Is it really October already?!? Many Park students look forward to singing and playing "Pass the Pumpkin" in music class at the end of October, and I am looking forward to it, too! We will also be adding other fall festive songs to our repertoire, like 5 Little Pumpkins, Pumpkin Stew, Big Black Cats, Skin and Bones, Danse Macabre, In the Hall of the Mountain King... Oh, I could go on and on! October is a very fun month.
- Kindergarten students have learned that music can be fast or slow. Now we're adding to the music opposites that we already know! Ask a Park Kindergartener about sounds that sound like a lion and sounds that sound like a mouse!
- First grade students have reviewed their 'music opposites' and now we are practicing reading 'long' and 'short-short' patterns. Next week they will get to play glockenspiels!!!
- Second graders are about to learn a new note, which we are calling "low". For now...(dun, dun, dun!)
- Third graders learned the terms 'ostinato' and are practicing a new rhythm: whole note. Soon they will begin preparing a new note, too!
- Fifth graders are working on a new rhythm which we are currently calling 'pineapple'. We've had a blast preparing for this new rhythm with singing games like "Ida Red" and "How Many Miles to Babylon?".
- Sixth graders are writing about and discussing how emotions are expressed in music. I have been very impressed with their responses!
- 4th graders will begin playing RECORDER very soon!!!!!!! Last week, a recorder overview and order form went out to 4th grade families in an e-mail. In case you missed it, click the link below to see it! :)
4th Grade Recorder Overview and Order Form
Students will begin receiving recorders in music class on Monday October 5th. They are encouraged to practice at home!
We have talked about how important it is for 4th graders to know the Treble Clef note names before they begin playing recorder- since all of our music will be written in the Treble Clef!
4th grade students each have a Growth Score Goal for our Mad Minute Treble Clef Post-Test (an assessment created by Aileen Miracle) which we will compare to the Mad Minute Treble Clef Pre-Test they took in September. 4th grade students are encouraged to practice their Treble Clef reading skills at home using one of the online games below. All it takes is 5-10 minutes to brush up those skills and be ready to reach that growth score!
Here are some links to apps and online games which focus on the Treble Clef:
http://www.themusicinteractive.com/
http://pedaplus.com/games/flashnotes/treblebeg.html
http://www.classicsforkids.com/games/notename/notename.html
http://www.vicfirth.com/education/keyboard/speednotereading.html
