Holiday Program Reflections

The week after our holiday programs, students were asked to reflect on how they did at their shows.  This helps us to meet some of our Core Music Standards by responding to and evaluating our performance.  Each grade did a slightly different response, but all students gave thoughtful answers about their performance.  My favorite part of reading these responses was seeing how students were able to think deeper about their performance as they got older.  See some examples, along with the top responses in each grade below:

Kindergarten: Kindergarteners reported that some of their favorite parts of the show were seeing their families, singing, and Suzy Snowflake.

 
 

MU:Re9.1.Ka With guidance, apply personal and expressive preferences in the evaluation of music.

1st Grade: 1st Graders reported that some of their favorite parts of the show were Jingle Bells, singing, and On This Night.  They would make their performance better by not talking on stage, adding more songs, and standing still.

  
 
   

MU:Re9.1.1a With limited guidance, apply personal and expressive preferences in the evaluation of music for specific purposes. 

2nd Grade: 2nd Graders reported that some of their favorite parts of the show were I Want to Be An Elf, Frosty the Snowman, and their class poems.  They would make their performance better by not talking on stage, remembering the words better, and adding more movements.  They felt happy, nervous, and scared.

 
 

MU:Re9.1.2a Apply personal and expressive preferences in the evaluation of music for specific purposes. 

3rd Grade: 3rd Graders reported that some of their favorite parts of the show were the Nutcracker plate routine, Jingle Bell Rock, and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  They would make their show better by adding Frosty the Snowman, singing louder, and remembering the words better.  They were feeling happy, nervous, and scared.

 

   

MU:Re9.1.3a Evaluate musical works and performances, applying established criteria, and describe appropriateness to the context. 

4th Grade: 4th Graders reported that some of their favorite parts of the show were the 12 Days of Christmas (written by their teachers), Jolly Old St. Nicholas, and playing the recorder.  They would make their show better by not talking on stage, giving everyone a chance at the Boomwhackers, and not playing the recorder.  They were feeling nervous, happy, and good.  After their performance, they felt sad that it was over, happy, and good.

  

MU:Re9.1.4a Evaluate musical works and performances, applying established criteria, and explain appropriateness to the context. 

5th Grade: 5th Graders reported that some of their favorite parts of the show were

MU:Re9.1.5a Evaluate musical works and performances, applying established criteria, and explain appropriateness to the context, citing evidence from the elements of music.

Memorial School Winter Concert

Congratulations to our Memorial School Band and Chorus members!  They performed in their first concert tonight, December 21, 2016.

Our 30-member Chorus performed four selections to open the show.  Selections included Make New Friends, A Grateful Nation, One Candle One Flame, and Cold Snap.  Despite some technical difficulties with the accompaniment, students did a great job and were even able to perform one song a cappella!

The Maroon Band, our advanced band, performed Theme from "The Nutcracker" and Jolly Old St. Nicholas.  They learned these songs in addition to the songs they performed with the Middle School Band.  These students have been very busy with performances this month!

The 60-member White Band closed out the show.  With only two months of experience on their instruments, students did a fabulous job!  They performed Rain Rain, Hot Cross Buns, Good King Wenceslas (featuring solis by each section) and Jingle Bells.

Great job to all of our performers!  Our next performances will be Tuesday, March 28th for Evening with the Arts.  Hope to see you there!

3rd Grade Holiday Program

Thank you for coming to our 3rd Grade Holiday Program.  Students sang, recited "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and even performed a plate routine reflecting the form of the Nutcracker March.  If you missed the performance, please check out the Leicester Memorial School Facebook page for a short video clip.

Middle School Winter Concert

Our Maroon Band members just performed in their second Middle School Concert of the year.  Thank you to Ms. Looney for letting our advanced band members perform with your group!

Our four Memorial School students joined the Middle School band for "Dance of the Reed Flutes" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus."  If you missed their performance, see the video below:







Maroon Band members will be performing again next Wednesday, December 21st at 6pm at the Memorial School Winter Concert.  Hope to see you there!

Concert Next Week!

Please join us for our Memorial School Winter Concert next Wednesday, December 21st at 6pm.  Our Chorus students are clearly very excited to see you there!

2nd Grade Holiday Program

Thank you for coming to our 2nd Grade Holiday Program today!  Students were well-prepared with all of their songs and poems and put on a great show.  It was so nice to see so many families there.  If you missed the show or would like to watch it again, please watch the following video. Thank you to Leicester Cable Access Channel for filming our shows!

1st Grade Holiday Program

Thank you for joining us at our 1st Grade Holiday Program today!  Students did a great job with all of their songs and poems, and it was awesome to see so many families there!  If you missed the program or you would like to watch it again, please watch the following video.  Thank you to Leicester Cable Access Channel for filming the show!

Kindergarten Holiday Program

Thank you for joining us at our Kindergarten Holiday Program today!  Students did a great job memorizing their songs and motions despite their nerves.  It's hard to imagine that this was their first performance!  If you missed our show or would like to watch it again, here is the video, recorded by the Leicester Cable Access Channel.  Thank you to LCAC for filming our show!

Pitter, Patter

Preschoolers' newest simple song is Pitter, Patter.  They have practiced singing it using hand motions and while playing the rain stick to make the sound of rain.  Once they could sing it as a group, they all sang it as a solo all by themselves!

Pitter, patter,
Pitter, patter,
Listen to the rain.
Pitter, patter,
Pitter, patter,
On my windowpane.

Hear Mrs. Mueller's preschool class sing this song.

Two Little Blackbirds

While the rest of our students are preparing for their holiday programs, preschoolers are continuing their work on becoming "Tuneful, Beatful, and Artful."  They have been learning a fingerplay called Two Little Blackbirds.  Ask them to perform it for you.  

Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill.

One named Jack, the other named Jill.

Fly away Jack, fly away Jill.

Come back Jack, come back Jill.

Hear Mrs. Mueller's preschool class performing this fingerplay below.

Holiday Program Preparation

I hope you have been enjoying our music class blog as a way to see and hear what your students have been working on in music.  We are getting started on music for our Holiday Programs today, so I won't be posting any singing samples for the next month so I don't ruin the surprise.  Please join us at our in-school programs to find out what your students have been working on!

A Grateful Nation

Chorus students are preparing a song to sing at our Veteran's Day assembly next week.  This song is called "A Grateful Nation."  Though their performance on Veteran's Day is just for Memorial students, we will be performing this song again for family and friends at our Winter Concert in December.

 

Fall Concert

Congratulations to our Maroon Band members on their first Middle School concert!

Students performed two songs: "Creature Feature" and "Freedom Finale" with the Middle School Band.  They did a fantastic job!  If you missed the concert, see their performance below:





Their next concert with the Middle School Band will be Thursday, December 15.

Pumpkin, Pumpkin

Second and third graders have been exploring some harmony using the song "Pumpkin, Pumpkin" (or "Leaves are Falling").

Ask your child to sing the song for you:

Pumpkin, pumpkin
Round and fat.
Turn into a jack 'o lantern
Just like that.

Or a fall variation:

Leaves are falling
All around.
Rake them in a big leaf pile
On the ground.

After learning this song, we added a rhythmic ostinato (repeating pattern).  This help students develop independence between parts of music.  It is difficult to sing and clap a rhythm at the same time!

Third graders moved on to singing this song as a round (singing in two groups and starting at different times).  This added an extra challenge!

Then, both grades added some movement to the song with a partner switching, clapping game!

Musical Form

Fifth graders just completed a unit about form in music.  They learned that the form of a song is determined by the sections that are the same or similar, and the sections that are different.  We used two songs that the students are familiar with: "Can't Stop the Feeling" by Justin Timberlake and "I'm on Top of the World" by Imagine Dragons.

Students listened to the songs and used shapes to show where they heard similar and different sections.

Then, we added rhythms to the form.  Each shape was assigned a different rhythm.  We were able to play our rhythm patterns along with the songs on rhythm sticks, which really helped us to feel the different sections.  This was also a great way to practice the rhythms we learned in fourth grade!

White Belts!

Fourth grade students earned their white belts!

Students have been using a new recorder book this year, so we started our Recorder Karate program over.  For each concept that students learn, their class has a chance to earn a karate belt (yarn) for their recorder by showing mastery on the topic.

The white belt topics were notes E and G and rhythms "ta" and "ti-ti."  Students showed mastery by performing "Lemonade," "No Robbers Out Today," and "Quaker, Quaker."  All classes did a fantastic job!

Students will also have the chance to test individually and earn beads to add to their belts.  For white belt, students could earn beads on the songs "See Saw" and "Starlight Star Bright."

Frog in the Meadow

Students have been working on the song "Frog in the Meadow" as their first simple song of the year.

"The chief purpose of these songs is to encourage independent singing from children while they assimilate the whole song."  - Dr. John M. Feierabend in First Steps in Music

First, students listen to the teacher sing the song for several weeks.  Students have taken turns playing the frog guiro (pictured above) while they listen.  After a few weeks, the whole class was able to sing the song together without help from the teacher.  Now, brave volunteers are starting to sing the song by themselves.

See the lyrics below and ask your child to sing for you:

Frog in the meadow

Can't get him out.

Take a little stick and

Stir him about.

Hear Mrs. Armington's class sing the song below:

No More Pie

Preschoolers and Kindergarteners start off almost every class with an echo song.  I sing first, and then the children echo the words and tune I just sang.

"These songs are significant in the development of children's musical skills because they provide an opportunity to sing a short phrase alone.  Echo Songs invite the child to repeat the same tune and words.  Echo songs are easier [than Call-and-Response Songs] because children only have to remember one pattern and sing it back."  - Dr. John M. Feierabend in First Steps in Music

Students' first echo song has been "No More Pie".  See the lyrics below and ask your child to sing it for you.

Oh my,

No more pie.

Pie's too sweet,

I want a piece of meat.

Meat's too red,

I want a piece of bread.

Bread's too brown,

I want to go to town.

Town's too far,

I think I'll take a car.

Car won't go,

I stubbed my toe.

Toe gives me pain,

I think I'll take the train.

Oh my,

No more pie.

This song is especially fun, because children can come up with more rhyming verses and the song can go on and on.

Hear Miss Randell's kindergarten class perform this song with Miss Dagenais below:

Johnny Works With One Hammer

A huge part of becoming tuneful, beatful, and artful is learning how to keep the steady beat.  First graders practice that through songs and rhymes with beat motions.


"Having an intuition for the beat in music is central to all later rhythmic development.  Certain beat motions have been found to be easier than others for young children.  Performing those motions at specific tempos will better enable children to be successful.  Maintaining beat motions with a group is more difficult for young children but can be successful if the proper motions and tempos are used." - Dr. John Feierabend in First Steps in Music

This songs involves keeping the beat with our whole bodies, and we found that it's a great workout!  Try it with your child!

Johnny works with one hammer,
One hammer, one hammer.
Johnny works with one hammer,
Then he works with two.

Johnny works with two hammers...
Then he works with three.

Johnny works with three hammers...
Then he works with four.

Johnny works with four hammers...
Then he works with five.

Johnny works with five hammers...
Then he goes to sleep.

Hear Miss Carroll's class perform this song here!