Week of January 17

Find out about some of the things your child has been learning in Music be reading below.  Sections are color-coordinated by grade level to make it easier to read.

Kindergarteners read Ten in the Bed this week, and created a soundscape to go with it.  Each student picked an instrument to represent the sound of one of the animals falling out of the bed.  They considered whether the animal would have a piano (soft) sound or a forte (loud) sound when choosing their instruments.

First graders did instrument activities with two books this week.  First, they read Stanley Mows the Lawn and used unpitched percussion instruments to create a soundscape for the story.  They also acted out the book.  Later on, they read Mortimer and played Orff instruments along with the book.  They focused on playing low-high and high-low to represent the sounds of the characters walking up and down the stairs in the story.

Second graders continued their composition projects with their pizza-themed songs.  They have worked very hard in their teams to assign a pitch to each sound of the poem, and they decided what they would like the form of the song to be.

Third graders listened to their "Dance for the Nations" recordings this week.  They graded their own recordings and conferenced with Mrs. Crutchfield in order to create a singing goal that they will work toward.  This goal will be very important as they begin the music for their Spring Sing in just a couple of weeks.

Fourth graders did a nice job with their recorder music this week.  Some students in each class are now serving as coaches to help teach the songs to their peers.  This is a great leadership opportunity for these students.  Their classmates really enjoy learning from them, as well.

Fifth graders began their recorder unit this week.  They reviewed many of the notes they learned in 4th grade and added some new ones.  They were introduced to a game called Joytunes, which they can play at home in order to earn extra Dojo points.  They can access the game here.  (There is additional information about it on the "Recorder Music" section of this blog.)

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