Even though we are nearing the end of the year, I truly believe in making use of every second we have with our students.  So I wanted to share what we are up to even right now as close in on the end of the year!

KINDERGARTEN – This week our classes began their adventure in the story of “Pitch Hill” where they meet and learn about the different solfege syllables we use to develop pitch concepts.  Students met “Sol” and “Mi” and learned about their hand symbols.  They also were introduced to the music staff, lines, and spaces.

1st GRADE – We combined rhythm and pitch reading skills to compose a melody for a short poem called “Bakers Hat.”  Then we did some fast and high energy movement.  Below is a video from Mrs. August and Ms. Afanador’s classes.  I LOVE this video!!  You can see the energy, enthusiasm, and joy in the students as they sing and move to the song.  I especially love hearing my camera-person singing along as he films his friends 🙂

2nd GRADE – We combined rhythm and pitch reading skills to compose a melody for a short peom called “Tarzan.”  Then we learned to play that melody on our orff orchestra instruments.  We spent a minute at the end connecting the activity to other poems that they had learned during their recent poetry unit in homeroom.

3rd  & 4th GRADE – We explored the famous painting “Broadway Boogie” by Piet Mondrian and discovered how visual art could be turned into a musical performance.  Below are some pictures of students leading their classmates around the painting.  As the leader traces the rows and colors the class plays different pitches on the recorder.  We connected this to 20th century composers who sought out new and different ways to make music.

5th GRADE – This was our week to invite our parents in and share some of our favorite activities from the year.  It was such fun to see our parents in our room and have students put on a live demonstration of music class for them!  Thank you to all who came out!!!