Composer of the Month
March's Composer of the Month was Felix Mendelssohn, a composer from the Romantic period who lived from 1809-1847. He is famous for writing background music for Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, which includes the very familiar "Wedding March" (click below to hear it.) Felix had a sister, Fanny, who was also a great composer. We took some time to talk about her as well as how difficult it was to be a female composer in the 19th century.
5th Grade
This month, students in 5th grade composed a short piece for drum. They went through several drafts, receiving feedback and refining their work through the course of several weeks. They also had a chance to evaluate others' work and provide suggestions for improvement. At the end of the unit, all students shared their work by performing their piece for the class.
4th Grade
Students in 4th grade continued to work on their recorder unit, learning a new note - Low D. The purple belt song, "Old Macdonald Had a Farm," is the longest song yet and uses some challenging rhythms. Students also had a chance to play a game called "Recorder Rumble," where they rolled a die to see which pattern they should play. If they played it correctly, they got a point for their team!
3rd Grade
3rd grade students learned about a new improvisation (making music up on the spot) technique called Question and Answer. The leader plays a pattern (the question), and the others respond with their own pattern (the answer) which should be similar to the question but with a few differences. The students also learned a new note called Fa and continued to practice reading and playing music in 2 parts.
2nd Grade
Students in 2nd grade composed their own songs using the notes Do, Re, and Mi and sang them for the class. They also learned about accents, which are the notes that are louder and more emphasized. Students listened to different music and identified where the accents were in the song (every 2, 3, or 4 beats). They practiced moving to a song with accents every 4 beats by learning a dance called Irish Stew (pictured below).
1st Grade
1st graders learned how to write La on the staff and two new music words, "Forte," which means loud, and "Piano," which means quiet. Students practiced identifying and moving to loud and quiet music. They also played a listening game where they had to identify certain instruments by sound only.
Kindergarten
Kindergarteners practiced reading, singing, and moving to long and short sounds. This is preparing them to begin to read rhythmic notation in the near future. They also performed loud and soft music. Below is a picture of the students moving to high and low sounds with scarves.