For the Red and White Team/Schedule this was January 10-22nd and for the Black and Gold Team/Schedule this was January 25-February 5th
In our sixth week together, our Musical Headline was again Melody and Timbre
- Kindergartners focused on learning the names and playing technique of two groups of Untuned Percussion instruments - the Click Family and the Jingle Family. Everyone got to play every instrument as they were first passed around the circle and we played to the beat. To help reinforce the names of the instruments and their sounds, we also played a game called "Listen". In order to get the next turn as the instrument player, students had to identify the name of the instrument they heard playing in the song without using their eyes to figure it out - only listening.
- First Graders and Second Graders got a start on preparing for their upcoming musical performance. We began by first listening to a recording and discussing whether it was a strong/good singing performance or not and why. This helped to introduce vocabulary about the sound - projection, diction, blend, tone quality, pitch matching or singing in tune and rhythmic accuracy. The song they listened to is one they are learning now for the program, "Feelin' Good". In addition, each class got to choose a song to prepare for the program by listening to them, advocating for a favorite and voting - from 2-3 options. The song that got the most votes is the one they are now working to prepare. Both the 1st and 2nd grades also started re-vamping something they started on earlier in order to tie it in with the theme of the sharing. The 2nd graders have new words to a melodic canon they learned earlier and the 1st graders are revisiting "2,4, 6, 8" with active games woven into a Rondo form.
- Third Graders got a start on a classroom connection theme that they will share out with parents after Spring Break - a "Rock Concert" - all about Rocks - which ties into the 3rd grade Rock study in Science. This rotation we started on our opening song, Rock Concert, learned a Rock passing game from Ghana, Obwisana and the A section of a Recorder piece, Rock Rondo. In the next rotation, students will be creating new sections for that piece.
- Fourth Graders came back to working on their Colorado Connection pieces. We revisited Stegasaurus Stomp and our small group Railroad pieces. We also started on a new recorder piece, Ride the Iron Horse. In learning this piece, students were introduced to a new note, low D on recorder. In the next rotation we'll learn the high D for that piece also. We also revisited The Symbol Song and introduced the first verse of our State Song, Where the Columbines Grow. We worked more on Cripple Creek, but the thing the kids have probably talked the most about is that we also learned a square dance: Comin' 'Round the Mountain. Square Dance is the Colorado folk dance and one of our state symbols.
- Fifth Graders revisited the musical form of Canon (like a round, starting with an echo that interrupts, but ending at the same time). We did some instant canons with body percussion and transferred this to Hand Drums. Students heard and discovered the phrase form of a Rhythmic Canon by Shirley McRae which we played as a Canon on Hand Drums. After looking more carefully at the way rhythmic canons such as this one are constructed, students launched into their final composition assignment of the year. We have done several collaborative compositions to this point in the year, but for this composition each student is writing their own piece. They will collaborate with a partner to perform it in the next rotation. Each student was given the option of composing either a Rhythmic Canon or a Melodic Canon. We used a lot of our class time as Composers Workshop time to complete the initial writing process. In addition we played a game I call Stand Up if You are the Composer to encourage students to recognize what they have written as unique.
