2nd Grade Archives (previous years)

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March 2016

The 2nd grade classes have been working hard to prepare their musical - EVERYBODY SMILES IN THE SAME LANGUAGE. Each student has a line to read in the script, and all students perform the songs throughout the show. We will present our show on Wednesday, March 30 at 2:15PM in the Royle Common Room. Students should dress in red, white and blue for the show.

February 2016

Here is a video of the 2nd grade classes singing the Pig-Drawing Song and the Mouse-Drawing song, led by Ms. Theisen, followed by a Kindergarten class singing the same songs. Then we have a 2nd grader drawing the pig while her class sings the song.

Here, L. leads his class in the pig-drawing song.

January 2016

The 2nd grade music classes are working hard on rhythm-reading in our SmartBoard Lego rhythm program! They have even learned to read syncopated rhythms! Our next step is transferring these rhythms to the cool MegaBlocks that have music notes on them.

We use a fabulous SmartNotebook file to learn rhythms using Beat Blocks. Students can create rhythms for the class on top of the 'heart beats' in the 4-bump lego pieces at the bottom of the page. We can even cover up the 'unused' lego pieces on the Smart Board by 'closing the curtain' at the top of the page, as seen in the 2nd photo of the Smart Board.

We use these SmartNotebook lego blocks and the real MegaBlocks to build rhythms, write rhythms we hear, and even as the basis of improvisation or composition on the instruments! Students can easily see the 'math' in the music, since each 'one bump' lego is 1 beat, and each '2 bump' lego is 2 beats, etc.

Students are also working hard to learn the songs and 'actions' for the songs for their 2nd Grade MUSICAL, which is called EVERYBODY SMILES IN THE SAME LANGUAGE, by Carmino Ravosa. They will soon be getting their scripts to learn their lines for the show, which will be held in MARCH.

Here is a short video of 2-D/S playing Zechariah Zebra on the Orff instruments on Jan. 20th. This is a piece originally written for piano by Dr Julie Knerr for the Piano Safari curriculum. It has the rhythm pattern "ti-ri-ti-ri, ti-ti" throughout the piece. The students are working hard on using alternating hands with the mallets.

(insert video link)

Here are some pictures of 2-V working with the MegaBlocks on January 27th:

2015-2016 School Year:

The second grade is off to an amazing start in MUSIC this fall!

On Thursday, October 8, 2-D made a 'video postcard' to send to the Kindergarten Classes to help them prepare for their Halloween 'share'. Here it is! Enjoy!

Q. So, what is the 2nd Grade working on in Music this FALL?

A. The 2nd grade classes have been working a lot on rhythm-reading, note-reading, singing familiar and new songs, singing songs in solfege ("do-re-mi" language), xylophones ("Orff" instruments), drumming, and ukulele! Yes, this is the first year that the 2nd graders have played the uke! With the new ukulele program from Fun Music for Beginners, the students are discovering just how fun and easy uke can be!!!!

Here is a video of a 2nd Grade class playing ukuleles for the VERY FIRST TIME!!!! (Note: That HUGE SMILE 10 seconds into the video is worth a thousand words :) )

Here is another 2nd Grade Class playing ukuleles for the VERY FIRST TIME!!! So fun!

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2014-2015 School Year:

The second grade has been having an amazing year in 2014-2015! We performed our SECOND GRADE MUSICAL in the ROYLE Common Room on March 23, 2015 at 2:00PM! Here is a video of our show: http://youtu.be/FkU1j8N5tdo

In our music classes, we do a variety of music activities - singing, dancing, playing xylophones, drumming, playing rhythm sticks and other instruments, and so much more!

Here is a short informal classroom video of one of the 2nd Grade classes performing a song called LONDON TOWN (April 2015): https://youtu.be/qY9RFrj3eK4

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2013-2014 School Year:

June 2014:

The 2nd Grade Music Classes have started to work on SIGHT-SINGING with solfege. They've been working all year on lots of rhythm activities, and have been singing solfege by rote, but now are starting to READ the notes on the music staff. Here are the first three sight-singing exercises in 2-V on June 10! Great job to the students on their first work with sight-singing. (The program we are using on the Smart Board is called Smart Music.)

3 videos:

http://youtu.be/TOp0ZVEvbb8

http://youtu.be/LNY9SHui-HU

http://youtu.be/3PjeEAhYZoc

PERFORMANCE of the Second Grade Musical:

MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2:00 PM.

"Ev'rybody Smiles in the Same Language."

All of the second grade classes will combine to put on a 'show' that involves all of the components of 'Broadway' (our 2013-2014 theme) - singing, dancing and acting! The program is open to parents and family members.

