All 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th families should have received a welcome back e-mail from me this week. If you did not receive an e-mail please check your junk mail. If you still can not find the e-mail please let me know at macmurraym@franklinps.net.
All important music dates are posted on my blog to the right of the page under important dates. Please note, some dates may not be listed because they are selected by classroom teachers.
Newly added - 5th graders at JFK and Parmenter are invited to sing the National Anthem for the Providence Bruins game on Friday, January 17th (evening)
May Celebrity Singers in Chorus! Congratulations to my 3rd graders at Parmenter and 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at JFK for such memorable concerts! Every student showed growth this year. What more could a teacher ask for? Bravo!
JFK 3rd Grade
JFK 4th Grade
JFK 5th Grade
Parmenter 3rd Grade
May and June/July/August Musician, Culture, and Composer of the Month!
Mary 1st Grade Musician: Stevie Wonder
June/July/August 1st Grade Musician: Edvard Grieg
May 2nd Grade Culture: Mexico *Disclaimer: This is not the real Ritchie Valens but I thought it gives kids a good picture of him!
July/July/August 2nd Grade Culture/Musician/Composer: Mr. Jamie Barrett of Franklin, MA!
Parmenter
JFK
May 3rd Grade Composers: We highlighted all the composers we would be hearing on the field trip! Andre Filho, Felix Mendelssohn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Strauss II, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Georges Bizet
Thank you again to the Parmenter and JFK PCC for an amazing experience. What a treat to be in a real concert hall hearing a professional Orchestra led by a Professional Conductor.
June/July/August Composers: The Beatles!
Other snapshots of Music in May and June!
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
3rd grader creates warm-up for us to use in chorus
K and 1 learning a melody on barred instruments "Acka Backa".
3rd graders preparing to perform their Stomp Compositions in the concert.
K and 1 student improvising in duple meter.
5th graders practicing Riptide on the ukulele.
1st grader sharing a traditional Chinese instrument for Show and Tell.
5th grader sharing his self-taught piano skills.
4th grader sharing her talents with voice and ukulele.
March Musician, Culture, and Composer of the Month!
1st Grade Musician: Bobby McFerrin
2nd Grade Culture: Ireland (and some Scottish bagpipes!)
Here are different classes practicing an Irish jig.
2nd Carnaroli
2nd Maiato
1st Fitzgerald
What a treat! We even had a 2nd grade student at JFK perform an Irish step dance for us!
3rd Grade Composers: For woman's history month we talked about many different female composers and how they paved the way for other female musicians. Check out singer, songwriter and guitarist, Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Many people don't know about her but she is called the "Godmother of Rock and Roll" and influenced many musicians such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and many more!
April Musician, Culture, and Composer of the Month! 1st Grade and 3rd Grade: Musician and Composer Sergei Prokofiev
Prokofiev was a new composer for both grades and I thought it was a great opportunity to tie into the 1st grade unit on sound and the 3rd grade unit on instruments of the Orchestra. Students enjoyed learning about the story and instruments in Peter and the Wolf.
2nd Grade Culture: Brazil
In music we did some drumming and some very basic samba. Here is a little more involved tutorial on how to samba. Maybe it will be the new "floss".:)
Other snapshots of Music in March and April!
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
Kindergarten
In kindergarten we have begun exploring the rhythm and students are echoing patterns but also starting to improvise. We are doing the same with our singing voices! Here is a video students really enjoyed! My question for the students was "Can we lose the beat or rhythm?" The answer? "No but we have to be careful to never lose our confidence."
1st Grade
Students used an African song "Funga Alafia" to practice their beat and learn to move with personal space and shared space. Mrs. Kolodny's class loved having Ms. Fitzgerald's class come join us.
2nd Grade
Here second grader's are learning to layer rhythms by learning this rhythmic round. It was also a great connection to the duple rhythms we are now reading and writing.
Mrs. Carnaroli's Class
Mrs. Maiato's Class
Mrs. Sandford's Class
3rd Grade
Students from 3rd Grade
Students at JFK and Parmenter are preparing for their field trip on May 21st (Parmenter) and May 24th (JFK) to see the RI Philharmonic Orchestra. Students have been learning about the different instrument families. Some students at both schools brought in their string instruments to demonstrate!
Below is activity we did to start learning some of the music we will be hearing on our field trip. Here students in Mrs. Grinley's class are exploring the rhythms of the Blue Danube through movement.
