Welcome to the Leicester Elementary School Music page. I will use this blog to share curriculum updates, activities, and upcoming events.
Check out grade level tabs in the right sidebar to see what your students are working on in class, or see all posts on the Home page.
Check back often to see what we're working on!
Congratulations to our Band and Chorus students on a successful first concert! You did a great job and I am so proud of you! Chorus singing "What the World Needs Now is Love."
Chorus singing "We're Goin' on a Sleigh Ride" by Greg Gilpin at one of our holiday programs.
Thank you for coming to our 4th Grade Holiday Program! Students worked very hard to prepare their songs to spread some holiday cheer! If you missed it, check out some of the videos below. "Holiday Visit/We Wish You a Merry Christmas"- a partner song
"Deck the Halls" featuring raffle winners on the Boomwhackers
"Good King Wenceslas" - students sang with motions, then decoded the rhythm, then sang as a round!
Thank you for coming to our 5th Grade Holiday Program! If you missed it, check out the videos below. Our students worked really hard! Happy Holidays! "Sleigh Ride" featuring the Cup Song
Check out our Kindergarten Holiday Program! Kindergarteners did a great job singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." See the full video below, recorded by Leicester Cable Access Channel. Thanks for being there, LCAC!
Check out our 2nd Graders performing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" to open their holiday program. Thanks for joining us to celebrate the holiday season! See the full video below, recorded by the Leicester Cable Access Channel. Thanks for being there, LCAC!
"All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" "Jingle Bells"
Check out our 1st Graders performing some holiday songs at their annual holiday program. Thanks for joining us to ring in the holiday season! Here is the full video, recorded by Leicester Cable Access Channel. Thanks LCAC!
It's almost Thanksgiving time and our preschoolers are learning a new Thanksgiving themed fingerplay called "A Pumpkin for the Pie." While we learned this fingerplay, students talked about their favorite foods that they eat around Thanksgiving. This rhyme includes pumpkin pie, apples, and a heavy turkey!
Did your child share "A Pumpkin for the Pie" with you from their Ask Me sheet? Tell Miss Dagenais by filling out this quick form.
Preschoolers have been hard at work at a new simple song called "Pitter Patter." To learn a simple song, students listen several times without singing. Through this whole song approach, students are encouraged to listen carefully in order to learn the words and tune of the song. Then, they are able to successfully sing the song very easily when allowed to sing themselves. Independence is gained when students sing these songs as a solo during class. To keep us busy while listening, students learned motions for this song and got to play the rain stick while they waited their turn.
Did your child sing "Pitter Patter" for you from their Ask Me sheet? Tell Miss Dagenais by filling out this form!
Kindergarteners are hard at work preparing for their first ever holiday program, but there is still work to be done in the music room! We are continuing our work on fingerplays with the rhyme "A Chubby Little Snowman." I love how this fingerplay encourages children to speak with expression, a skill that we also need to apply to our singing. Students will be performing this fingerplay, along with many other holiday songs, at our holiday program on Tuesday, December 12 at 10:15. Hope to see you there!
Did your child share "A Chubby Little Snowman" with you from their Ask Me sheet? Tell Miss Dagenais using this form.
We are busy getting ready for our holiday program in first grade, but we are still working on important skills like developing our singing voices. One of the best ways to work on singing in tune is to sing echo songs. Students only have to remember a short fragment of a song and repeat it back to sing these songs successfully. We will be performing this echo song at our holiday program on Tuesday, December 12 at 9:15. Hope to see you there!
Did you child sing "Christmas, Christmas, Christmas" to you from their Ask Me sheet? Tell Miss Dagenais by filling out this form.
Our Chorus students performed "We Will Not Forget" by John Riggio at our Veteran's Day assembly today. Congratulations on a successful performance. Thank you to all who have served. Hear our performance in the video below:
Our students are getting started on holiday music this week in preparation for our annual grade level holiday programs. The schedule for the performances follows. Hope to see you all there!
Primary School - Tuesday, December 12 (performances will be held at the LHS Fine Arts Center) Kindergarten - 10:15-10:45 1st Grade - 9:15-9:45 2nd Grade - 11:15-11:45 Memorial School - Friday, December 15 (performances will be held in the Memorial School gymnasium) 3rd Grade - 8:45-9:30 4th Grade - 10:00-10:45 5th Grade - 11:15-12:00
5th grade is enjoying learning about layered rhythmic ostinatos using Boomwhackers. Boomwhackers are colored plastic tubes that play different pitches when hit. We are playing a song called "One Minute Boomwhacker Song" based on this video:
Each Boomwhacker color plays a different rhythm (a repeating pattern called an ostinato). We layer these ostinatos on top of each other to create a fun groove. This has proven challenging, but students have shown that they are up for the challenge. Hear Mr. Therrien's class perform this song in the video below: Over the next few weeks, students will be working in groups to create their own layered rhythmic ostinatos to perform on Boomwhackers. Check back soon to hear their compositions.