Here is a link to the video of our performance: http://youtu.be/5-82w8Eu8KU

April 2014

The second grade took a bit of a break in March and early April from our musical, but we are returning to it now (after Spring Break) to add DANCING, ACTING and stage movement for our show, which will be performed in early June :) The students are SO EXCITED to share their singing, drama and dancing with you!

Some new songs we have worked on in April include: The Yeah, Yeah Song & Who Do We Appreciate. Both songs have a funky rock beat that provides a great accompaniment for our drumming, as well.

Earlier in April, we worked a bit on the BLUES and learned to sing (scat) the tune of C JAM BLUES, transposed to the key of F. Should we call it F Jam Blues!? We learned a new tune called If It Walks Like A Duck, which is in the blues form.

Some of the classes also watched short clips from Disney's Fantasia 2000. One of their favorites is The Steadfast Tin Soldier, which features the music from the Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2. The students learned what a concerto is and were able to identify places in the score where they heard various instruments, including the piano and the percussion (drums).

March 2014

In March, we explored a lot of pieces on the Xylophones, including pieces like Merrily We Roll Along (a familiar folksong!). Students also worked a lot on improvisation, using a 'chant' called Sugar, Sugar as the rhythmic background for their composition. Students were able to write simple melodies using the C pentatonic scale on the xylophones and play back their tunes for the class. (The C Pentatonic Scale has 5 notes: CDE GA. In order to play it, students remove the 'burgers and fries' from the xylophones, meaning they take off the Bs and Fs, leaving behind CDE GA!)

Another one of our 'chants' for March was In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb, which gave us a great opportunity to play drums, rhythm sticks and other classroom instruments in a variety of dynamics. The students are getting really great at knowing their Italian terminology in music - things like forte and piano, as well as fortissimo and pianissimo. We pass instruments around the circle, so that everyone gets a chance to play a variety of instruments within a class. Each time we repeat a song or a chant, we choose a different dynamic, and we were even able to introduce the concept of crescendo and decrescendo!

February 2014

The second grade has continued to work on our theme musical: "Everybody Smiles in the Same Language." (See post from January, below). We have also worked on songs that involve movement, such as The Old Grand Duke of York, and songs with a bordun pattern on the xylophones, such as Donald Duck, Taxi Taxi, and Let's Go Play in the Snow. In a bordun pattern, the students are learning to keep a rhythmic accompaniment with two notes at a time, or the two notes broken up, one after the other. They do this while singing! Most of the songs that we are singing during this activity are built around Sol-Mi-La patterns. We have also worked a bit on an Olympic Song, since we are all excited about the start of the games!

Here is a class singing the HELLO SONG by Mr Bluestine:

and... here is the 'other' HELLO SONG that is performed in a call-and-response style:

http://youtu.be/CjIjnn9pVwo

January 2014

The second grade has been working on a unit called 'Telling Stories.' We are discussing Broadway shows, singing Broadway songs, and listening to interviews with Broadway composers, singers, actors, artists. To stay with the district-wide "Broadway" theme, all of the second grade classes are learning a theme musical that is included in our 2nd grade textbooks - "Everybody Smiles in the Same Language," by Carmino Ravosa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmino_Ravosa AND http://www.carminoravosa.webs.com/ The students have learned the terms actor, cast, script, director, stage manager and songs and know how they relate to putting on a show.

The 2nd grade classes are also becoming rhythm-reading experts! They are easily able to decipher and perform rhythms that include whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, 8th notes, and 16th notes, as well as rests. Sometimes we change the rhythm syllables (Ta, ti-ti, ti-ri-ti-ri) to every day words or even use student names!

Another big 'hit' this month has been the SILLY WINTER SONG ("winter in my bathtub, winter on the moon...") It's fun and easy to sing. It's also easy to make up our own silly lyrics to this tune!

October 2013

The 2nd grade opens every class by singing one or two HELLO songs. One of them was written by my friend and colleague, Dr. Eric Bluestine, the author of THE WAYS CHILDREN LEARN MUSIC, one of the quintessential books on music learning theory. Dr. Bluestine is a public school elementary music teacher in Philadelphia. I had the pleasure of observing his classes for a couple of days many years ago, and picked up some of the wonderful songs that he has written for his own students. One of them is HELLO EVERYONE. This song is in 'dorian mode,' so it has an exotic sound - almost like a minor scale, but not quite.

Here is a video from a 2nd grade class on December 5, singing Dr Bluestine's song and then another Hello song that is in a call-and-response style, so that the children can take turns being the 'leader.'

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.

March 2016

The 2nd grade classes have been working hard to prepare their musical - EVERYBODY SMILES IN THE SAME LANGUAGE. Each student has a line to read in the script, and all students perform the songs throughout the show. We will present our show on Wednesday, March 30 at 2:15PM in the Royle Common Room. Students should dress in red, white and blue for the show.

