1st Grade

Five Little Monkeys

In the first quarter, students reviewed the concept of steady beat. We learned how steady beat can be transferred from Kindergarten movements to musical instruments. Students learned how to keep a steady beat using classroom percussion instruments such as rhythm sticks, hand drums, xylophones, and metallophones. When the steady beat is played on an instrument such as a xylophone it is called a bourdun.

In music we often read stories to help us learn rhythm. The rhythm of the words in stories and poems sounds similar to long and short rhythms found in music. Literature is a natural way for students to learn long and short rhythms that they would find in music. We incorporated literature by reading the story, Five Little Monkeys, by Eileen Christelow. Students learned the rhythm of the words, and then applied this to musical patterns of long and short. Students performed this story as a song using the pitches of so, la, and mi. Students then accompanied their singing on classroom instruments. Click on the link below to see the student performances in class!

Chrome Music Lab Songmaker

In first grade students spent the year learning patterns of long and short. We sang, played, clapped, created, and notated these patterns to help understand quarter notes and eighth notes. Students learned various songs to go along with these patterns. As part of their discovery using these patterns, students spent some time in the computer lab using the Chrome Music Lab Songmaker program to compose their own music containing patterns of long and short. Understanding these patterns not only helps students hear phoenemic patterns better in reading, but also helps them understand these in terms of rhythm. Check out the class links above to see what students created!