Winter News from the Music Room

Happy New Year and Winter Greetings to all! Lots is happening here in our music room for the new year. We are singing songs of winter and have special songs about Martin Luther King, Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, and President’s Day. It is a fun time of the year and we love singing our snow songs like Xtreme Winter and Freeze–Go Snow!

Our K-5th grade classes are having a unit on the band and orchestra with each grade getting a bit more detailed. We study all of the instrument families–brass, woodwind, percussion, and string. We talk about the marching band and the drum major. Our younger students have been having fun being a drum major and marching with boomwhackers! 4th and 5th grade students can bring in their band or string instruments to show the class. We also have a keyboard and guitar day and the students will be able to play for their classmates if they play those instruments.

Our 6th grade classes are studying music history. We discuss all the characteristics of each time period and some famous composers associated with each time period. We listen to some of their music and will also see music videos on Bach, Handel, and Beethoven.

Our 7th and 8th grade classes are learning to play the guitar! We work in small groups of 3-4 people and each student will learn about 6 chords and try some strumming techniques. We will try to do a few songs with our chords and hopefully inspire learning the guitar as you can do a whole song with 2 or 3 chords!

All classes are playing sound shapes for some of their classes and learning how to read and play rhythms. All classes are continuing their next stage of music theory and learn about note values, lines and spaces on the treble clef, and writing measures on the staff whiteboard. We are also trying to add activities on the smartboard as we go.

It is exciting to start the new year! I didn’t get to post a Christmas blog with the busy months of our Veterans Day and Christmas Programs but I wanted to let you know that the children worked very hard on the music for those programs. I am so proud of all of our students and the way that they handled themselves at Veterans Day and at Christmas. They truly gave 500% of themselves and sang with their whole heart. It was so touching to see. Our attendance at the Christmas program was suberb, one of the best attendances ever even with the snow that put everyone in the holiday mood! Thanks you so much for your support as parents. I hope everyone left the building that night knowing the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus’ birth and with hearts full of joy of the season. I know I did. It was inspiring just directing all the children!

Enjoy the new year! Sincerely, Karen Berry-Music Teacher

October News from the Music Room

October Greetings from the music room here at Saint Patrick School! Sounds of fall, harvest, and Halloween music will be filling our room!  We also are working on Veterans Day songs with all grades for our Veteran’s Day program on Nov. 11, 2010 at 8:30 A.M.    Our Pre-2nd grade classes will continue to focus on learning whole, half, and quarter note values this month with some practice drawing them on the whiteboard and using the notes with rhythm instruments in our “African Drumming Circle!”   Grades 3-8 will also continue to review note values and  begin reviewing the names of the lines and spaces with some whiteboard practice.  They will  enjoy “African Drumming Circle” as well!   7th and 8th Grade classes will also be working on a special selection for Veterans Day and begin learning singing in parts for “The Hallelujah Chorus.”   Enjoy the fall season!    May God bless you all, Mrs. Berry

September News from the Music Room

Greetings from the music room at Saint Patrick School! We are off and rolling for our 2010-2011 school year and already the music room is filled with singing voices! I want to personally welcome back all of our students and extend a special welcome to all of our new students and their families! Below is a little bit about what we’re doing for the month of September!

K/1st Grade classes will be singing songs of welcome, back to school, patriotic, and fall themes. We will be learning the rules of the music room and adding some movement to some of our songs. Don’t be surprised if you hear your child singing their ABC’s with a rock n roll rhyme to it! We will also begin learning about note values–whole half, and quarter notes. Your child will learn to play rhythms with sound shapes and rhythm sticks too! We will begin learning the musical game “Bluebird” which uses singing, movement, echo, and solo voice responses.

2nd-6th grade classes will also be singing songs of welcome, back to school, patriotic, and fall themes! We will review whole, half, and quarter notes and use them to play rhythms and notes on the sound shapes and boomwhackers! (Boomwhackers are long, plastic tubes in different lengths cut to sound like each note on the C scale and we use them for rhythm and for note-reading to play in a song. ) We will also begin to learn and review notes of the C scale. Some of our lessons will be from the grade level music book, others from Music Express magazine which includes music maps, popular songs, interviews with musicians, and other activities.

7th-8th grade classes will start off with some songs of fall, patriotic songs, and songs and activities from Music Express! We will try some 2 and 3 part harmony in a song to learn those skills of reading parts. Students will review note values, notes of the C scale, and will use those skills in our handbell unit. We will play individual notes with handbells as well as learn chords C, F, and G.

We will be very busy in music class this year with all we’re learning! We have great equipment with lots of percussion instruments, guitars for upper grades, a large, music staff whiteboard for the students to practice on, and a smart board to integrate into our classes. We do lots of singing in class! I personally strive to start every music class with a Christian focused song–a privilege that public schools don’t have. I pray God blesses us with a great school year!            Mrs. Berry

MUSIC K-8 at St. Patrick School

Greetings from the music room here at St. Patrick School! Here is what we are currently doing in music class for the month of April.  All classes start with a praise type chorus or song and we sing all types of songs including seasonal songs,  action songs for the younger grades,  broadway, folk, pop, etc.   Some songs we add basic choreography and keep everyone moving, singing, and having fun!  Vocal technique is woven in  as we sing!

K-2nd Grade Classes are currently working on a mini-unit with songbells.  Songbells are small xylophones and we have enough so that 2 or 3 students take turns to play at their tables.  We are learning to play the C scale/Glissando/ and some entry level piano songs.  Students will be playing whole, half, and quarter notes and practicing these with rhythm instruments.  We will begin learning the Penny Game this month in K/1st grade which tends to be a real favorite!  2nd graders will try reading notes with boomwhackers!

3-5th Grade Classes have started working on our spring program on Thursday, May 20th at 7:00 P.M.  Our program this year is Caribbean-themed and the students have made instruments to display at the art auction that night and then use in the program!  They will also be making tie/dye shirts to wear that night in art class.  In class we are working on the songs for the program and reviewing note values/lines and spaces/ and rhythms.  We will be trying out our instruments soon with our songs.  3rd and 4th grades are in a recorder unit and need to try and bring them to class every time to earn class rewards!  We are progressing in our book and playing some basic songs with 3-5 different notes.  5th grade classes will be reading music and playing songs with boomwhackers.

6th Grade Classes have been studying the periods of music history for several months.  This month we will finish our study as we have finally made it to the Modern Era!  We review basic things about each time period–Renaissance, Baroque, etc each class and will be having a matching quiz on April 21st to finish the unit.  We also continue to review music theory including the lines and spaces of treble clef, note values, etc.

7th and 8th Grade Classes just finished their unit on playing the guitars!!  Currently we are doing a mini-music composition unit and the students are working in groups to create an 8 measure composition and will perform it for the class in a few weeks.  To finish out the year the 7th graders will be doing a unit on jazz music and the 8th grade will finish their year with a study of broadway music!