One Minute Boomwhacker Song

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.

Skin and Bones

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!

Ah Poor Bird

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:

The Leaves are Green

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!

My Hat

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:

My hat it has three corners,
Three corners has my hat.
And had it not three corners,
It would not be my hat!

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!

Five Little Leaves

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!

Frog in the Meadow

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!

Closet Key

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.

Here is a Frog

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.

Yankee Doodle

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.

No More Pie

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:

Chop, Chop, Chippety Chop

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!