Happy New Year! I hope you all had an amazing break! As we get back into the school year, we are welcoming in any new students and refreshing on classroom expecations and known concepts from the fall semester. We will review high and low sounds and begin implimenting fast and slow tempos using the musical terms, presto for fast and largo for slow. We will also begin listening to our new composer, John Philip Sousa, the March King! 

Happy quarter 2, week 8! Wow! How the time flew! Your students have moved past November into December where we are celebrating the Nutcracker by Tchaikovski! In preperation for the sing along, your students are learning holiday songs from around the world! We can't wait to see you on December 12th! In music, your students are learning to identify high and low sounds and voices in songs as well as improvise which phrase they would like high or low. 

Happy quarter 2, week 2! We are holding off until November for our next heritage month but what a perfect time to talk about Major and Minor keys! Major = sounds happier. Minor = more spooky... like this season.... ask your students about the song, "Pass the Pumpkin..." We are continuing to practice forte and piano and can know improvise different dynamics/volumes for different phrases within the same song! Through classroom songs, we identified how to find the number of beats in each phrase and are using classroom songs to practice the steady beat on drums! 

Welcome to the 2nd quarter! Hispanic Heritage Month is over but the songs learned live on! We are currently preparing for our next heritage month which is Native American Heritage Month! In music, students will improvise using forte and piano as well as show through movement loud and soft sounds. We are identifying the number of phrases as well as the number of beats in each phrase to break down our learning of steady beat. 

Happy week 9! As we continue on celebrating hispanic heritage month, your students will learn more songs about Selena Quintanilla featuring her famous song "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" and "Como La Flor." Our words "loud" and "soft" are now "forte" and "piano!"  In addition to piano and forte, we are learning to break down classroom songs to the number of phrases as well as the number of beats in each song. 

Happy week 8! As we continue on celebrating hispanic heritage month, your students will learn more songs about Selena Quintanilla featuring her famous song "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom." We are now practicing and improvising with reading the words "Loud" and "Soft" to eventually translate to our first musical vocabulary! 

Happy week 7! As we continue on celebrating hispanic heritage month, your students will learn more songs about the King of Mambo, Tito Puente. Some songs include El Rey Del Timbal and Oye Como Va. They are doing an amazing job singing and identifying loud and soft singing as well as marking the phrases in classroom songs. We are continually practicing tuneful singing but now adding interalizing the beat through kinesthetic motions. 

Happy week 6! I hope you enjoyed the 4-day weekend! As we continue on celebrating hispanic heritage month, your students will learn about the King of Mambo, Tito Puente. With their classroom songs, your students will be able to identify if songs are sung loud or soft as well as improvise loud and soft by themselves. 

Welcome to week 5 and happy Hispanic Heritage Month! In honor of Hispanic Hertiage Month, your student will learn the music and culture of different hispanic countries. We will focus on various composers, musical artists, and there genres shuch a Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tito Puente. Throughout this week, we will begin to create a visual represenation of loud and soft voices as well as practicing tuneful singing and improvising words, sounds, and pitches. 

Welcome to week 4! This week we are continuing are story of Mr. Bee and going on a musical journey learning new songs to build our song repertoire! We are learning listening skills by echoing the same sound, motion, or pitch from the teacher. We are also learning how to keep steady beats to the classroom song as well as classical songs such as Concerto Grosso in C Major. 

Welcome to week 3! I hope you had a great labor day! Your kinders have mastered the Cowan Song! Yay!

We are continuing to learn new classroom songs through movement, singing, chanting, and more! Don't forget to ask your kinder about the story of Mr. Bee! 

Welcome to week 2! Your kinders will be learning the Cowan song! Awoooo!!

We are developing vocal awareness of high and low sounds and learning new songs through hand motions, games and movement!

First week of school! 

Let's get to know each other and get familar with the music room! We're learning classroom routines, procedures, and how to sing and move together! 

Happy quarter 2, week 2! We are holding off until November for our next heritage month but what a perfect time to talk about Major and Minor keys! Major = sounds happier. Minor = more spooky... like this season.... ask your students about the song, "Pass the Pumpkin..." In music, we just identified the quarter rest as one beat with no sound. We are working with rhythm sticks and various percussive instruments practicing our known rhythms. We are also using our knowledge of the solfeges so-mi to play notes on orff instruments (xylophones, metallaphones...) 