3rd and 4th graders are singing a spooky call and response song called "Skin and Bones." We have learned that a call and response song is a type of fragment song in which the leader sings part of the song and the group responds with something different. Just like in an echo song, fragment singing encourages musical independence as students must remember their fragment even after hearing something else. See the lyrics below. I am not going to include all of them because I don't want to ruin the surprise. There was an old woman all skin and bones (Ooooooh) She lived down by the old churchyard (Ooooooh) One night she wanted to take a walk (Ooooooh) She walked down by the old graveyard (Ooooooh) She saw some bones a-layin' around (Ooooooh) She went to the closet to get a broom (Ooooooh) She opened the door... Hear Mrs. Rieder's class perform this song in the video below. Prepare yourself for the surprise at the end!
4th and 5th graders are learning a round called "Ah, Poor Bird." This round has helped us to explore the mood of a song and how a minor key can help us to express the mood. See the lyrics below: Ah, poor bird, Take thy flight. High above the sorrows, Of this sad night. It is a simple round, and students were easily able to sing it in several parts. Hear Mrs. Miller's fifth grade class sing the song in unison in the video below:
Kindergarteners are playing a fall-themed circle game called "The Leaves are Green." Just like a fingerplay, this type of song helps us to understand the form of a song, performing different motions for different parts of the song. See the lyrics to this song below: The leaves are green, The nuts are brown. They hang so high, They won't fall down. Leave them alone 'til frosty weather. And they'll all fall down together! We walk around in a circle with hands joined and love to fall down at the end of the song! Hear Mrs. Armington's class sing this song in the video below:
Did your child sing this song to you from their "Ask Me" sheet? Fill out this quick form to tell Miss Dagenais that your child is singing at home!
1st graders are singing a fun new challenging fingerplay called "My Hat." In this song, students start by singing all of the words, but slowly replace the words with a motion in each repetition. See the lyrics below: Myhat it has threecorners, Threecorners has myhat. And had it not threecorners, It would not be myhat! With each repetition, we took away a word - first "my," then "hat," then "three," and finally "corners." This helped us to develop our inner hearing. We had to still hear the words in our head so that we could line up the rest of the song. Hear Mrs. Tibbett's class sing this song in the video below:
Did your child sing you this song from their "Ask Me" sheet? Use this form to tell Miss Dagenais that your child is singing at home!
For this fall fingerplay, preschoolers practiced speaking with expression at the same time as they practiced basic subtraction skills. Ask your child to share this fingerplay with you, using the lyrics below: Five little leaves so bright and gay, Were dancing about on the tree one day. A wind came blowing through the town, And one little leaf came tumbling down. (Practice subtraction... How many leaves are left?) Four little leaves so bright and gay, Were dancing about on the tree one day. A wind came blowing through the town, And one little leaf came tumbling down. Three little leaves so bright and gay, Were dancing about on the tree one day. A wind came blowing through the town, And one little leaf came tumbling down. Two little leaves so bright and gay, Were dancing about on the tree one day. A wind came blowing through the town, And one little leaf came tumbling down. One little leaves so bright and gay, Were dancing about on the tree one day. A wind came blowing through the town, And one little leaf came tumbling down. Hear Mrs. Beaudry's preschool class recite this fingerplay in the video below:
Did your child share this rhyme with you from their "Ask Me" sheet? Use this form to tell Miss Dagenais that your child is singing at home!
As part of our First Steps in Music curriculum, preschoolers and kindergarteners have learned the simple song "Frog in the Meadow." A simple song is a song that students learn through a whole song approach - listening to the song sung to them several times until it is internalized and they can sing it by themselves. First, students listened while the song was sung to them. Following the words of the song, students used a "stick" (their finger) to stir the meadow grass around to find the frog. They got to choose different parts of their body to look for the frog in until he popped out of the tall grass. After several weeks of only listening to the song, students were given the opportunity to sing the song as a group, accompanied by Miss Dagenais on the frog guiro. This helped to build independence, as students sang without help from the teacher.
After some practice singing the song as a group came the ultimate test of their singing independence: students sang the song solo for the class while playing the frog guiro. All of our brave kindergarteners and preschoolers have sung the song solo for their class! Ask your child to sing the song for you. The lyrics are below: Frog in the meadow Can't get him out. Take a little stick and Stir him about. Hear Mrs. Barlow's kindergarten sing this song in the video below:
Did your child sing this song to you from their "Ask Me" sheet? Share with Miss Dagenais that your child is singing at home through this quick form!
