Week Six in Review (Oct. 12 - Oct. 16)

Greetings from the music room! It was another exciting week of singing, moving, and playing instruments! Here are some of the highlights:

Kindergarten students moved to Dem Bones and This is Halloween. This is Halloween provides the children with opportunities to act out many spooky characters including what they will dress-up as for Halloween. Students reviewed the chants Five Little Pumpkins and 1, 2, 3-4, 5. During the chant 1, 2, 3-4, 5 students practiced switching their voices between a high witch voice and a low Frankenstein voice. Students also had the opportunity to play a hand drum this week. Next week we will be reviewing the instruments that we have played so far this year (lumni sticks, tambourine, maracas, woodblock, and hand drum) and playing a listening game.

First grade students played the steady beat on xylophones to the chant Spider, Spider, Legs and All and the song Candy Store. Students also began discovering that there can be one, two, or zero sounds on a beat. Students were asked to arrange themselves on orange pieces of construction paper in order to show the rhythm for the song Big Black Cats. Students also began learning a fun Halloween song and game called Witch, Witch. This song will be used to help students learn melodic notes sol and mi.

Second grade students learned a new song and game called Who? This spooky owl song and its game allows students to practice their piano (quiet) and forte (loud) singing voices. Students reviewed the hand signs for sol and mi while singing the song See Saw and also began singing the song using the words high and low. Next week we are going to start putting these notes on the staff. Additionally, students began learning a song called Must Be Halloween. During this song, students create a 'B' section by using the interactive white board to place quarter notes and eighth notes into four spooky ghosts. After singing the song, the class reads the rhythm that was created. 

Third grade students practiced whole, half, quarter, and eighth notes this week. Students moved a piece of music called Urgos by showing the length of whole, half, and quarter notes. Students also began learning a telephone game in which they must identify the correct rhythm after a friend taps it on their shoulder. Students also began an improvisation activity called The Halloween Cat. Next week students will have the opportunity to be the leader for this activity and create their own descriptions for the Halloween cat.

Fourth grade students learned an improvisation activity called The Halloween Cat. The chant 'snaked' around the room as each student in turn created their own description for the Halloween cat. Students decoded the rhythm for No One in the House and reviewed the counting for sixteenth notes. Students continued to learn about the lines and spaces of the treble clef as they created words using only the letters A B C D E F and G. Students then turned their words into music notes for their friends to decode. Students also began learning a new round called Boots of Shining Leather and a nonsensical song entitled Ding Dong.

Fifth grade students began to dissect the rhythm of Ye Toop Doram and Chairs to Mend. Students were asked to identify the dotted quarter/eighth notes in these songs and practiced counting several rhythmic patterns containing this rhythm. Students also experienced Chairs to Mend as a two- and three-part round and began learning a telephone game in which they must identify the correct rhythm after a friend taps it on their shoulder. Additionally, students reviewed the notes on the treble clef staff by using music department mini-ipads, which are shared among Walled Lake Elementary Schools, to practice their note name reading.