Patriotic Songs of the Month
January: "My Country 'Tis of Thee"
February: "Georgia On My Mind"
March: "This Land is Your Land"
Everyone learned about Ray Charles during Black History Month. We listened to "Georgia On My Mind" and "Hit the Road Jack."
All grades learned an Irish Dance!
These grades have been learning to read music and play the recorder! Ask them about "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge" and "FACE." Everyone is learning or reviewing B, A, and G and playing "Hot Cross Buns," the unofficial national anthem of the recorder.
Our third graders did a phenomenal job with their show, Hats! We couldn't be more proud of their hard work!
These kids worked so hard to put on our Black History Month Celebration! They did an amazing job with their songs and speaking parts. I am so proud of them!
We are now reading The Misunderstood Shark, doing the "Penguin Dance," and creating our own songs.
First grade is working very hard to put on their show, Arf! We will show off thier talent on March 27th at 6:30.
We have been learning about high and low, loud and soft, fast and slow. We've used the stories: The Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Tacky the Penguin, Owl Babies and Down in the Jungle. We are also taking turns using puppets that Mrs. Johnson purchased with a grant she won.
We have enjoyed using our books and puppets that were granted to us by the CCSD Foundation!
September: "The Star-Spangled Banner"
October: "You're a Grand Old Flag"
November: "God Bless America"
Our upper grades have been learning to play the ukulele! We took our show on the road and went caroling around the building to spread our holiday cheer.
Our 4th grade did a wonderful job performing our Veterans Day show this year! We are very proud of them and are so appreciative of our members of the armed forces.
Our 3rd grade is hard at work preparing for our upcoming show, HATS! by John Jacobson and John Higgins.
Second grade has been working on rhythm with How to Catch a Turkey and "Pies, Pies." Now, we are preparing our Black History Month Celebration!
We have worked on rhythm with How to Catch a Turkey and added instruments to stories with A Loud Winter's Nap. We also used scarves with holiday music showing the different sections of music with different moves.
Our Kinder-friends did a fantastic job on their performance of A Prehistoric Christmas! We are so proud of their hard work!
Our fifth graders have been reviewing rhythm, learning folk dances, and passing games. This includes: "Sasha," "Alabama Gal," "Pebble, Pebble," and more.
Fourth grade has been working hard to prepare for our Veterans Day Celebration! We have an amazing show ready to present to our community veterans on November, 8 at 9:30 and 11:15.
9:30- Kindergarten, 2nd and 3rd grades
11:15- Pre-K, 1st, and 5th grades
4th grade will perform at both celebrations.
Can't you tell that we're a plate of spaghetti and a meatball?
Rhythm, steady beat, movement, composing, and audiation have been the focus the beginning of this year. We have learned these through a movement game, The Big Hungry Bear, Creepy Carrots, and Skeleton Cat.
We've learned several "Hello" songs, "Partners of Ten," "Different Beat," and musical concepts like high and low with "My Little Pony." We also used Be a Friend to learn about movement and Pumpkin Soup for instruments.
Our Kindergarteners worked on farm songs while we learned to be in the music room. We explored fast and slow sounds with "Juba" and "O ma washi," songs from Western Africa and Japan. Now, we're learning songs for our December performance- A Prehistoric Christmas! Join us for this adorable show on December 17th at 6:30!
Max Martin is a songwriter and producer from Sweden.
We learned that:
He is still writing and producing today.
He was the lead singer of a band when he was 14.
He is in the Songwriter Hall of Fame.
He was given the prestigious Polar Music Prize by the King of Sweden!
Playing boomwhackers with
"It's Gonna Be Me"
Classroom instruments and rhythm review with "Roar"
Dancing and singing with
"I Want it That Way"
Our "big kids" have been learning to sing a traditional Japanese song called "Sakura" in Japanese! They learned about improvising in a minor, pentatonic scale as an accompaniment and learned a countermelody on recorders with our new note "C."
We're going to finish the year with a game song called "Chicken on a Fencepost" with a rubber chicken. It should get quite entertaining!
We have been learning about recorders and the families of instruments! We learned how to play of first song, "Hot Cross Buns," using B, A, and G notes. We also learned how the families are divided- by vibrations!