As part of our Conversational Solfege rhythm unit, 2nd and 3rd graders have been playing "Closet Key." This song is made up of our duple rhythm patterns and was already familiar to 2nd graders as a game we played last year. See the lyrics below: I have lost my closet key, In my lady's garden. I have lost my closet key, In my lady's garden. Help me find my closet key, In my lady's garden. Help me find my closet key, In my lady's garden. I have found my closet key, In my lady's garden. I have found my closet key, In my lady's garden. As we sing the song, one student holds a key, hidden from a student who is going to guess. Students sing the song louder when the guesser gets close to the student with the key and sing softer when the guesser is further away. At the end of the song, the guesser gets three tries to decide who is holding the key. Hear Mrs. Lowkes's third grade class sing this song in the video below:
After we were comfortable with the song, students were able to decode the rhythm patterns themselves, singing the song using rhythm syllables instead of the words.
1st Graders just finished up learning a new fingerplay called "Here is a Frog." Fingerplays are songs or rhymes with motions. The motions help students learn about the form of a song and also teach students how to speak or sing the song with expression appropriate to the words. Students were very expressive when reciting this rhyme. Ask your child to recite it for you with the motions. Here is a frog And here is a pond. A frog in a pond am I. I can jump so far I can jump so high Hippety, hippety, hop. I sit on a lily pad high and dry Watching the fishes swimming by Then, SPLASH! How I make the water fly. Hippety, hippety, hop. Hear Mrs. Larson's class recite this rhyme below:
Did your child use their "Ask Me" sheet to share this rhyme with you? Use this form to tell Miss Dagenais that your child is sharing their music at home.
As part of our Conversational Solfege curriculum, students in grades 2-5 have been studying Yankee Doodle. The A section of this song uses only our Unit 1 duple rhythm patterns so it has been a great song for us to use to familiarize ourselves with these patterns. Students listened and learned this song through a whole song approach - hearing the song sung to them several times and then singing it themselves. Yankee Doodle went to town, Riding on a pony. Stuck a feather in his hat And called it macaroni. Hear Mrs. Baker's second grade class singing this song in the video below:
After singing the song, students danced to a recording of it, learning motions that reflected the form of the song while further solidifying our rhythm patterns. When we were very familiar with the song, students were able to decode the rhythm patterns, singing the song using rhythm syllables instead of the words. Soon, we will be able to read the rhythms of this song and notate it for ourselves.
Preschool and kindergarten have learned a new echo song. An echo song is a song where the leader sings a phrase, and the group repeats it. Echo songs are a type of fragment song, which are an important part of our First Steps in Music curriculum at this level. Fragment singing helps students learn to match pitch and sing with proper vocal placement by copying a good vocal model. This will in time help our students to become "Tuneful," an important part of this curriculum.
After we were comfortable singing the echoes as a whole class, students sang the echoes as solos. Singing solo without the support of their classmates helps to build vocal independence.
Students were delighted to realize that this song was full of rhyming words. It doesn't really tell a story but it is fun to sing!
See the lyrics below. Try to sing the song with your child as the leader and you singing the echoes. For added fun, try to come up with your own rhyming verses!
Oh my (oh my)
No more pie (no more pie).
Pie's too sweet (pie's too sweet)
I want a piece of meat (I want a piece of meat).
Meat's too red (meat's too red)
I want a piece of bread (I want a piece of bread).
Bread's too brown (bread's too brown)
I want to go to town (I want to go to town).
Town's too far (town's to far)
I think I'll take a car (I think I'll take a car).
Oh my (oh my)
No more pie (no more pie).
Hear Mrs. Beaudry's preschool class sing the song in the video below:
Hear Mrs. Barlow's kindergarten class sing the song in the video below:
We have been making soup in preschool and kindergarten with our first fingerplay, "Chop, Chop, Chippety Chop." A fingerplay is a song or rhyme with motions. Fingerplays teach students about the form of the song by adding motions for each section, and teach students about speaking or singing with expression appropriate to the words.
As we chop up the imaginary ingredients, students get to choose what to add to our soup. We have used some interesting ingredients, including a lot of candy! At the end, we always have to remember to taste our creation!
Make some soup with your child while reciting these words:
Chop, chop, chippety chop,
Cut off the bottom and cut off the top.
What there is left, we put in the pot.
Chop, chop, chippety chop.
