We started off the month finishing our Song Maker presentations. Then, we reviewed rhythms that they learned in 4th grade.

After that, we started learning about these new 5th grade rhythms:

To practice these rhythms, we learned the songs:

• "Bim Bum"

• "Ida Red"

• "Haida" (a Jewish song)

Other songs we learned this month:

• "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)" (our January prayer song)

• "Glory to God in the Highest" (a round)

In December, we put the finishing touches on our Christmas Concert music. The students did so well at the concert! They did a great job in particular with learning all of the Spanish for "Campanas de Belen." We watched our Christmas Concert videos during class.

Students composed their own music using a website called Song Maker. Before starting, they had to plan the mood they would try to convey with their music as well as how they would manipulate the elements of music (such as the tempo and the instrument sounds) to create that mood. Students presented the projects in December and early January.

Our "prayer song" for the month was "The Star-Spangled Banner."

boomwhacker compositions

Students worked in small groups to compose their own music based on the notes of the major scale. They learned to think like composers -- they were required to edit their composition in some way after the first draft, and the composition had to end on the note "do" to make it sound like it was finished. They also had to compose some "bass notes" to support their melody, which Mrs. Greco performed for them.

Other topics we covered this month:

• Students went to different centers that had to do with scales. At Station 1, students copied down major and minor scales on the music staff. At Station 2, students got to try to play scales from around the world on their Chromebooks. At Station 3, students worked on performing major and minor scales on the xylophones.

• We discussed the whole tone scale and its use in TV shows and movies.

• Our prayer song for the month was "Hail Mary: Gentle Woman."

topics we covered this month:

• Singing the major scale notes

• Learning the notes "low so," "low la," and "low ti" with the song "Four White Horses"

• Watching some of Charlie Chaplin's silent film clips and writing about how the music influences the viewer's mood

• Our prayer song for the month was "We Are One Body."