Making Music!
We continue to plug away in the music room at Lyman. Over the past few months the students have experienced the joy of music and dance during our time together!
Here are some of the highlights!
Kindergarten Students
The kindergarten students have been singing and dancing their way though music class. They have learned songs such as "Bow, wow, wow", "Snail, Snail", "Purple Light", and others. We have also learned a dance or two such as a song and dance called "Amasee" where they are in a "two way set" (two parallel lines) where each partner group has to promenade down the aisle in their own special way. The students have also become quite proficient at reading rhythms using quarter notes (ta), eighth notes (Ti-Ti), half notes (to-oo), and quarter note rests (shhh).
First and Second Grade Students
We have started the process of learning our music for our upcoming concert on May 2nd. The theme for this years performance is similar to last years theme of long lost children's songs. I am going through my music books and finding the songs that we learned from our grandparents and passing them onto the children. We continue to strengthen the students music theory skills such as rhythm reading, melodic dictation, and formal analysis of music. In other words, reading and talking about music!
Third and Fourth Grade Students
Classroom!- In the music classroom the students are putting all of the work and learning we have been doing since kindergarten to good use playing their recorders! Over the past few weeks we have been learning the basics of playing the instrument for the third grade students; the fourth grade students are helping to teach their third grade classmates along with practicing their own pieces of music. At this point in time, we have had quite a few belt tests for recorder karate, and I have had the pleasure of awarding quite a few belts as well.
IMPORTANT!!!!- In order to be a bit more efficient in my belt testing process, I have given the fourth grade students permission to video record them playing their song and send that into me via an email or a private YouTube link. If this is something you choose to do, you need to make sure that I can clearly see their face and recorder while playing. The video must be close enough to the instrument that I can see what their fingers are doing. By being able to see the fingers and embouchure (mouth position), I can diagnose any issues that may occur while the student is playing. If you submit the video, then I will listen to it, give it a grade, and then give out a belt if it meets the standards. Please email me with any questions.
3/4 Chorus
The chorus is hard at work preparing for our upcoming concert during the Lyman Lytes festival in early June. I want to send out an extra big thanks for the support of the program at the Hartford Wolfpack game back in January. The money we made on the fundraiser is going towards some new equipment for the music room. I have purchased a wonderful Bluetooth speaker that links seamlessly to my computer and other audio devises, and plan on upgrading a xylophone in the next few days.
Here are some of the highlights!
Kindergarten Students
The kindergarten students have been singing and dancing their way though music class. They have learned songs such as "Bow, wow, wow", "Snail, Snail", "Purple Light", and others. We have also learned a dance or two such as a song and dance called "Amasee" where they are in a "two way set" (two parallel lines) where each partner group has to promenade down the aisle in their own special way. The students have also become quite proficient at reading rhythms using quarter notes (ta), eighth notes (Ti-Ti), half notes (to-oo), and quarter note rests (shhh).
First and Second Grade Students
We have started the process of learning our music for our upcoming concert on May 2nd. The theme for this years performance is similar to last years theme of long lost children's songs. I am going through my music books and finding the songs that we learned from our grandparents and passing them onto the children. We continue to strengthen the students music theory skills such as rhythm reading, melodic dictation, and formal analysis of music. In other words, reading and talking about music!
Third and Fourth Grade Students
Classroom!- In the music classroom the students are putting all of the work and learning we have been doing since kindergarten to good use playing their recorders! Over the past few weeks we have been learning the basics of playing the instrument for the third grade students; the fourth grade students are helping to teach their third grade classmates along with practicing their own pieces of music. At this point in time, we have had quite a few belt tests for recorder karate, and I have had the pleasure of awarding quite a few belts as well.
IMPORTANT!!!!- In order to be a bit more efficient in my belt testing process, I have given the fourth grade students permission to video record them playing their song and send that into me via an email or a private YouTube link. If this is something you choose to do, you need to make sure that I can clearly see their face and recorder while playing. The video must be close enough to the instrument that I can see what their fingers are doing. By being able to see the fingers and embouchure (mouth position), I can diagnose any issues that may occur while the student is playing. If you submit the video, then I will listen to it, give it a grade, and then give out a belt if it meets the standards. Please email me with any questions.
3/4 Chorus
The chorus is hard at work preparing for our upcoming concert during the Lyman Lytes festival in early June. I want to send out an extra big thanks for the support of the program at the Hartford Wolfpack game back in January. The money we made on the fundraiser is going towards some new equipment for the music room. I have purchased a wonderful Bluetooth speaker that links seamlessly to my computer and other audio devises, and plan on upgrading a xylophone in the next few days.