Week of February 20

Some classes had all of their normal music classes this week, and others did not have music at all due to not having school on Monday or Tuesday.  See below to find out about what those classes who did have music learned this week.

Kindergarteners are beginning a new ReadyGen literacy unit in their classrooms about music!  To enhance this unit, we read a book called Making Music during music classes, and I showed the students all of the different instruments that were discussed or pictured in the book.  They were very excited to see some of the unusual instruments.

First graders began studying the instrument families of the orchestra this week.  The first family they learned about was the brass family.  They learned that the four main brass instruments are the trumpet, French horn, trombone, and tuba.  They studied Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man," which features brass instruments.

Second graders self-assessed the video performances of their pizza compositions this week.  They also began learning about macrobeat (big beat) and microbeat (small beat) by working on a song called "Miss Sue."

Third and fourth graders learned their third and fourth concert songs this week.  They should be practicing all of their songs each evening by singing along with the recordings that can be found on the "Concert Music" section of this blog.  Most students seem to really be enjoying learning these songs!

Fifth graders worked on the song they will play on the recorder to earn their white belts in Recorder Karate.  Some students already tested and earned their belts.  Each child is expected to test once a week.  They should be practicing for a few minutes each evening at home.

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