Kindergarten- High, Middle, and Low Video!

9/2/15***SEE MY NEW WEBSITE AT https://artsintersection.wordpress.com/2015/09/02/teaching-high-and-low-faeries-and-giants/***


This morning, kindergarten learned a little bit about high, middle, and low sounds. We played some SMART Board games, and we watched this great Sesame Street video featuring high, middle, and low voices.

Stay tuned! Next week, we'll be putting our knowledge of high and low into practice on the instruments, as well as reading a new book and composing our own high and low melodies!

5th Grade Drumming Finale!

The 5th graders have finished up their world drumming unit. In this unit, we were working on:

• Using correct hand technique (alternating hands).
• Playing steady and consistent rhythms.
• Maintaining independence from other musical parts.
• Interacting with a group (watching and being aware of others).
• Maintaining focus and concentration within the ensemble.
• Playing with good posture.
• Listening to others while playing our own parts.

We've learned some strategies for creating patterns within a drum circle, for improvising, and for being spontaneously musically creative within the structure of an ensemble. We wrapped up our big group experience by splitting up into small ensembles, composing rhythmic patterns, and performing them for the class. See us at work below!

Half Note Fun

2nd grade has been learning a new rhythm- half notes (worth 2 beats). We learned a new song called "Donkey, Donkey" (some of us are very excited to be singing about donkeys, which we apparently love). We learned to read this new rhythm, and then we composed eighth/quarter/half note rhythm patterns in an unconventional way- with Play Doh! Each student received a "beat bar" with 4 beats, and had to create a 4-beat pattern using quarter notes (notated by 1 "blob" of Play Doh on the beat), eighth notes (2 blobs sharing the same beat), and half notes (1 giant blob that spreads through 2 beats). I think we enjoyed our hands-on experience and this new way of composing!

We've now starting learning some instrumental accompaniment for the song, so we'll be practicing playing our new half note rhythms, so stay tuned for videos of in-class performances!