Only one week to go...!

This is our last week before Winter Break! It's hard to believe that we have already come to the end of 2012, and the first four months of school are almost behind us. I have felt so grateful to be at Courtenay Elementary and to work with such eager, energetic and talented young students. Here's a glimpse of what we will be doing this last week of school....

Intermediate students
We have started to look at Bucket Drumming. Students are playing syncopated rhythms in 4/4 time, on upside-down garbage pails, using drum sticks. This is a LOT of fun, and as you can imagine, VERY noisy! We really get to get out some of that pre-holiday energy! We will look at a song called "A Christmas Mash Up", which puts together several well-known Christmas Carols into one song. It also features some entertaining instruments, such as kazoos, slide whistles, and cymbals.

Using bucket drums also connects to the performing group, STOMP, and discussing how to create music using "found sound". We will watch a short STOMP video on the last day of classes.

Primary Students
Primary students are singing lots of Christmas Carols and have learned the Jingle Bell Dance. They have also explored the "Snowman Scale song", which is a little song that goes up the C scale note wise for each line of the song ..... until the snowman melts back down at the end!

I have a little snowman
He is so fat and round
I made him from a snowball
I rolled upon the ground
I put some buttons on his coat, 
A scarf of crimson red,
I put some mittens on him,
A cap upon his head.

Watch him as he melts to the ground!

We moved our bodies up slowly as we sang the lines of the song and they melted at the end (they really like the melting part!) We then looked at how the notes move step-wise up the scale, and used Boomwhackers to help with this. Boomwhackers are fun, pitched musical tubes!  We will continue this after the Winter Break and also begin to look at melody and how music is notated.

Primary students are also going to have a look at the Nutcracker. There are several activities we will use, including movement with scarves, rhythm, watching clips of the ballet, coloring while we listen. The two main pieces we will focus on are the March and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Here are a couple videos I will be showing that are very interesting!

Dance of the Sugar Plum fairy was originally written for the Glass Armonica. Visit The Franklin Institute to learn more. View the video below to see the Glass Armonica!

  

Here is a musician playing Musical Glasses! Also, another example of a "non traditional musical instrument", or creating music using "found sound".

 

And finally, here is a ballet dancer performing the Dance of the Sugar Plum fairy, as you would see it if you went to watch a Nutcracker Ballet. 

 

~Mrs Caya

WOW! What a great show!

Congratulations to all our students for their fabulous performance in our Christmas Concert! I was so impressed with our the performances by all the classes. Great job everyone! Hopefully we will have some pictures up soon!

~Mrs Caya

We've been BUSY!

Hello everyone!
I haven't posted in a while because the music room has been so BUSY these last few weeks!
First we were preparing for the Remembrance Day assembly, and now all the classes are busy learning their songs for the Christmas Concert!

The concert is on Tuesday, Dec. 11 and there will be 2 shows. The first show is at 1:00, and the second is at 7:00 pm. Students are expected to attend BOTH shows. Each class is learning a different song and the show will feature: singing, ukuleles, djembes, xylophones, recorders, other percussion instruments!

The Kindergarten and K/1 classes have learned two extremely cute songs and they can't wait to present them to you! The Grade 1 class is learning an especially entertaining song called "Reindeer Rap", the Grade 2/3's are learning how to play xylophones with one of the classic Christmas songs, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town",the Grade 4/5's are adding recorders to "Jolly Old St. Nicholas", the 4/5/6's are busy with ukuleles and "Jingle Bells", and our 5/6's are going to WOW you with their djembe song! It's going to be an incredible performance! All topped off with some talented young actors and actresses who will weave the story together for you.

What will happen when ALL of Santa's presents get stolen from his sleigh?? You'll have to come to our concert to find out!

Can't wait to see everyone there!

~Mrs. Caya

Different Voices

Ms. White had a fright,
In the middle of the night!
Saw a ghost, eating toast,
Halfway up the lamp post!

Primary students have been learning this fun chant. They have been using different voices while they repeat the chant.

(image from bethsmusicnotes.com)  

Now that they know the chant well, we are going to decipher where the BEAT in the song is! Using my handy magnetic hearts, I will guide students by placing hearts underneath the words that fall on the BEAT. They are ready for this as we have spend a lot of time moving, listening, and playing on the beat to different styles of music! A next step would be to determine the RHYTHM of the words in the chant! Then we can add in some instruments and bring the chant to life!

~Mrs. Caya

What the Intermediates are up to!

Students in grades 4/5/6 have been busy learning all about the ukulele! They have learned the names of the strings, proper playing technique and rest position vs. playing position (very important!) :)

So far they have learned the song, "Don't Worry Be Happy", and "Wipeout". Two very different techniques needed, strumming chords, and picking the strings.

The grade 4/5 class have started learning how to play the recorder, and they are pretty amazing! In just a few short weeks (and I only see them 2 times a week for 45 mins), they have learned notes B, A, G, as well as E. They can play Hot Cross Buns, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and Ramble. This week they are learning a few new songs using their new note, E - BAGE Blues, and Skin and Bones.


~Mrs. Caya

October Assembly!

On October 25, Mrs. Bannister's class will be performing 2 songs. They will be presenting "Down, Down, Yellow and Brown", using ORFF instruments and movement. This song has been an excellent tool for discussing high/low, and for learning the very tricky skill of singing and playing at the same time. We have used leaf manipulatives with labelled with solfege, and I have placed this in a descending pattern, so students are able to see the movement of notes in the song.

The other song the class is performing is a cute little Halloween song called "Three Black Bats" (sung to the tune of Three Blind Mice)

Three black bats, three black bats
See how they fly, see how they fly
They all came out in the dark moonlight, 
Did you ever see such a Halloween sight, 
As three black bats!

I am going to be recording students this week and *hopefully* will remember to take some pictures, too!

Happy Halloween everyone!
~Mrs. Caya

Dem Bones!

Here is a cute little dance our kindergarten and K/1 students will be learning this week!