Kindergarten
Week of June 15th, 2020
Hey Kindergarten,
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 Kindergarten,
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 Kindergarten,
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?
- Did you hear any familiar songs? Which ones?
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Week of May 18th, 2020
Hey Kindergarten! 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 Kindergarten! 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 Kindergarten, 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.
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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!) We're going to be focusing on how all the instruments you might know, and some you might not, are broken up into groups, or Families, of instruments. Those families include:
- String
- Percussion
- Woodwind
- Brass
Please watch the video below to get yourself familiar with how some the different instruments work, what families they might belong to, and how they work together in an orchestra. In the coming weeks, we will be looking at the families one at a time.
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Week of April 13th, 2020
This week we're doing one of my favorite Kindergarten songs - Forever Friends. I've made a video where we can learn it together, I've left a video of a recording you can practice singing along with, and I've left you the lyrics below. Enjoy!
Chorus Lyrics:
Forever friends, forever you and me
Forever, ever, and always we'll be
Verse:
Friends forever, parting never, never
Friends forever. You and me will always, always be
End:
Forever friends, we'll be.
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
Hey everyone! I want to do a song with you this week called Whether the Weather. We've got movement to go along with it, but instead of making percussion sounds, we're going to be doing something a little closer to dancing. I hope you enjoy.
Lyrics:
Whether the weather is fine, or whether the weather is not.
Whether the weather is cold, or whether the weather is hot.
We'll weather the weather whatever the weather, whether we like it or not.
We'll weather the weather whatever the weather, whether we like it or not.
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Week of March 27th, 2020
Hey Kindergarten people! I made a video of one of my favorite activities, a song called Tideo with some body percussion added in. Have fun singing and playing along.
Lyrics:
Pass 1 window, Tideo
Pass 2 windows, Tideo
Pass 3 windows, Tideo
Jingle at the window, Tideo
Jinglin' Jinglin' Jinglin' Joe
Jingle at the window, Tideo
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Week of March 20th, 2020
I made a video of myself reading a story with musical parts that kids can join in with - Pete the Cat - Rockin in my School Shoes. You can watch, sing, have fun, and I've included a link to a website where you can print out and design your own rockin' school shoes.