Week of November 14

Students had a good time celebrating Children's Book Week at Wayne Thomas throughout the week.  Conferences take place next week on Monday, November 21 and Tuesday, November 22 from 12-8pm.  Please feel free to stop by the music room if you have any questions about your child's progress in Music.  I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with loved ones.

Kindergarteners sang a couple of Thankgsiving songs this week.  They played a singing game with one of the songs, and they were very excited to play the gathering drum, as well!

First graders created a list of things they are thankful for.  They figured out the rhythms of the items on the list and determined how they would write the rhythms using quarter notes and eighth notes.  They then worked in groups to compose short songs using these rhythms.  They also played a singing game this week.

Second graders sang a song called "Yummy Pumpkin Pie."  They played unpitched percussion instruments with this song and learned about the timbre of the instruments.  They figured out why the composer chose to use specific instruments in the particular parts of the song.  They also composed their own movements to a song called "A Turkey Knocked On My Back Door."

Third graders read a book called Barn Dance and figured out the various techniques the author used to make the reader feel like they were a part of the barn dance.  They learned a little bit about square dancing and analyzed a couple of pieces of music, focusing on musical symbols that they did not know yet.

Fourth graders are doing a nice job with their recorder music.  The song they will play to earn their green belts is MUCH harder than the previous three songs.  They will need to make sure they are practicing this one at home for 5-10 minutes a night.

Fifth graders are doing a great job with their concert music.  They are very excited to share the script that they wrote themselves.  They will be performing songs from all around the world at their concert on December 7.

As always, please free to contact me with any questions or concerns: ecrutchfield@nssd112.org