Week of December 4

You may have heard your children talking about the upcoming "Snowball Celebration."  If the entire school is able to earn 1000 points for positive behavior, they get to participate in the Snowball Celebration during recess on Friday, 12/15.  (They currently have 816 points, so we are hopeful they can meet the 1000 point goal!)  Students are using recycled paper and crumbling them up to make them into "snowballs," which they will get to play with during the event.  Many of the kids have asked if they can make snowballs at home.  They were told that as long as they ask their parents first, they are welcome to bring them in from home.  (We just don't want them using papers with personal information on them, as students may see what is on them.)  If you have newspapers, catalogs, papers, etc. that you would otherwise recycle, they would make great snowballs!  Paper is also available in the music room for any students who want to make snowballs during recess times.

Kindergarteners in the morning class performed a folk dance called "Seven Jumps" this week.  Students in the afternoon class read Trombone Shorty and watched a couple of video clips of his performances. 

First graders performed a folk dance called "Shoemaker's Dance."  They really enjoyed this!  They also used unpitched percussion instruments to perform rock and roll rhythms.

Second graders sang a song called "Rocky Mountain" this week.  They used a rubric to assess various performance recordings of the song and were then recorded singing the song themselves!

Third graders learned movements to the "Nutcracker March," by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.  They learned different movements for each section of the piece, and this helped them to discover that the song is in Rondo form.

Fourth graders are doing a nice job with their recorder music.  At this time, most students have earned their white and yellow belts.  Many are working on their orange and green belts.  Some have even soared ahead and are working on their brown or black belts!

Fifth graders had their concert performances this week.  They performed for the Wayne Thomas students and staff on Monday afternoon and for their parents on Tuesday evening.  They did a great job with their music!  Students should be very proud of their hard work.

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