Wow! What a beautiful sea creature. I think perhaps my favourite of all!

• Listen to this song Octopus's Garden and ask if anyone you live with recognizes the band who plays it!

• Learn how to draw an octopus by following the video below. Listen to the song Octopus's Garden while you are colouring!

Enjoy this awesome book, I promise its not too scary :)

Author : Amanda Noll

Narrator: Rita Moreno

Here is the Line Riders video that goes along with "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg. The Mountain King in the story is a big troll, so this is great music to go along with a Monster theme! See if you remember any of the musical symbols. The music starts slow and gradually gets louder, this is called an accelerando!

f -Loud or forte

ff - Very loud or fortissimo

p - Quiet or piano

pp -Very quiet or pianissimo

• Watch the video above and decide which instrument you'd like to play when you get older. Which family is it from?

• What does George choose?

Get up and find an open space to move! It's important to take time to move and stretch, have fun!

Believe it or not, there is music all around us! There is music in our homes, in Nature, pretty much everywhere if you listen hard enough! Watch the video of the story, "The Listening Walk," then try the little activity below.

• Turn off the lights and find a comfy spot

• Close your eyes and lie down

• Spend one full minute (if you can!) listening to environmental sounds

• Write down what you heard or have a family member help write them down

• The sounds I heard: my children's voices, computer fan, my husband typing in the other room, the dishwasher, the heater and cars driving by. Share your sounds with @ dhdahn@cloud.edu.pe.ca :)

• The Instruments we have in the Westwood music classes are mostly from the Percussion Family.

• "Walk off the Earth" is a rock band that likes to use a lot of the same instruments we have! Funny part at 2:20 :)

Space, stars and the planets have inspired many musicians and composers over the years. I hope you enjoy today's adventure!

First check out this video to learn about the first ever trip to the moon! It happened over 50 years ago, long before you were born! Even long before Westwood school was built!

This story is written by Chris Hadfield! Chris Hadfield is an astronaut and he lives in Canada too! He also plays guitar, loves to sing, and enjoys working with children. Below is his picture and some videos about life on board the International Space Station. These videos are just for fun, only if you have extra time and would like to watch them.

Grab a scarf that is made out of light, flowy material. A ribbon or tissue would work too! Follow along with Darth Vader, the bad guy from Star Wars!

Did you know Twinkle Twinkle, the way we know it, is only PART of a much larger piece of music? This was originally composed by one of the most famous musicians of all time, Mozart.

The music starts out with the well known simple tune, but then Mozart gets really creative and experiments with ways to change it up! Each variation gets more and more interesting! If you take piano lessons, perhaps you'll play this piece when you are older!

Here is my big boy, Oscar, reading with some of his favourites. My kids here at home love to play with their teddies, dolls and stuffed animals. Do you have a favourite at your house?

Send a picture to dhdahn@cloud.edu.pe.ca or post on our Westwood Facebook page if you'd like!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2257554531206402

Spin the wheel below!

Peter and the Wolf was one of my favourite stories when I was a kid! I would listen to it on my Dad's record player! Have you ever seen one of those things!?

First, print the booklets. Staple and cut in half. Then you have two books! You can give one to a sibling or save it for another time.

Then colour your booklet while you listen/watch the story of Peter and the Wolf. If you already had lots of screen time today, now is a good chance to turn on the music but just look away from the screen while you colour!

The story is divided into three sections, each is ten minutes. So may want to listen to it over three days. Or perhaps listen to it for a bedtime story.

There are SO many cool things to try out on Chrome Music Lab.

And this one is completely free! Chrome Music Lab is full of games and experiments that let you explore how music works.

Have fun with these experiments!

My children love to go sledding! Oscar, Ivy and Ezra have so much fun outside together. Sometimes they get a little wild:) Here is a short video clip of them sledding on a small hill in Charlottetown. When we got home we had hot chocolate of course! Yum!

What is your favorite thing to do outside in the snow?

Listen to this Westwood favorite for this time of year. The author is Ezra Jack Keats and the narrator is also a talented beatboxer! Listen carefully to hear all the sound effects and cool beats he makes with his voice!

Tips:

• Incredibox is a game that lets you create your own music with the help of a merry crew of beatboxers. Remember the beat boxing you heard during the reading of "The Snowy Day?"

• Use the Web version - it's free! Downloading the app will cost money so bother with that! Choose either "Alpha," or "Little Miss" they are not locked!

• The crew of beatboxers are sort of little paper dolls, you choose a little icon to slide up to dress them up in different outfits. This turns on their musical pattern that they repeat.

• Add more patterns to create your song! It's the same way we build our songs together in music class. We start with the singing parts, then add base xylophone, medium sized xylophones, glockenspiels and other instruments like triangle and drums! Have fun playing around with this super cool music game!

If you are in the mood for some drawing here is a cute snowman to try out! Send me a photo of your drawing if you'd like to share!

dhdahn@cloud.edu.pe.ca