Hello!
First, I would like to say, that if you have had trouble with the blog, I apologize. I think I have it working now. Unfortunately, I lost some of the awesome posts I wrote earlier in the year about what we have been doing in music. I finally had some time over spring break to fix the bugs, and I am back up and running! I can't wait to share the fun things we have been doing and the great events that are coming up this spring.
March is Music in our Schools Month, so I am pumped to celebrate and get the word out about the wonderful advocacy we have been doing in and outside the classroom! March is a time for me as an educator to reflect on the influence music has on our children today. I was excited to receive information from the National Association of Music Education this month, promoting music education with their new campaign, "Think Beyond the Bubbles"
Music not only impacts academic achievement, it also shapes the way our students understand themselves and the world around them. Let's think beyond the bubbles and educate the whole student.
check out their
website for more info!
For starters the Fourth Graders had wonderful violin concerts last week. They performed for their families during the morning and showed them all of the techniques they have been cultivating on their own violins! I was so proud of them! My favorite quote of the week from a parent was, "I can't believe that fourth graders can sound THAT GOOD on the violin!" and from a lovely student, "Mrs. Morgan, my Mom and Dad were so proud of me." Great work fourth grade!
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| Beautiful flowers from a violin student! Thank You! |
K and 1st had a great time using creative movement to depict the animals in this story. We added instruments to different animals and sang along with Mrs. Morgans song!
5th Graders enjoyed making connections between African traditions, instruments, and rhythms and this harrowing tale about escaping slavery. Students were very interested in the drinking gourds meaning and secret messages in the song the Drinking Gourd. We added three instrument parts in the story and worked on some hard rhythms, way to go fifth graders!
K students also explored a musical obstacle course this week, using our book Rosie's Walk. We all had to take turns being the hen and the fox. We had so much fun!
First graders have been exploring themes from the book Dear Children of the Earth. We read this book while listening to Canyone Chaconne by Paul Winter. The strong imagery and sounds lead us in to a great discussion of why we are doing a play about Earth Day. We have been practicing our songs for the play. Check out this link to practice songs for our April 8th performance.
Students in second grade had fun using pantomime and xylophones to recreate this story. Ask your students to sing the "Wise Mans song" and pat Ming Lo's running rhythm. 
Third graders had their final visit from the percussion section of the Venice Symphony this week. We read Orchestra Animals and made inferences about which animals would be paired with certain instruments. We discussed why certain animals were a good fit for the animals personalities. Can you tell your parents who CRASH was?