This Week in Music

Kindergarten: We have added the quarter rest to our rhythms, and students are experiencing the rest in several songs, "I like to Play the Sticks" and "Into the Woods". Since Halloween is on its merry way, we have learned "We are Scary Skeletons", which reinforces pulse of music and locomotor skills.

1st Grade: Students play an imitative game with "In the Hall of the Mountain King", a well-known Halloween/mystery song. The rhyme, "Little Jack Pumpkin Face", is learned with different motions to show the pulse of the music during each phrase. For the song, "What Will you Be?", instruments are used to keep the pulse as each student tells the class and teacher what they will be for Halloween. Students are assessed this week on their ability to indicate whether music moves up or down when they hear it.

2nd Grade: The dynamics, piano and forte, are introduced in a spoken piece called "Three Little Muffins. Students are also using a three line staff to accurately place the pitches for mi, so, and la as used in their songs thus far this year. The song, "Must Be Halloween", allows students to determine the rhythm of the song when they hear it.

3rd-5th Grades: Students learn a hand game called "Double Double Ice Cream", a popular playground song/game. In pairs, students receive a felt five line staff and felt notes. They place the notes for do, re, mi, so, la on the correct line or space when the teacher calls them out. The half and whole rests are reviewed this week. The concept of Major and minor keys are introduced and students asked to brainstorm adjectives to describe a song in Major and minor keys. The book, Shake Dem Halloween Bones, is introduced, and students are taught a tune to accompany the chorus of the book. Third graders will add an instrumental part to the tune next week. Fourth and fifth graders will begin recorders next week.