Week of January 13

Students in 1st-5th grades signed up for their Arts in Action workshops this week.  They are getting very excited for this special event, which will take place on Thursday, March 27.

Kindergarteners continued working on loud and soft (piano and forte) sounds this week.  They also learned two important musical symbols: quarter note (one beat of sound) and quarter rest  (one beat of silence).

First graders continued learning about the instrument families in the orchestra this week.  They studied the brass and string families and analyzed Johann Strauss, Jr.'s "Pizzicato Polka," which features the string family.

Second graders played a singing game that helped reinforce dynamics: piano, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, and forte.  This song also taught them about macrobeat and microbeat.  They began learning a piece in honor of National Pizza Week, too.  They played percussion instruments with this song.

Third graders continued working on "Dance for the Nations," which they will be recorded singing next week.  This will be a singing assessment used to create a singing goal for each student to work toward.  They performed a dance in three concentric circles with this song.

Fourth graders continued testing for their recorder belts this week.  Some students chose to work on their music during recess, too.  They are really working hard on this unit!

Fifth graders worked on a body percussion song  this week.  They then used the rhythms in the piece to compose their own songs.  Some students were extremely creative in their performances!  They did a great job with this.