guests! This was really a great culmination of the last two years of recorder playing. Our special guests remarked on how advanced our students were and how well behaved. Check out some highlights below!

"I Feel Good" James Brown

"March" from The Nutcracker

"Ode To Joy" Beethoven

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Thank you JFK and Parmenter PCC!

With the help of both JFK and Parmenter PCCs I was able to bring in professional cellist, Mr. Selby, to perform for the 3rd grades! It was a great experience to see the different string instruments demonstrated for us! It also helped bring to life my unit on instrument families of the orchestra and illustrate some 3rd grade concepts in science such as sound and vibrations! I look forward to exploring these families more on June 12th with special guests from the RI Philharmonic Orchestra!

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

4th grade recorder - Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

A student today requested I make a video for the silver belt song - Take Me Out to the Ballgame. So here it is! Don't forget to scroll down for extra help on green and blue! Happy practicing!