Hear Mrs. Gallant's kindergarten class recite this rhyme in the video below:
Did your child say this rhyme for you from their "Ask Me" sheet. Use this form to share with Miss Dagenais that your child is singing at home!
Our 2nd-5th grade students are building their music literacy this year through a curriculum called Conversational Solfege. This program is going to help our students hear, read, write, and create their own rhythmic and tonal patterns and songs. Because this is a new program to our school this year, all students in grades 2-5 will start out on Unit 1, learning about rhythms in duple meter. To start, we needed to build our repertoire of songs in duple meter. One of the songs fourth and fifth graders learned for this purpose was "Good King Wenceslas." For added fun, we sang this song on the neutral syllable "bum" and added motions. Once we were comfortable with singing the song in unison, we sang it as a round - first in two parts, then four, then eight! It was challenging, but we loved the effect that happened at the end (stay tuned - we will show you at our Holiday Programs in December!). Once we knew the song really well, students were able to decode the rhythmic patterns that they heard in the song, singing with rhythm syllables. We're off to a great start! Hear Mrs. Hyland's fourth grade class sing this song in the video below. Check out our Holiday Program in December to hear it as a round!
Chorus sign-ups are underway! Our Memorial School Chorus is open to students in grades 3-5. Students meet after school on Wednesdays every week to learn songs and prepare for performances. Our students perform several times throughout the year, including at our school-wide Veteran's Day assembly, Christmas programs, Winter Concert, Evening with the Arts, and Spring Concert. For more information, please see the attached flier. Return all Chorus sign-ups by Monday, September 25th. I hope you'll join us! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iDvsT_rA8yO4Gw3Q_fiFBMGYiR0Aa6REcviSUOZ2T_8/edit?usp=sharing
2nd graders started off their year with the echo song "Ricka Bamboo." This song helped us practice matching pitch and singing with the correct vocal placement, which was an important refresher after a long summer. After we were familiar with the echoes in this song, students sang a line as a solo to help them further build their independence as musicians. See the lyrics to the song below: Oh Ricka Bamboo (oh Ricka Bamboo) What do I see? (what do I see?) It is a bird (it is a bird) High in a tree (high in a tree) It's red and gold (it's red and gold) And purple too (and purple too) That's why it's called (that's why it's called) 'Ol Ricka Bamboo ('ol Ricka Bamboo) Hear Mrs. Curci's class perform the song in the video below:
3rd graders started off their year with a new echo song called "The Littlest Worm." Echo songs are a familiar form of song for our third graders, and they are a great way to help students match pitch and sing with proper vocal placement. This song was a good way to refresh our singing voices after a long summer.
Students enjoyed this silly song about swallowing a worm. See the lyrics below:
The littlest worm (the littlest worm)
I ever saw (I ever saw)
Was stuck inside (was stuck inside)
My soda straw (My soda straw)
The littlest worm I ever saw,
Was stuck inside my soda straw.
He said to me (he said to me)
"Don't take a sip (don't take a sip)
'Cause if you do ('cause if you do)
You'll really flip" (you'll really flip)
He said to me, "Don't take a sip,
'Cause if you do you'll really flip."
I took a sip (I took a sip)
And he went down (and he went down)
Right through my pipes (right through my pipes)
He must have drowned! (he must have drowned)
I took a sip and he went down,
Right through my pipes he must have drowned!
And now he's gone (and now he's gone)
This is the end (this is the end)
He was my pal (he was my pal)
He was my friend (he was my friend)
And now he's gone, this is the end,
He was my pal, he was my friend.
Hear Mrs. Adler's class perform this song in the video below:
It's almost Thanksgiving time and our preschoolers are learning a new Thanksgiving themed fingerplay called "A Pumpkin for the Pie." While we learned this fingerplay, students talked about their favorite foods that they eat around Thanksgiving. This rhyme includes pumpkin pie, apples, and a heavy turkey!
Preschoolers have been hard at work at a new simple song called "Pitter Patter." To learn a simple song, students listen several times without singing. Through this whole song approach, students are encouraged to listen carefully in order to learn the words and tune of the song. Then, they are able to successfully sing the song very easily when allowed to sing themselves. Independence is gained when students sing these songs as a solo during class.
Kindergarteners are hard at work preparing for their first ever holiday program, but there is still work to be done in the music room! We are continuing our work on fingerplays with the rhyme "A Chubby Little Snowman." I love how this fingerplay encourages children to speak with expression, a skill that we also need to apply to our singing.
We are busy getting ready for our holiday program in first grade, but we are still working on important skills like developing our singing voices. One of the best ways to work on singing in tune is to sing echo songs. Students only have to remember a short fragment of a song and repeat it back to sing these songs successfully.
