5th Grade: Notation Fifth graders have been reviewing music notation, including rhythms and how pitches are notated on a musical staff. They also began learning a traditional Ukranian folk song called "Minka." This song is in ABA form, meaning that it starts and ends with the same music, but has a contrasting middle section. Next week, they will use this song to learn about music notation that indicates and helps musician move through the form of a piece of music. 4th Grade: Singing & Duration Fourth graders finished their unit on singing with a quiz this week. It covered different types of two-part singing, including rounds (two or more singers singing the same song but starting at different times) and descants (a harmony line that is higher than the main melody). They then began a new unit on duration, a concept that is very important in musical rhythms. They're reviewing whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth note rhythms before moving on to some more complicated rhythms. 3rd Grade: Singing & Sound Science Third graders also finished a singing unit this week. We spent the beginning of the week reviewing what they've learned about range and the types of voices included in a choir (soprano, alto, tenor, bass). After taking their unit quiz, they started a new unit on sound science. Students have been discussing the definition of sound and learning about how sound is produced by vibration. We're looking at different instruments and how they make sound through vibrating strings, membranes, air columns, and more! 2nd Grade: Melody Second graders started a new unit about melody this week. Melody is how notes in music move from one to the next. Second graders are starting to learn about melodic direction, or shape, and how notes can move by stepping, skipping and repeating. We're using Beethoven's famous "Ode to Joy" theme from his 9th Symphony to learn about melodic direction and about this important composer. 1st Grade: Melody First graders have also been learning about melody this week, including how the pitches in a song can go up, down, or repeat. They've learned that melodies are like musical sentences that can be put together to create songs, which are like musical stories. They also learned about how there are different types of songs, like celebration songs, patriotic songs, folk songs, and so many more. Kindergarten: Meter
Kindergartners have been getting an introduction to the concept of meter. Meter is how the beats in music are grouped together in patterns. Usually they are in groups of 2, 3, or 4. They have been learning songs in each meter and about ways that people often move with music in those meters, such as marching to a meter of 2 and waltzing to a meter of 3.
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As third and fourth graders are getting ready to play recorders in music class, check out this interesting article about the tradition of students learning this instrument in elementary music class. The recorder is an instrument with a very long history and a lot of wonderful repertoire. Although the recorder has a bad reputation with some people who had negative early experiences with it, for most students, playing recorder is very fun and exciting. Through learning a simple wind instrument like this, students learn to read music, play in an ensemble, coordinate a variety of fine motor skills, and many more skills that lay the foundation for success with any other instrument they might try in the future.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-every-kid-in-america-learns-to-play-the-recorder The 3rd and 4th graders will be starting their recorder units soon! Please return recorder forms to me by this Wednesday, February 6th. Even if you will not be ordering a recorder, I appreciate getting the forms back so I can know what your plan is and ensure that I have enough school recorders for those who will be borrowing a recorder. If you need another copy of the form, you can print it from the link below. If you would like to learn more about the Canto recorders that I will be ordering for students, check out this link. Please let me know if you have any questions!
5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd Grade
Second through fifth grade students have been learning about the history of recorded music this year. We learned about how phonographs and record players work and how music is recorded on records. The process is amazing, and yet simple enough that we were able to make our own phonograph with just a pin and a cone of paper reading the grooves of a record. The kids enjoyed listening to some old recordings of The Beatles and The Monkees! 1st Grade First graders have continued learning about the lines and spaces in standard music notation. They are able to read and sight-sing songs with three pitches: mi, sol, and la. We've also been reviewing ta and ti-ti rhythms while learning the song "Acka Backa." Next week, we'll try out the Acka Backa game! Kindergarten Kindergartners wrapped up their unit on instruments this week. They are doing a great job of identifying the instruments in the four instrument families: woodwind, brass, string, and percussion. Now they're starting a new unit on melody, learning about how pitches go up and down in music. |
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