I am thrilled to begin a new musical year with the students at Leonard and Hill Elementary Schools. Please check back soon to see what we've been learning!
Here is a fun video to demonstrate how boomwhackers are used to create a melody. Listen to the differences between the long and short boomwhackers. Which ones make a high sound? What happens to the tempo as the song goes on? The group STOMP is famous for making music out of household items such as brooms, trash cans, etc. Here is a video where they use newspapers to create rhythms. Notice all the different ways they use the newspapers. Can you think of any other ways you could use them to produce sound? The Piano Guys created this amazing video by looping sounds from a piano and two cellos. Looping sounds is a technique used to repeat a sound over and over. A short phrase of music is recorded and "looped" so that it is constantly playing. This allows the performer to play more parts on other instruments.4th Grade Leonard 4th graders are busy learning how to play the recorder! We have been focusing on proper playing technique, hand placement, and air support. 4th graders have also been learning to read notes on the treble clef staff. Students are challenging themselves through the Recorder Karate method. This method consists of 9 songs. When a student is able to play the first song accurately, they earn a karate "belt" that attaches to their recorder. Then, they can move on to the next song. Each song increases in difficulty. The students are doing great so far and are excited to earn their belts! Martell 4th graders have also been focusing on reading notes on the treble clef staff. We are using individual bell sets to increase our understanding of music reading and work on our performance skills. 3rd Grade We are busy preparing for our 3rd grade performances! Leonard students have an informance on Tuesday, March 31st. Our program is called "A Journey through Musical Genres." We are exploring several different types of music while learning musical skills such as form, dynamics, meter, contour, and rhythm. We can't wait to share our knowledge and talent with you! Martell Salutes America will be performed on Wednesday, April 15th. We will be performing several patriotic selections. Please invite any family members or friends who have served or are currently serving in the military because our finale will be especially directed at honoring them! 1st and 2nd Grade First and second graders are learning about musical contour and high and low sounds. They have used manipulatives to explore high and low pitches. Using these manipulatives as puzzle pieces, they were able to put a song together by showing the melodic contour. Then, they were able to identify these pitches as music syllables (so, la, and mi). Second graders have also begun labeling these pitches on a music staff! Kindergarten
Kindergarten classes have been working on using our singing voices. We read the book "Spider on the Floor," then learned a song to go with it. Students created their own page of the book and took turns singing it to the class. We have also been working on rhythm and beat, and identifying fast and slow music. |