Grade 2
Week of June 15th, 2020
Hey Second Grade,
I hope you enjoyed the first half of Peter and the Wolf last week. Sorry for leaving you at a cliffhanger! You can start the video at 17 minutes and 50 seconds and watch until the end. I also recorded a Summer message for all of you. Please know that I am so proud of you for all you've done and the way you've handled the last few months. Have a safe and happy Summer!
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Week of June 8th, 2020
Hello Second Grade,
Now that we've learned so much about the different families of instruments in the orchestra, let's see how they work together. Sergei Prokofiev wrote this music to accompany a story. Every character in the story is represented by an instrument from one of the four families. As you go along, the video will give you questions to think about in regards to the different instruments and melodies presented, as well as activities you can do. The video is long so today I'm only going to ask you to watch the first half. You can stop the video at 17 minutes and 50 seconds.
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Week of June 1st, 2020
Hello Second grade,
We've covered all four families of instruments now. Today, we're taking a look at some more String instruments - ones that don't play in the orchestra. I can only show you the instruments I have at home, but watch the video and I'll share some of my favorites with you. Please take a moment to think about the questions below:
- Which was your favorite string instrument, both from here and from the orchestra? Why?
- What are some ways electric and acoustic instruments sound different from each other?
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Week of May 26th, 2020
Hey everybody! We're on to the second and final family of Wind instruments. This family is called the Woodwind family and includes instruments like the flute, clarinet, and saxophone plus a lot more. In the video, I walk you through how some of these instruments work. Please take a moment to think about the questions below:
- What do we call the the buttons on the saxophone that we have to press the change the sound?
- What did we call the piece of wood that vibrates in the saxophone's mouthpiece?
- Did you hear any familiar songs? Which ones?
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Week of May 18th, 2020
Hey Second Grade! Today we're starting part one of Wind instruments. That means instruments that we have to blow into if we want them to make sound. The first family of Wind instruments is called Brass and includes instruments like the trumpet. Please watch the video I made for you and think about the questions below
- What are some of the other Brass instruments besides the trumpet?
- What do you have to do with your lips when you blow into a brass instrument?
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Week of May 11th, 2020
Hello Second Graders! Last week's instrument family was Strings. We learned how they use vibration to make sound and how the instruments in the family are alike. This week we are working on Percussion, a very different type of family. In Part One, I'll tell you about what make the Percussion family special and show you some instruments. In Part Two, we'll see how a drumset works. While you watch the videos, please keep the following questions in mind:
- What are some Percussion instruments we have used in class?
- Do big instruments make low sounds or high? What about small instruments?
- Instruments of the Orchestra - Percussion Part One
- Instruments of the Orchestra - Percussion Part Two
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Week of May 4th, 2020
Hello Second graders, last week we started learning about orchestras and families of instruments. We began by learning a little bit about each family in the orchestra. This week, we're going to learn more about how the instruments in each family work - starting with Strings. Watch the video below where I walk you through what makes the String family unique and show you some of the different instruments that make it up, and keep in mind the things to understand from last week. How do they apply to String instruments?
- How do string instruments use sound to create vibration?
- How are string instruments similar to each other and what their job is in an orchestra?
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Week of April 27th, 2020
I hope everyone had a terrific vacation. We will spend the next 5-6 weeks diving into instruments. We will mainly focus on the orchestra, but we'll look at some outside of the orchestra as well (think electric guitar!) The two most important things we'll be looking to understand are:
- How the different instruments use sound to create vibration.
- How instruments are grouped into families and what their job is in an orchestra.
Please watch the video below to get yourself familiar with how the orchestra is set up (this is new to us) and also review what the four families of instruments are. In the coming weeks, we will be looking at the families one at a time.
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Week of April 13th, 2020
Hey! One of the most important skills we've worked on this year is putting notes on the music staff (A B C D E F G) and knowing the names of the lines and spaces. I'm leaving you a video to refresh your memory and a game to try your skills on. The video gives us a few sentences to help with the lines, but don't forget Every Good Burger Deserves Fries, although I do like the elephant one.
Optional: Since we'll be starting a unit on Instruments after vacation, you can also check out a video I made for my fifth graders about how to make a string instrument at home if you'd like.
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Week of April 3rd, 2020
Hello 2nd Grade people! I hope you got a chance to watch that video last week and listen to that story. This week we're going to learn to sing the song and talk about what the lyrics meant and review the story. Have some fun with it. I've put the lyrics down below.
Lyrics:
Chorus: Follow the drinking gourd, Follow the drinking gourd.
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Verse 1: When the sun comes back, and the first quail calls
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Sing the Chorus again
Verse 2: Well the river bank makes a very good road
Dead trees will show you the way
Left foot, peg foot, traveling on
Follow the drinking gourd
Sing the Chorus again
Verse 3: The river ends between two hills
Follow the drinking gourd
There's another river on the other side
Follow the drinking gourd
Sing the Chorus one more time
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Week of March 27th, 2020
Hey 2nd graders! I'm sharing a video of an episode of Reading Rainbow about the book Follow the Drinking Gourd. I'm disappointed that I won't get to read this story with you, it's one of my favorites (one of Mrs. Rapoza's too!) . I hope you enjoy.
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Week of March 20th, 2020
Recently we have been working with note value (Quarter note gets 1 beat, Half note gets 2 beats), especially with songs like Hambone. If you remember the rhythm (I've written it below the way we read it in class), you can try and perform it with someone at home. I've included the lyrics below. I've also left you a couple games to work on your note identification.
Hambone Lyrics -
Call(C): Hambone, Hambone, that's no name.
Response(R): But I answer just the same
C: Hambone, Hambone, got big feet.
R: They still get me across the street.
C: Hambone, Hambone, where you been?
R: Round the world and back again.
C: Hambone, Hambone, don't you smile?
R: Every little once in a while.
C: Hambone, Hambone, don't you cry?
R: When I get something in my eye.
Hambone Rhythm: Rest Du-De Du Du l Du Du Du Rest
*du is said dew, de is said day.