February 2016

Here is a video of the 2nd grade classes singing the Pig-Drawing Song and the Mouse-Drawing song, led by Ms. Theisen, followed by a Kindergarten class singing the same songs. Then we have a 2nd grader drawing the pig while her class sings the song.

Here, L. leads his class in the pig-drawing song.

January 2016

The 2nd grade music classes are working hard on rhythm-reading in our SmartBoard Lego rhythm program! They have even learned to read syncopated rhythms! Our next step is transferring these rhythms to the cool MegaBlocks that have music notes on them.

We use a fabulous SmartNotebook file to learn rhythms using Beat Blocks. Students can create rhythms for the class on top of the 'heart beats' in the 4-bump lego pieces at the bottom of the page. We can even cover up the 'unused' lego pieces on the Smart Board by 'closing the curtain' at the top of the page, as seen in the 2nd photo of the Smart Board.

We use these SmartNotebook lego blocks and the real MegaBlocks to build rhythms, write rhythms we hear, and even as the basis of improvisation or composition on the instruments! Students can easily see the 'math' in the music, since each 'one bump' lego is 1 beat, and each '2 bump' lego is 2 beats, etc.

Students are also working hard to learn the songs and 'actions' for the songs for their 2nd Grade MUSICAL, which is called EVERYBODY SMILES IN THE SAME LANGUAGE, by Carmino Ravosa. They will soon be getting their scripts to learn their lines for the show, which will be held in MARCH.

Here is a short video of 2-D/S playing Zechariah Zebra on the Orff instruments on Jan. 20th. This is a piece originally written for piano by Dr Julie Knerr for the Piano Safari curriculum. It has the rhythm pattern "ti-ri-ti-ri, ti-ti" throughout the piece. The students are working hard on using alternating hands with the mallets.

(insert video link)

Here are some pictures of 2-V working with the MegaBlocks on January 27th:

2015-2016 School Year:

The second grade is off to an amazing start in MUSIC this fall!

On Thursday, October 8, 2-D made a 'video postcard' to send to the Kindergarten Classes to help them prepare for their Halloween 'share'. Here it is! Enjoy!

Q. So, what is the 2nd Grade working on in Music this FALL?

A. The 2nd grade classes have been working a lot on rhythm-reading, note-reading, singing familiar and new songs, singing songs in solfege ("do-re-mi" language), xylophones ("Orff" instruments), drumming, and ukulele! Yes, this is the first year that the 2nd graders have played the uke! With the new ukulele program from Fun Music for Beginners, the students are discovering just how fun and easy uke can be!!!!

</blockquote>

Here is a video of a 2nd Grade class playing ukuleles for the VERY FIRST TIME!!!! (Note: That HUGE SMILE 10 seconds into the video is worth a thousand words :) )

Here is another 2nd Grade Class playing ukuleles for the VERY FIRST TIME!!! So fun!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2014-2015 School Year:

The second grade has been having an amazing year in 2014-2015! We performed our SECOND GRADE MUSICAL in the ROYLE Common Room on March 23, 2015 at 2:00PM! Here is a video of our show: <a href="http://youtu.be/FkU1j8N5tdo">http://youtu.be/FkU1j8N5tdo</a>

In our music classes, we do a variety of music activities - singing, dancing, playing xylophones, drumming, playing rhythm sticks and other instruments, and so much more!

Here is a short informal classroom video of one of the 2nd Grade classes performing a song called LONDON TOWN (April 2015): <a title="LONDON TOWN VIDEO" href="https://youtu.be/qY9RFrj3eK4" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/qY9RFrj3eK4</a>

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2013-2014 School Year:

June 2014:

The 2nd Grade Music Classes have started to work on SIGHT-SINGING with solfege. They've been working all year on lots of rhythm activities, and have been singing solfege by rote, but now are starting to READ the notes on the music staff. Here are the first three sight-singing exercises in 2-V on June 10! Great job to the students on their first work with sight-singing. (The program we are using on the Smart Board is called Smart Music.)

3 videos:

<a href="http://youtu.be/TOp0ZVEvbb8" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/TOp0ZVEvbb8</a>

<a href="http://youtu.be/LNY9SHui-HU" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/LNY9SHui-HU</a>

<a href="http://youtu.be/3PjeEAhYZoc" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/3PjeEAhYZoc</a>

PERFORMANCE of the Second Grade Musical:

MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2:00 PM.

"Ev'rybody Smiles in the Same Language."

All of the second grade classes will combine to put on a 'show' that involves all of the components of 'Broadway' (our 2013-2014 theme) - singing, dancing and acting! The program is open to parents and family members.

Here is a link to the video of our performance: <a href="http://youtu.be/5-82w8Eu8KU" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/5-82w8Eu8KU</a>

April 2014

The second grade took a bit of a break in March and early April from our musical, but we are returning to it now (after Spring Break) to add DANCING, ACTING and stage movement for our show, which will be performed in early June :) The students are SO EXCITED to share their singing, drama and dancing with you!

