Tuesday, December 17, 2013

The Nutcracker

11/26/15*** See information on this post on my new website at https://artsintersection.wordpress.com/2015/11/26/trepak-russian-dance-listening-activity/

Many of our Franklin students have been studying different pieces from Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker." Here's a quick update on some of these activities:

Kindergarten
Kindergarten is listening for patterns in the "March" from the Nutcracker. We're identifying an ABA pattern in what we hear and we're moving to show that we recognize this pattern. (Click here for a video clip of "March" from the Balanchine "Nutcracker.")

1st Grade
1st Grade is also listening for ABA patterns in "Russian Dance (Trepak)", and is using shapes to create their own ABA listening "maps." Here, you can see how some of us designed our ABA patterns:






Next, we choreographed our ABA piece of music, with the boys making up dance movements for the A section and girls making up movements for the B section.




3rd Grade
3rd grade learned a little about the composer, Tchaikovsky, who was Russian, and students were interested in learning a little about the Cyrillic alphabet with the help of a translation website (below).

Cyrillic Translator (type your text in the box and click "convert")

We studied the "Dance of the Reed Pipes" with the help of a listening map, and then we compared and contrasted two famous performances of this piece, one choreographed by Balanchine, and the other by Baryshnikov (click on the choreographer's name to see each video clip).

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

All About Leroy Anderson!

2nd and 3rd grade has been taking part in a composer study on American composer Leroy Anderson. Visit the links below to see some of his music performed and to read more about this composer!

Videos and Performances

The Typewriter video

Sleigh Ride video

Syncopated Clock video

Plink Plank Plunk video


Biographical Information

Leroy Anderson Biography (DSO Kids)

Leroy Anderson's Official Website

 Once Upon a Sleigh Ride: The Music and Life of Leroy Anderson (PBS website)

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Center Time for 4th Grade

4th graders are spending some time in learning centers. This purpose of these centers is to give students an opportunity to review concepts we've learned in music and apply them in a number of ways- through reading, writing, listening, and playing.

In this round of centers, our 4th graders have been working on pentatonic pitches (do, re, mi, so, la, and low la), and eighth-sixteenth note rhythm combinations.

In our red center, students are playing SMART Board games to practice visually and aurally identify melodic patterns.


In the green center, students are identifying and writing melodic patterns including low la, do, re, and mi.


In the blue center, students are being introduced to the iPods and the listening center process with an iPod "scavenger hunt."



In the purple center, students are playing a musical version of the game "Don't Break the Ice." The only difference between the real game and our musical version is that the ice cubes have quarter, eighth, and sixteenth note rhythms written on them, and students have to read the rhythm before they tap out an ice cube.


In the yellow center, students are improvising a pentatonic melody set to a rhythm that they have written. You may see their "Fruit Rhythm" papers coming home soon!


And finally, in our new orange iPad center, students are playing a rhythm game called "Rhythm Cat" (this is a free app available on the iTunes store!). Students have to "play" a rhythm along with an accompaniment track.
 



*For Music Teachers: Check out Aileen Miracle's TPT store for some great resources for centers. I used some materials from her Songs and Activities to Teach Low La set in these centers.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Veteran's Day Sing-Along

On November 11th, we celebrate Veteran's Day. At Franklin School, our 5th grade Ambassadors organize an assembly to honor this holiday and thank local veterans. As part of this assembly, our students will participate in a school-wide sing-along of several patriotic songs. Several students expressed an interest in being able to practice these songs at home, so I am linking the Powerpoint presentation we will be singing along with at the assembly below. We will be singing:

         -The Star-Spangled Banner
         -Yankee Doodle   
         -There are Many Flags
         -This Land is Your Land
         -You're a Grand Old Flag

Use this slideshow to practice to lyrics to these patriotic songs.

Sing-Along Powerpoint

The website for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has some great background information on these songs! Check it out here.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

4th Grade wishes you a Thrilling Halloween!

4th grade has been learning about ways to structure a song, called "form." We mapped the form of a familiar Halloween song using index cards, and then, since we just can't sit still when we hear this song, we mapped the form using choreography as well! Enjoy our in-class performance of Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Click on the links below to view.

4J- AM

4J- PM

*Music teachers, this activity can be found at mrskingrocks.blogspot.com- a GREAT resource for music teachers!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Instrument Investigation Research Begins

As we prepare for our Children's Concert field trip next month, we have been reviewing families of instruments in the orchestra, how to categorize them, and now we are focusing in on specific instruments. Students are working in pairs to research an assigned instrument. They will answer questions about their instruments, create a question to research and answer, and then will present their research to the class. Students will be assessed on their written work, as well as their presentation.

