Music Highlights!
Music has always been an important part of life at St. Marys! In the days before Covid-19 there was music ringing through the hallways of the mid school building, where the JK - 8th grade music room is located.
Whether it was from the students singing or drumming on conga, tubano, and hand drums, folk dancing or playing melodically on recorders, performing songs and improvising melodies on the xylophones or creating beautiful music with a variety of exciting world music instruments, the children were making a Joyful Noise unto the Lord, carefree and mask free. Ms Johansen, middle school teacher located down the hall, frequently invited our band of kindergarten traveling Ukulele minstrels to share their gifts and talents with their inspiring renditions of Fishers of Men and He's Got the Whole World in His Hands.
Every Wednesday at the children's masses, students from all grades graced our choir area with uplifting sounds of praise and adoration as they prayerfully led the music for our weekly masses. Students looked forward in anticipation to the Christmas play, most recently held on, December 2019, performed in the UNM Continuing Education theater space. As 3rd graders prepared for their First Holy Communion, joyfully anticipating receiving our Lord for the very first time, they also looked forward to preparing the sung responsorial psalm and gospel acclamation, as well as a beautiful meditation song, which embodied their gratefulness to the Lord for that Holy Gift they had received.
That was before the worldwide crisis of the Corona Virus pandemic. Please be assured that CURRENT music classes for students at St Marys maintain the highest standards of safety in which no singing is allowed, and students are maintaining social distance in their own individual classrooms, where the music teacher comes to them. Music classes for middle school students are held in the gym and are enriched with various bucket drumming and movement activities as well as lessons in music history and music theory. In the Google class for middle school students, the students can look forward to a variety of activities found in the Google Digital Applied Lessons Website, and musically, in the Google Chrome Music Lab. Students have most recently created a song with rhythm parts, bass line and melody in the song maker lab, and have created an improvised melody on the "shared piano" in the Chrome Music Lab.
Lessons for elementary students always include participation from on line learners as well as in person learners. Many times the Kindergarten online learners will read music activity books to their in person counterparts. Online learners also actively participate in movement activities as well as drumming musical and rhythmic ensemble pieces. The fifth graders enjoy learning new musical concepts and playing the interactive game of Kahoot! with their online learning friends!
The face and voice of music is definitely different at St Marys this year, Fall 2020, but the spirit and joy of music will live on in a safe and healthy environment! As we look forward to the next chapter of our musical lives: Music Post-Covid Days!
Slide Show Videos Table of Contents:
Listed by current grade:
Slide 1: 3rd Grade - Mirroring Activity
Slide 2: 8th Grade - Orff Ensemble/Rhythmic Patterns
Slide 3: 8th Grade - Rain Down (Jaime Cortez) Hand Bells
Slide 4: 8th Grade - Drumming Fun - playground clapping game
Slide 5: 6th Grade - Seeds of Struggle (Patti Peñate Wilson)
Slide 6: 6th Grade - God Bless America
Slide 7: 5th Grade - Christmas Medley - 1st Grade
Slide 8: 6th Grade - Orff Movement Improvisation - Take Up Your Cross (Jaime Cortez)
Slide 9: 6th Grade - Itzel Rodriguez and Gianna Gallegos - Psalm: The Goodness of the Lord (Scott Soper)
Slide 10: 4th Grade - as Kinder - Ukelele Medley of Childrens Songs
Slide 11: 7th Grade - Ukulele Folk Song - playing and singing TIDEO
Slide 12: 6th Grade - Oh Magnify the Lord
Slide 13: 6th Grade - Remembrance