Here Mr. Tighe's class is playing a game "Leprechaun." Students at all ages love this game and I love it because I can differentiate it for all different levels to teach different musical concepts. In third grade we were using it to learn different minor singing patterns.
In third grade we are preparing a new composition based on the world famous percussion group, Stomp. I love walking around and seeing students excited and working hard to create their own music!
Mrs. Schreiber's Class (Day of wax museum dress rehearsal:)
Mrs. Consilvio's Class
4th Grade - JFK
Recorder Karate is going so well! Please help encourage your children to practice 5 times a day for 10 minutes. All songs will be performed at our end of the year concert.
Solo auditions will be in two weeks! Looking forward to hearing everyone! Here is one video students can use to practice at home!
5th Grade
Students in 5th grade are busy! At JFK students are memorizing "My Country Tis of Thee" on the recorder. At both schools students are trying to master the G7 chord. We've been having some really fun play alongs on the ukulele. Here is one example...
Come participate in a snapshot of actual curriculum your students are learning in music, art, and P.E.
Flier will go home with more details as we get closer!
*Please see the right of the page for other important dates! *Most grade level performances are determined by the classroom teachers. If you have questions about an event not listed here please e-mail your child's teacher.
February Musician, Culture, and Composer of the Month!
1st Grade Musicians: Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington
*In honor of Black History Month*
Here is first grade learning "A Tisket A Tasket" which we then listened to Ella Fitzgerald sing.
Mrs. Arnold's First Grade Class
A great book we read!
Fun fact: Mo Willems and Mrs. Mac have the same favorite singer!
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2011
Q: If Elephant's name is Gerald, why doesn't Piggie have a name?
A: Piggie does have a name. Her name is "Piggie". She was named that because when she was born she looked just like a little Piggie. Also, Madonna, Beyonce, and Cher were taken. "Elephant Gerald" is named after my favorite singer (say it fast). (Grown ups, you can see more about my naming decisions for these characters in this interview)
2nd Grade Culture: India
This month we sang a traditional children's song from Bengal called "Ahg-doom Bahg-doom", we looked at Indian drumming, played instruments along to "Jai Ho" and finally watched the world famous Anoushka Shankar perform on the sitar!
Fun fact: Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones (American singer, songwriter and pianist) are half sisters!
3rd Grade Composer: John Williams
Fun Fact: He has been nominated for more Academy Awards than anyone alive!
We watched some of John Williams conducting the orchestra playing Star Wars in class. Here is another student favorite of his! In one lesson this month students composed rhythms in triple meter to accompany the beginning of this piece.
Other snapshots of Music in February!
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
Kindergarten
In kindergarten as we continue to explore the beat, we talk about how dancing is closely tied to the music and the beat. Here is a chant called "Valentine Rap". Check out these moves!
1st Grade
First grade has been working on not only feeling the beat but also differentiating between duple and triple meter. Many of us adults did not learn these words as kids but it is basically hearing if a song is in two or three. This is an important step in performing, reading, creating and improvising their own music! We do very little written work in first grade because I want to spend most of our time making music but once in a while I like to check in on paper. Here are two papers you'll see come home.
*The answer is triple meter but even if students picked duple meter if they had a good reason for picking it I was happy with their thinking!
Students explored triple rhythms through the popular nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty". We listened for Du da di's to determine whether this rhyme is in duple or triple meter. Here Mrs. Emord's class practicing the rhythm and then playing the rhythm on an instrument of their choice. You might also notice that students were 100 years old this day!
Now listen to them audiate the rhythm or say it in their head.
2nd Grade
Second grade is working on adding solfege syllables in major and minor tonality. This develops their ears so they can perform, read, write and improvise. Here is a fun game we played for Valentine's Day!
Mrs. Wilmarth's Class
3rd Grade
Students from Mrs. Lussier's Class
Students at JFK and Parmenter are preparing for their field trip on May 21st (Parmenter) and May 24th (JFK) to see the RI Philharmonic Orchestra. More information coming home in April! Students have been learning about the different instrument families. Today at JFK some students brought in their string instruments!
*Dress as your favorite book character added to the fun!:)
4th Grade
Recorder Karate is going so well! Please help encourage your children to practice 5 times a day for 10 minutes. It will build their confidence and help them feel success! Students should be working on blue belt, "When the Saints Go Marching In." Only two more songs until black belt! All songs will be performed at our end of the year concert.
