Week of September 26

Here are some highlights from this week's music classes!


This week, Kindergarteners in Ms. Waller’s class read a book called Happy Birthday Moon, which taught them what an echo is.  They enjoyed singing "Time for Music" using echoing.  They especially liked coming up with different creative movements to perform with the song.  Students in Ms. Tepper’s classes did not have music this week because there was no school on Thursday.

First graders came up with creative ways to play several of their favorite nursery rhymes on Orff instruments.  They learned that the longest bars make the lowest pitches, so they practiced "walking" up and down the instruments.  They also played sections of the Robert Munsch book, Mortimer, on the instruments.

All second grade classes completed the "A" sections of their class compositions of the poem "Peas Porridge Hot."  Students in each class performed their own ideas for their classmates, and then the class determined which ones would be used in the class composition. They also began learning the poem and body percussion that will be added to form the "B" section. 

Third graders learned two different Orff instrument parts to the song "Down at the Station."  They did a nice job holding their own instrument parts and singing at the same time.

Fourth graders learned instrument parts to go with the three different parts in "Tom, Tom."  Every student played the tubano, temple blocks, and gankogui during this song.

Fifth graders created passports, which they will use throughout the year in a unit called "Passport to Music."  Through this unit, they will "travel" to different areas of the world to experience important aspects of the cultures.  Two of the fifth grade classes began their first journey, which is to Colombia.  One of their first activities in Colombia was to learn a song called "Cumbia del sol."

 Celebrate Julie Andrews' birthday on October 1 by watching The Sound of Music or Mary Poppins!  If you enjoy live theatre, Mary Poppins will be coming back to Chicago from October 13 - November 6, 2011: http://www.broadwayinchicago.com/shows_dyn.php?cmd=display_current&display_showtag=MaryPoppins2011