Happy quarter 2, week 2! We are holding off until November for our next heritage month but what a perfect time to talk about Major and Minor keys! Major = sounds happier. Minor = more spooky... like this season.... ask your students about the song, "Pass the Pumpkin..." In music, we just identified the quarter rest as one beat with no sound. We are working with rhythm sticks and various percussive instruments practicing our known rhythms. We are also using our knowledge of the solfeges so-mi to play notes on orff instruments (xylophones, metallaphones...) 

Happy quarter 2, week 2! We are holding off until November for our next heritage month but what a perfect time to talk about Major and Minor keys! Major = sounds happier. Minor = more spooky... like this season.... ask your students about the song, "Pass the Pumpkin..." In music, we just identified the quarter rest as one beat with no sound. We are working with rhythm sticks and various percussive instruments practicing our known rhythms. We are also using our knowledge of the solfeges so-mi to play notes on orff instruments (xylophones, metallaphones...) 

Welcome to the 2nd quarter! Hispanic Heritage Month is over but the songs learned live on! We are currently preparing for our next heritage month which is Native American Heritage Month! In music, your student has been introduced to the musical staff where we place our known solfege so and mi. We are performing with our solfege as well as combining it with our knowledge of quarter and eighth notes. 

Happy week 9! As we continue on celebrating hispanic heritage month, your students will learn more songs about Selena Quintanilla featuring her famous song "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" and "Como La Flor." We are continuing practicing echoing our new solfege so-mi and identifying them as two pitches that are a skip away on the musical staff. For rhythm we are improvising with quarter and eighth notes as well as getting exposed to the quarter rest. 

Happy week 8!  As we continue on celebrating hispanic heritage month, your students will learn more songs about Selena Quintanilla featuring her famous song "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom." After being able to differentiate between high and low sounds, we are now labeling two sounds as our first solfege: so and mi. We are practicing listening to phrases and echoing them back using our newly learned solfege! For rhythm, we are now improvising with quarter and eighth notes for known as well as unknown classroom songs. 

Happy week 7! As we continue on celebrating hispanic heritage month, your students will learn more songs about the King of Mambo, Tito Puente. Some songs include El Rey Del Timbal and Oye Como Va. In First grade, we are labeling two sounds that we know as "high" and "low" and now labeling them as solfege: so-mi. We are also learning what a repeat sign is in music to perform the same rhythm on repeat to create a rhythmic ostinato. 

Happy week 6! I hope you enjoyed the 4-day weekend! As we continue on celebrating hispanic heritage month, your students will learn about the King of Mambo, Tito Puente. With classroom songs, we will practice reading, writing, and performing quarter notes and eighths notes in chants and classroom songs. They will begin improvising their own phrases using these known rhythms and perform them together as a class. 

Welcome to week 5 and happy Hispanic Heritage Month! In honor of Hispanic Hertiage Month, your student will learn the music and culture of different hispanic countries. We will focus on various composers, musical artists, and there genres shuch a Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tito Puente. Throughout the week, we will use classroom songs to discover our first musical notes: quarter note and eighth note pair. We will also analyze and discover high and low sounds and how to visually notate that to prepare for reading music. 

Welcome to week 4! Time to practice our skills! 1st grade is able to listen to a song, keep the beat, clap the rhythm, and then notate the rhythm (quarter and eighth notes). We have been using classroom songs such as "Rain Rain" and "Snail Snail" to learn these concepts! 

Welcome to week 3! I hope you had a great Labor Day! Your first grader is nearing the end of kinder review and beginning to learn new classroom songs! One song is "A La Rueda de San Miguel" in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month coming up on the 15th! 

Welcome to week 2! Your students will review concepts taught last year: high/low voice, fast/slow tempo, loud/soft sound. We will learn a Spanish welcome song and review the Cowan song. Through singing known classroom songs, we will discover the song's phrases, how many beats are in each phrase, and improvising our own forte and piano dynamic (loud and soft) for each phrase. 

First week of school! 

Let's get to know each other and get familar with the music room! We're learning classroom routines, procedures, and how to sing and move together! 

Happy New Year! I hope you all had an amazing break! As we get back into the school year, we are welcoming in any new students and refreshing on classroom expecations and known concepts from the fall semester. We will review our new rhythmic note, the half note, and practice all known rhythms in classroom songs. We will begin improvising with the half note by providing "alternate rhythmic endings" to known classroom songs and allow students to choose the rhythm to perform at the end of that song. We will also sing classroom songs using our known solfege: do-re-mi-so-la and begin labeling these five pitches as the pentatonic scale. We will also begin listening to our new composer, John Philip Sousa, the March King! 