We have been playing our Orff instruments with "Little Bunny Foo-Foo," learning about melodic direction, and how to play the instruments properly.
We have also begun learning a game song from Ghana called "Sansa Kroma." We are learning it in the native language and will be doing a passing game with our egg shakers.
First grade put on an amazing performance of Pajama Party! If you have any pictures or short videos, please email them to hjohnson@ ccboe.net.
We have also began adding sound effects and composing a song with the book The Pout-Pout Fish. The kids are doing a great job choosing instruments to add to enhance the story and moving like sea creatures in our classroom ocean. So much creativity!
We learned about the instruments of the Orchestra with the story "Peter and the Wolf."
We also added drums, scarves, and glockenspiel to the book Old Black Fly reinforcing melodic direction and steady beat.
Duke Ellington was an African-American jazz composer and musician.
We learned that:
He was born in Washington D.C.
lived from 1899-1974
helped to make jazz famous all over the world
created music with other jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
gave us such hits as: "In a Sentimental Mood, "Take the A-Train," and "It Don't Mean a Thing."
We have been studying instruments in various ensembles such as jazz bands, marching bands, and orchestras. We learned how to break them into families and the characteristics of those groupings.
We learned songs and speech pieces on Orff instruments (xylophones, metallaphones, glockenspiel, and various hand drums). Beat and rhythm were very important and we had to switch back and forth between them quickly. Third grade also learned about the pentatonic scale and how to improvise using the song "Ida Red."
Black History Month Show- Our second graders rocked their performance on February 29th! They did a whole show about Motown where we learned about amazing African-American accomplishments, and they sang their hearts out to some of our favorite songs. Mrs. Johnson is very proud of them!
We are working on the show Pajama Party! This show has adorable songs and the cutest stuffie dance you've ever seen! We will perform it on March 28th at 6:30. Come join us in your finest pjs!
These kids have been learning about high and low sounds using songs and stories. They are also learning about instruments that play high and low, like the flute and tuba.
We have been learning about the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky this 9 weeks. We learned that:
he was from Russia
he lived from 1840-1893
he loved to compose dramatic music
he made several popular ballets including Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker.
We read the book Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli and played an Orff arrangement on xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiel. The 5th graders took it a step further by creating a new section of music we could play.
We also are learning to play chords on the ukulele so we can go caroling for the younger grades in December!
These kids did a fabulous job performing the Veterans Day Celebration! A big thank you to all those who came and helped make this a success!
We reviewed how to sing a round with "Rain is Falling Down" and added in xylophones and glockenspiel as accompaniment. We also talked about AABA form.
We learned a song called "Turkey Tom." We added drums, bells, and rhythm sticks to this fun turkey song! We also have been practicing our quarter note, pair of eighth notes, and quarter rest rhythms.
We practiced so hard and put on a great show! Have you ever seen cuter reindeer than our adorable Kindergarteners? They did a fantastic job telling the story of "How To Train Your Reindeer To Fly."
Second graders are using the song "La Raspa" to learn about form.
Students have been learning not only how to play the recorder, but also how to compose music for us to play!
We are preparing for our Veterans Day Show. Join us on November 9th!
They have been learning about forte and piano (loud and soft) and crescendo and decrescendo (get louder and get softer). The students used classroom instruments to create a thunderstorm! They decided the instruments and what order to play them in to make a crescendo and decrescendo, a storm approaching and leaving.
Using the book, Skeleton Cat, we will compose and arrange music for the story.
Listen to your child's storm below!
Ms. Espinosa's Class
Mrs. Anderson's Class
Mrs. Fowler's Class
Mrs. King's Class
Mrs. Proctor's Class
Mrs. Skvarca's Class
Mrs. Stringer's Class
First grade has been learning about our four voices: sing, speak, whisper, and shout. We've been working on high sounds and low sounds. We composed rhythms using quarter notes, pairs of eighth notes, and quarter rests. We also learned a song in French, "Bonjour, mes amis" and a math rap, "Partners of Ten."
We will be learning the minor key song "Pumpkin Stew" and learning to play a steady beat on instruments.
Our Kindergarten friends have been learning about how to play instruments correctly, about our four voices,
We have begun practicing for our holiday musical, How to Teach Your Reindeer (to Fly). Our performance is November 30th at 6:30.