Some new songs we have worked on in April include: The Yeah, Yeah Song & Who Do We Appreciate. Both songs have a funky rock beat that provides a great accompaniment for our drumming, as well.

Earlier in April, we worked a bit on the BLUES and learned to sing (scat) the tune of C JAM BLUES, transposed to the key of F. Should we call it F Jam Blues!? We learned a new tune called If It Walks Like A Duck, which is in the blues form.

Some of the classes also watched short clips from Disney's Fantasia 2000. One of their favorites is The Steadfast Tin Soldier, which features the music from the Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2. The students learned what a concerto is and were able to identify places in the score where they heard various instruments, including the piano and the percussion (drums).

March 2014

In March, we explored a lot of pieces on the Xylophones, including pieces like Merrily We Roll Along (a familiar folksong!). Students also worked a lot on improvisation, using a 'chant' called Sugar, Sugar as the rhythmic background for their composition. Students were able to write simple melodies using the C pentatonic scale on the xylophones and play back their tunes for the class. (The C Pentatonic Scale has 5 notes: CDE GA. In order to play it, students remove the 'burgers and fries' from the xylophones, meaning they take off the Bs and Fs, leaving behind CDE GA!)

Another one of our 'chants' for March was In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb, which gave us a great opportunity to play drums, rhythm sticks and other classroom instruments in a variety of dynamics. The students are getting really great at knowing their Italian terminology in music - things like forte and piano, as well as fortissimo and pianissimo. We pass instruments around the circle, so that everyone gets a chance to play a variety of instruments within a class. Each time we repeat a song or a chant, we choose a different dynamic, and we were even able to introduce the concept of crescendo and decrescendo!

February 2014

The second grade has continued to work on our theme musical: "Everybody Smiles in the Same Language." (See post from January, below). We have also worked on songs that involve movement, such as The Old Grand Duke of York, and songs with a bordun pattern on the xylophones, such as Donald Duck, Taxi Taxi, and Let's Go Play in the Snow. In a bordun pattern, the students are learning to keep a rhythmic accompaniment with two notes at a time, or the two notes broken up, one after the other. They do this while singing! Most of the songs that we are singing during this activity are built around Sol-Mi-La patterns. We have also worked a bit on an Olympic Song, since we are all excited about the start of the games!

Here is a class singing the HELLO SONG by Mr Bluestine:

http://youtu.be/NXyoFjxFqno

and... here is the 'other' HELLO SONG that is performed in a call-and-response style:

http://youtu.be/CjIjnn9pVwo

January 2014

The second grade has been working on a unit called 'Telling Stories.' We are discussing Broadway shows, singing Broadway songs, and listening to interviews with Broadway composers, singers, actors, artists. To stay with the district-wide "Broadway" theme, all of the second grade classes are learning a theme musical that is included in our 2nd grade textbooks - "Everybody Smiles in the Same Language," by Carmino Ravosa: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmino_Ravosa" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmino_Ravosa</a> AND <a href="http://www.carminoravosa.webs.com/">http://www.carminoravosa.webs.com/ </a> The students have learned the terms actor, cast, script, director, stage manager and songs and know how they relate to putting on a show.

The 2nd grade classes are also becoming rhythm-reading experts! They are easily able to decipher and perform rhythms that include whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, 8th notes, and 16th notes, as well as rests. Sometimes we change the rhythm syllables (Ta, ti-ti, ti-ri-ti-ri) to every day words or even use student names!

Another big 'hit' this month has been the SILLY WINTER SONG ("winter in my bathtub, winter on the moon...") It's fun and easy to sing. It's also easy to make up our own silly lyrics to this tune!

October 2013

The 2nd grade opens every class by singing one or two HELLO songs. One of them was written by my friend and colleague, Dr. Eric Bluestine, the author of THE WAYS CHILDREN LEARN MUSIC, one of the quintessential books on music learning theory. Dr. Bluestine is a public school elementary music teacher in Philadelphia. I had the pleasure of observing his classes for a couple of days many years ago, and picked up some of the wonderful songs that he has written for his own students. One of them is HELLO EVERYONE. This song is in 'dorian mode,' so it has an exotic sound - almost like a minor scale, but not quite.

Here is a video from a 2nd grade class on December 5, singing Dr Bluestine's song and then another Hello song that is in a call-and-response style, so that the children can take turns being the 'leader.'

http://youtu.be/H-_9dS9kPhg

<a href="http://blogs.darienps.org/ktheisen/files/2016/05/20160521-220310.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" src="http://blogs.darienps.org/ktheisen/files/2016/05/20160521-220310.jpg" alt="20160521-220310.jpg" /></a>%%%%, %%