Happy quarter 2, week 8! Wow! How the time flew! Your students have moved past November into December where we are celebrating the Nutcracker by Tchaikovski! In preperation for the sing along, your students are learning holiday songs from around the world! We can't wait to see you on December 12th! In music, your students learned a new note that lasts two beats: a half note! We are practicing reading and writing the note and improvising! 

Happy quarter 2, week 2! We are holding off until November for our next heritage month but what a perfect time to talk about Major and Minor keys! Major = sounds happier. Minor = more spooky... like this season.... ask your students about the song, "Pass the Pumpkin..." We are taking our practice TO THE STAGE! HOW EXCITING! We are combining everything we know and are putting into practice for the REAL Veterans Day concert on November 11th! We'd love to see you all there! 

Welcome to the 2nd quarter! Hispanic Heritage Month is over but the songs learned live on! We are currently preparing for our next heritage month which is Native American Heritage Month! For Veterans Day, your student has learned all of the Armed Forces songs! How AMAZING! In class we are taking their knowledge of do-mi-so-la and putting it on the musical staff to read and visualizing the pitches as steps or skips away. 

Happy week 9! As we continue on celebrating hispanic heritage month, your students will learn more songs about Selena Quintanilla featuring her famous song "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" and "Como La Flor." 

We are practicing singing our new solfege: do-mi-so-la to new classroom songs by listening to the pitches and then echoing them back on solfege with hand signs. 

Veterans Day is on its way with so much amazing practice!! 

Happy week 8!  As we continue on celebrating hispanic heritage month, your students will learn more songs about Selena Quintanilla featuring her famous song "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom."

Every day is getting us closer to our Veterans Day Program and we can't wait! Students are practicing on the risers, singing loud and proud, and working on waving their flags just right! Look out for a letter in your students' take-home folders with more details! 

Happy week 7! As we continue on celebrating hispanic heritage month, your students will learn more songs about the King of Mambo, Tito Puente. Some songs include El Rey Del Timbal and Oye Como Va. Your second graders are growing aural and visual awareness to a new solfege: do which is the lowest of our known pitches: mi, so, la. 

Every day is getting us closer to our Veterans Day Program and we can't wait! Students are practicing on the risers, singing loud and proud, and working on waving their flags just right! Look out for a letter in your students' take-home folders with more details! 

Happy Week 6! I hope you enjoyed the 4-day weekend! As we continue on celebrating hispanic heritage month, your students will learn about the King of Mambo, Tito Puente. As they continue to practice known rhythms (quarter note, eighth notes, and quarter rests), they will notate the time signature 2/4 as a class and then independently for various classroom songs. They will learn new solfege as well: a skip below mi, which is do. For performance practice, we are wrapping up our Veterans Day songs with exposure to "Salute to the Armed Forces." 

GET READY! First concert coming up! November 11th during the day! I'll be reaching out for volunteer to help leading up to the concert with patriotic decor so start getting those creative wheels turning!! 

Welcome to week 5 and happy Hispanic Heritage Month! In honor of Hispanic Hertiage Month, your student will learn the music and culture of different hispanic countries. We will focus on various composers, musical artists, and there genres shuch a Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tito Puente. Throughout the week, your student will learn to notate and conduct 2/4 time signature as well as perform the rhythms and solfege of various classroom songs. 

GET READY! First concert coming up! November 11th during the day! I'll be reaching out for volunteer to help leading up to the concert with patriotic decor so start getting those creative wheels turning!! 

Welcome to week 4! Your student is so brave! We practice vocalization skills and listening by echoing the teacher as a class but also individually. Your student is continually growing their skill in matching pitch and singing with various dynamics such as forte and piano (loud and soft), staccato and legato (disconnected vs connected), and using crescendos and decrescendos (gradually louder or softer). We are continuing to learn more songs patriotic songs as well! 

Welcome to week 3! I hope you had a great Labor Day! Your second grader is a ROCKSTAR learning so many patriotic songs at the beginning of the year! Through classroom songs, we are learning crescendo and decrescendo (gradually getting louder and softer) and how to create our own rhythmic ostinato (rhythm repeated across various songs). 

Welcome to week 2! Your students will review concepts taught last year: high/low voice, fast/slow tempo, loud/soft sound. We will learn a Spanish welcome song and review the Cowan song. Through singing known classroom songs, we will discover the song's phrases, how many beats are in each phrase, and improvising our own forte and piano dynamic (loud and soft) for each phrase. 

First week of school! 

Let's get to know each other and get familar with the music room! We're learning classroom routines, procedures, and how to sing and move together!