Students, here are some resources you can use in your research. Keep up the great work!

     San Francisco Symphony

     Classics for Kids

     Dallas Symphony Orchestra

     New York Philharmonic

     Arts Alive


Here we are in action...









*Music Teachers: This activity was adapted from this worksheet available for purchase here at Tracy King's PayLoadz.com store.


2nd Grade Rhythm Review

We've been reviewing rhythms through singing, playing instruments, notating, and composing. We've reviewed quarter notes, quarter rests, and eighth notes. We learned a poem called "Loose Tooth," first adding body percussion like snaps, claps, and pats, then audiating the words of the poem and just performing the rhythmic word patterns. We then learned an instrumental accompaniment to the poem and interspersed our musical creation throughout a reading of  "Loose Tooth" by Lola M. Schaefer.






We also learned a song called "I Bought Me a Cat" by Aaron Copland. Click here for a video of a performance of this piece.

We used this song to reinforce the concept of one, two, and no sounds on a beat (syllabification). We used this syllabification concept to determine the rhythm of the words of our song. See some of our "I Bought Me a Cat" activities below.







We enjoyed reading/singing the book "Cat Goes Fiddle-I-Fee."



*Music Teachers: "I Bought Me a Cat" SMART Board Lesson and Rhythm Activity available from "Music and Technology's" Teacherspayteachers store here.

Let's Keep a Beat, 1st Graders!

Our 1st graders have been working on differentiating between sounds that have a steady beat from sounds that have no beat. Ask your students to explain what a beat is, and have them demonstrate how to keep a beat with sounds around them!

We listened to environmental sounds that keep a beat, like clocks and windshield wipers, versus sounds that have no beat, like a cat meowing or a rainstorm.

We learned a poem called "Windshield Wipers," to help us begin recognizing how to keep a beat at different speeds. Check us out...




We learned the song "Miss Mary Mack," and as we did, we worked on recognizing sight words and finding rhyming words. We responded to this song with a movement game, and as the tempo changed, we had some fun! 1st graders, teach your parents or siblings how to play!




Monday, August 26, 2013

Welcome Back!

Hello, Ben Franklin families!

Welcome back! I everyone had a great summer! I'm so glad to be back for my 7th year here at Ben Franklin, and I'm excited about another wonderful year of making music with our great students.

Parents, I hope that this blog will provide you with a closer look into the music room this year. I'll be posting updates as often as I can to give you descriptions of music room activities, as well as pictures and videos so you can see us in action. Students, I hope you'll use this blog to review what we've done in class, to find ways to extend what we're learning, or just to be able to share your day with your families!

Ready or not, here we go!


Tuesday, May 21, 2013

5th Grade Guitars: A Recap

As the school year winds down, I want to share some photos of your 5th grade students in action with their beloved guitars! They've come a long way in such a short amount of time. We've learned to play several basic chords over the past couple of months, and right now we are presenting our final performances of a 3-chord song.

Students are choosing their own 3-chord song to play and will be assessed based on keeping a steady tempo, correct chord fingerings, and timely chord transitions.

My hope is that by mastering a few basic chords, students will be able to go out and find songs they love and want to play and will have the knowledge to get started on their own! I'm so happy that it's already happening- students are bringing in their favorite songs to play during recess or to play for the class. I am so proud of them!



One last round of centers for 2nd grade!


1/18/16***See my new website and check out the blog post on Crazy Cube compositions at https://artsintersection.wordpress.com/2016/01/18/composition-cubes/

We thought we'd try to squeeze in one last round of centers before we leave for the summer!

2nd grade has been learning about the pitch "re" through songs and activities, and now they are off exploring this concept in our centers!

In the reading center, we are playing some SMART Board games to match up written melodic patterns with what we hear and what we see.



In the writing center, we are using melodic crazy cubes with pentatonic pitches (do, re, mi, so, and la) to compose our own piece of music to a given rhythm.


In the listening center, students are listening to "Carillon" by Georges Bizet. This song features a "mi-re-do" ostinato that we have listened to in class. Students are completing a graphic organizer based on their listening and writing a paragraph about what they heard.



In the games center, we are playing Candyland! Not just regular Candyland, mind you, but musical Candyland! When students draw a card to move forward, they then have to draw a musical challenge color-coded to match their card. They may have to sing something, answer a question, read a rhythm, or any number of musical tasks. I think it's safe to say that this is a favorite.


And finally, in the instrument center, students are using what they know of "mi, re, and do" to figure out how to play simple melodies on Orff instruments. They are learning to play "Hot Cross Buns" and "Let Us Chase the Squirrel."