Every music class starts with a VOCAL WARM-UP, then (in no particular order):
Students LISTEN to music and practice keeping a STEADY BEAT using body percussion and a variety of unpitched (e.g. rhythm sticks and drums) or pitched percussion instruments (e.g. xylophones);
Students practice SINGING with SINGING VOICES (vs. speaking or whispering or shouting voices);
Students work on MATCHING PITCH with their singing voices using Solfege & Curwen Hand Signs (we love playing a game called “So-La-Mi”);
Students learn to READ rhythms using TaKaDiMi rhythm syllables and our “Heart Chart” (we love playing a game called “Poison Rhythm”);
Students learn to READ melodies using traditional Western music notation (e.g. lines & spaces);
Students learn to PLAY pitched & unpitched percussion instruments;
Students learn to CREATE their own rhythmic & melodic patterns;
Students learn to DANCE and MOVE and learn to find a “SILENT STEADY BEAT”.
Students learn to ANALYZE music and listen for specific musical elements (e.g. “dynamics” and “tempo”);
Students become part of the GFS School Community by learning to sing our school songs:
GRADE LEVEL-SPECIFIC MUSIC ACTIVITIES:
Kindergarten Music: Valentine’s Day Dance in February and Singing & Dancing in our final all-school meeting in June
1st Grade Music: Instruments of the Orchestra (“Families”) using Benjamin Britten’s “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra” and Sergei Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” and learning how to play SCALES on Pitched Percussion (e.g. xylophones, metallophones, glockenspiels)
2nd Grade Music: Musical Play: “Chicken Licken” and songs of the Armed Forces (for Veteran’s Day), Civil Rights Movement (for MLK day), the Underground Railroad, Japan + Hand Games from around the world.
3rd Grade Music: RECORDER! (ordering in November, start playing in December) and HOEDOWN (date TBA)
4th Grade Music: “Funga A Lafya” & “Chatter With The Angels” (multi- instrumental experience) and short, in-class musical plays, the 12-bar blues and Ukulele
5th Grade Music: “DJ of the Week” to learn about Musical Expressive, play the “GFS School Song” Harmony on Recorder to play at the annual “Walk-A-Thon” in the fall and the “Olympic Theme” to play at Field Day Opening Ceremonies in the spring.