Week of February 11

Don't forget to mark down the date for your child's Spring Sing!  These dates can be found under the "Important Dates" section of the blog.  All grade levels have now started learning music for these performances.  Keep reading to find out more information about your child's music education!

Kindergarteners learned a song called "Valentine, Valentine" in honor of Valentine's Day.  They also performed a partner dance with this song.  They enjoyed working with their classmates for this dance.

First and second graders learned the second song for their Spring Sing this week.  This song has several singing solos in it.  Important vocabulary from this week include solo, tempo, and harmony.  They should be practicing the singing and movement for their first two songs at home!

Third and fourth graders began singing the third song for their Spring Sing this week.  This song features the music of J.S. Bach and has a difficult fugue in the middle.  They are doing a nice job with very difficult music so far.  Students should be practicing the singing and movement for their first three songs at home!

Fifth graders took a break from their Spring Sing music this week for a very special activity.  They took a "Passport to Music" trip to Italy in music class to learn a little bit about opera, and then they had some important guests come visit.  Fifth grade students had a special presentation on Tuesday afternoon by an opera company, Opera for Kids!, that gears the performances towards children.  They watched a performance of Mozart's Bastien and Bastienne, which is the English version of an opera that Mozart wrote when he was only 12 years old.  They loved it!  Throughout the rest of the week, students could be heard talking in the hallways about the performance.  This was generously sponsored by the 112 Education Foundation and Ravinia Festival.  The fifth graders will be seeing a performance by a different opera company in March!  Take a look at a couple of photos from this performance.

Music Activity of the Week

In honor of Presidents' Day on Monday, take look at the website for "The President's Own" United States Marine Band:  http://marineband.usmc.mil/kids_corner/kids.htm  This website has fantastic information for students!  It lets them explore the White House, room by room, learning about the patriotic music that has been performed there.

The current director of "The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band is Colonel Michael J. Colburn.  It has recently been announced that he will be taking over as the director of bands at Mrs. Crutchfield's alma mater, Butler University, after the 2013-2014 school year.  This is very exciting news for the Butler University School of Music!