I am so excited for another great year of music at OPES! This year, students will have the opportunity to learn about various aspects of music through singing, playing instruments, movement, and more. Check out the information below to learn more!
Kindergarten
QUARTER 3 FOCUS: Four Ways to Use our Voices; High vs Low Pitch
Kindergarten students have been learning about four ways to use our voices: whispering, talking, shouting, and singing. These students have had opportunities to use their voices in these four ways through songs and games.
Kindergarten students have also been learning about pitch, or how high or low a note sounds. These students have used movement and singing to show the difference between high and low pitches as well as playing high and low pitched instruments.
First Grade
QUARTER 3 FOCUS: Melody - Sol, Mi, and La
First grade students have begun learning how to use solfege, a system of specific syllables to help singers develop a sense of the relationships between notes in a scale. These students began with the pitches sol and mi and have started to incorporate the pitch la.
First grade students have worked on developing their understanding of the pitches sol, mi, and la through echo-singing and reading these pitches from a two-lined staff. These students will also have an opportunity to play the notes on pitched instruments.
Second Grade
QUARTER 3 FOCUS: Melody - Sol, Mi, and La, Mi, Re, Do
Second grade students have been reviewing solfege pitches sol, mi, and la. Solfege is a system of specific syllables to help singers develop a sense of the relationships between notes in a scale.
Second grade students are now working to expand their solfege vocabulary by learning about the pitches do and re. These students have worked on developing their understanding of these pitches through echo-singing and reading these pitches from a staff. These students will also have an opportunity to play these notes on pitched instruments.
Third Grade
QUARTER 3 FOCUS: Where in the World is Mozart Grandpiano?; Recorders
Third grade students were able to complete a musical scavenger hunt called Where in the World is Mozart Grandpiano? As part of this scavenger hunt, students explored the music of different countries through singing, dancing, and playing instruments. During this musical scavenger hunt, these students visited India, Brazil, Germany, Russia, West Africa, Australia, China, and Japan.
Third grade students have also started a unit of study on playing the recorder. During this unit, students will learn about proper technique for playing the recorder that they can later apply to playing a woodwind instrument if they choose to do so in the future. These students will also work on their music reading skills by reading and performing music from a treble clef staff.
Fourth Grade
QUARTER 3 FOCUS: Canon; Bucket Drumming
Fourth grade students have been learning about canons in music. A canon is music is a compositional technique in which two or more groups perform the same musical idea, such as a melody, but start at different times. These students have experienced musical canons through speech, movement, singing, and playing pitched and unpitched percussion instruments.
Fourth grade students have also begun a unit of study on playing bucket drumming. During this unit, students will learn proper technique for playing some percussion instruments as well as reading percussion style notation. This unit will allow students the ability to develop their rhythm and coordination.
Fifth Grade
QUARTER 3 FOCUS: Meter; Chords
Fifth grade students have been learning about meter in music. During this unit, students identified different meters in music visually and aurally. Students also learned how to identify a time signature and how it applies to a piece of music.
In March, fifth grade students will begin a unit of study on playing the ukulele. In preparation for this unit, these students have learned about chords in music. Students had a chance to build their understanding of chords by using pitched percussion instruments to perform chords as an accompaniment to various pieces of music.
Quaver's Marvelous World of Music
Students at OPES can access Quaver's Marvelous World of Music through Classlink! Look for the QuaverEd icon on your students' ClassLink dashboard to access interactive activities from this online music curriculum at home!
Soarin' Sounds
Come hear the OPES Soarin' Sounds perform live at the events below!
Sunday, April 6th - OPES Campus Celebration
Thursday, May 1st - OPES Spirit Night at the Charlotte Knights
Saturday, May 3rd - Fort Mill Strawberry Festival
We hope to see you at one or more of these performances!
