Saturday, September 27, 2014

Fourth Grade Visits the Orchestra!

This month in fourth grade music we have been preparing for our upcoming field trip to the Van Wezel to visit the Sarasota Orchestra. We have been relearning the Star Spangled Banner and taking a close read of the lyrics and meaning behind the song. One class really stood out with their vocal abilities this week! I cannot wait to take this wonderful group of singers on our field trip!

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Check out this great video about the history of the star spangled banner:



We will be using an interactive online game this week to review the instruments of the orchestra.

Click here to take a sneak peek>>>>> Carnegie Hall Listening Adventure<<<<<<<<<

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Go Beethoven!

In prepartion for our field trip to the Orchestra on Thursday October 9th, the Fourth Graders have been practicing thier listening skills and knowledge of composers. This week we focused on Beethoven and listening for music specific vocabulary. We watched the Beethoven's Sport Cast which is a recreation of one of  Beethoven's most well known pieces,Symphony No. 5 Mov. 2. We had so much fun watching this hilarious variation of this amazing work by a deaf composer!

Watch below and see if you can hear and discuss the vocab with your families!




e Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5  M. 1
 Beethoven – An Austrian composer from the Romantic Time Period of Music (1770 – 1827). He began losing his hearing around 1800 and by 1817 was completely deaf.
Brass – A family of instruments in the orchestra containing the Trumpet, French horn, Trombone, and Tuba. All brass instruments have coiled tubing and require the player to buzz their lips into a mouth piece to produce sound.
C-Major – A scale containing C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and C1. The home tone is C. Music written in C-Major will have a “happy” sound.
C-Minor – A scale containing C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, and C1. The home tone is C. Music written in C-Minor will have a “sad” sound.
Cadenza – A passage for a solo instrument. The conductor will not lead the solo and the performer may go as fast or slow as he/she pleases.
Composer – Someone who writes music.
Conductor – The leader of a music ensemble.
Double Bar – The symbol at the end of a musical composition.
Fugue – A melody is introduced by an instrument and passed in whole, or parts, to other instruments.
Horn – Short for “French” horns. This is an instrument in the brass family.
Motif – A brief melody that is repeated multiple times throughout a composition.
Oboe – An instrument belonging to the woodwind family. It looks similar to a clarinet but plays with a double reed.
Recap – Occurs near the ending of a composition when the opening melody is heard again.
Timpani – An instrument belonging to the percussion family. A timpanist will usually play 4 kettle drums and adjust the pitch of each drum by pressing and releasing a foot pedal.
Tutti – All instruments play.
Violin – An instrument belonging to the string family. This instrument often plays the melody and is the highest pitched string instrument. The player can make sound by plucking or bowing the strings.

Woodwinds – A family of instruments in the orchestra containing the Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon. All woodwind instruments contain multiple holes and keys to be pressed and covered by fingers.


Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Second Grade Play



It's that time of year again for the second graders play about American Symbols. This year we will have our show on Thursday, October 23rd. Each class will have a short skit about their symbol of America.

Students are already practicing their songs, dances, and instruments that will be showcased in the show!


  Here is a link to a practice page to sing the songs at home!

Happy practicing!

-Mrs. M

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

New Instruments!

New instruments! New instruments! Calling all little ones to play on our little drums! Our new REMO drum package came today and Mrs. Morgan may have spent 10 minutes of her planning time jamming out all by herself (really I did). Get ready to use our perfectly sized Konga, Tom, Tambourine, and Bongo drums. Can you guess which one is which?

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Music Schedule

Here is our music schedule for the 2014-2015 year!

The class lists look great and it looks like it is going to be a wonderful year. Can't wait to see everyone on Monday for a big assembly first thing in the morning!

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Welcome Back TRS Musicians!

It is time to get back to school and I have been busy getting our classroom ready.

This year I am looking forward to setting some goals for our year together.

Goal 1: Celebrate cultures through music! 
We will learn about music from other places in the world through singing, playing games, and exploring instruments.

Goal 2: Use music specific vocabulary!
I made a whole new word wall for us to use when we are critiquing, discussing, and writing about music. 

Goal 3: Award Positive Behavior
I want to award students who consistently do the right thing and give them a chance to have a free day where they choose what we do in music for a day. Here is how we will track our behavior in class:
Can't wait to see you all at Meet The Teacher Night, Friday August 15th from 4-8!

Sunday, April 6, 2014

5th Grade Graduation Songs

Hi Fifth Graders!

I am super pumped about our two songs for graduation this year,

We Will by Jim Papoulis 
Gone, Gone, Gone, by Phillip Phillips. 

Here are some links to practice with! Happy singing :).

We Will Singing Parts:



Awesome kiddos singing We Will


Gone, Gone, Gone, by the PS22 Chorus: