November 26 - 30, 2018

Kindergarten

A few new songs were introduced this week that relate to other lessons, such as "Stop, Look and Listen!" (a song about safely crossing a street), "Brush Your Teeth" (a reminder to brush your teeth before going to sleep at night), and "Can't Wait to Hibernate" (a funny song about a bear looking forward to its hibernation).  "Alphabet Action" was also practiced each day, and I am very happy to see that it is having a positive impact with learning letter sounds.

Grade 1 & 2

We continued practicing rhythm patterns this week that included ta (one sound on the beat), ti-ti (two sounds on the beat), and rest (no sounds on the beat).  We also learned that some beats in music are stronger than others and that this helps contribute to making music flow better and sound more interesting.  Students explored this concept by bouncing a ball on the floor on the strong beat and catching it on the normal beat.  Next week, I will begin the singing assessments for matching pitch and singing so-la-so-mi (see last week's post).

Grade 3 & 4

With practice, students are becoming more comfortable with rhythm patterns that include tika-tika (four sounds on the beat).  Each class also showed tremendous progress this week with our 'Three Blind Mice" round, and I was very pleased to see several students try strategies they believed helped them focus on their part (covering one ear, not looking at others singing a different part, closing their eyes to block out all visual stimuli).

Grade 5 & 6

This week, we explored the rhythm tree (diagram below), which shows how smaller notes are derived from the four-beat whole note.  We also extended this learning to include rests.  We concluded the week by learning how a beat can be broken into three sounds: tika-ti (0.25, 0.25, 0.5), ti-tika (0.5, 0.25, 0.25), and the evenly distributed triplet, which we call ti-ro-li (0.33, 0.33, 0.33).  Please ask your child if they can demonstrate the difference between these.

Rhythm Tree - Notes

Rhythm Tree - Rests

(Images courtesy of Jon Vener)

PLP

In the week's first lesson, we worked on learning a catchy Spanish song, "Juanito," which details moving different body parts to create a dance routine.  In the second lesson, PLP students were also introduced to the concept that some beats are stronger than others.  We explored this with both boomwhackers and whiffle balls as we sang the song, "Bounce the Ball."

Listen to This! (Try Something New - Division I)

This week's theme was "Music from Other Countries." It was interesting to the students to hear the similarities and differences between the songs they hear on the radio in Canada and songs from countries such as Nigeria, Albania, Korea, and Scotland.  This was a really positive week for celebrating the multiculturalism and ethnic heritages of students at Ranchlands School!  The selected theme of our final session, which will be held December 14, is "Video Game Music."

November 19 - 23, 2018

Kindergarten

Recently, I discovered a song called "Alphabet Action" which ties in really well with our ongoing alphabet inquiry!  The children really enjoy it as it is an action song, and the lyrics use heavy alliteration with each letter (e.g. B, let's bounce like Bebop Bear!).  Though I am unable to post the video due to copyright reasons, I found an audio-only version if children want to practice at home.  Beyond this, children have begun working on basic rhythm patterns made up of ta (one sound on the beat) and ti-ti (two sounds on one beat).

Grade 1 & 2

This week, we began working on clapping rhythm patterns made up of ta, ti-ti, and rest.  We are also practicing our solfege scale (do, re, mi...) at the beginning of every lesson so that these pitches become engrained in students' minds.  On Thursday, all Grade 1 & 2 classes were treated to a boomwhacker play-along, courtesy of a kind guest teacher named Ms. Orton.  In the near future, I will begin assessing students for their ability to match pitch and sing so-la-so-mi, which are the predominant pitches in many children's songs.  Here is a practice video I found:

Grade 3 & 4

For Grade 3 & 4, this was primarily a review week.  We reviewed our main rhythm patterns from Grade 2, as well as notation symbols and/or terms regarding dynamics that we have learned this year.  We also worked at singing "Three Blind Mice" as a round.  The children quickly discovered that it is difficult to sing a part well when there are others around you singing different pitches and rhythms!  This is something we will continue to work on going forward as we explore musical harmony.

Grade 5 & 6

Using a goofy song called "Alabama Gal" as an example, the students worked on the following concepts: syncopated rhythms (ti-ta-ti pattern), accented beats (the first beat of every new measure is always strong), and time signature (which communicates the number of beats in each measure and the type of music note on which the beat is based).  Going forward, we are going to be working on dividing beats into three sounds, resulting in more complex rhythm patterns.

PLP

This week, we learned a song to accompany the classic classroom game, "Seven Up," and enjoyed several rounds of this.  The other new thing we worked on is using body percussion (clapping, snapping, patting knees, stomping feet) to perform fundamental rhythm patterns.  To end the week, the classroom favourite, "Button You Must Wander," was again revisited and sung using different voice types (high voice, low voice, silly voice, scary voice, etc.).

November 12 - 16, 2018

Kindergarten

On Monday, we worked a lot with beat.  We found the beat to two different Bach works (one fast one slow) and some students got to track the beats as we sang a new song.  On Wednesday, the children were delighted to play boomwhackers to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

Grade 1 & 2

This was a very interdisciplinary week for Grade 1 and 2 classes.  In the first lesson, we learned a call and response song from Ghana called "Kye Kye Koolay." We found Ghana on a world map and saw how far it is from Calgary, and then browsed through pictures taken in a rural village in northern Ghana.  On Thursday, our fiftieth day of school, the children were introduced to music from the 1950s.  Students were really excited to learn the hand jive and dance to the music of Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Chubby Checker.

Grade 3 & 4

This was a slightly different week than usual due to the first round of Telus Spark field trips, so some groups only got one lesson.  In this lesson, we looked at the notation to our "Third Base Coach's Dance" and discussed the symbols.  From this, each group was introduced to tika-tika (sixteenth notes).  With the Grade 3 and 4 students, I am really stressing musical literacy in preparation for our recorder unit, which will happen toward the end of the year.

Grade 5 & 6

This week, we finished up our task of applying rhythms to world locations.  Congrats to all those groups who were very thoughtful about how they assigned a rhythm to each location!

PLP

Due to the interdisciplinary content of the Grade 1 and 2 lessons, I felt it would be worthwhile to do similar lessons (Ghanan music, 1950s music) with PLP.  The students enjoyed learning the dance moves and doing 'the Twist' with Ms. Baker!

Listen to This! (Try Something New - Division I)

Our theme for this week was "Pop Music." Thank you to Nick and Enrik for sharing their understanding of pop music with the group prior to our listening session, as well as to all families who emailed song requests!  Some of the artists we listened to today included Stevie Wonder, Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, The Lumineers, and Leona Lewis.

November 5 - 9, 2018

Kindergarten

As promised, the Kindergarten students got their first exposure to boomwhackers on Wednesday.  We all worked together to recreate our "Autumn Leaves" song on these unique instruments.  Earlier in the week, we devoted some time to practicing saying "Mrs. Harich" in different voice types, such as high voice, low voice, spooky voice, nice voice, and weird voice.

Grade 1 & 2

This week, we continued exploring the differences between 'beat' and 'rhythm.' We learned that we continue to clap the beat through breaks in singing, which does not occur when we clap the rhythm.  We ended off the week by singing songs in honour of Remembrance Day.  "Just One Candle" is a beautiful song that many children enjoyed singing.

Grade 3 & 4

We began the week by viewing our recorded "Viennese Musical Clock" performances, and then each student completed a self-assessment questionnaire.  Students were encouraged to be thoughtful and honest with themselves so that they could truly know how to improve in future performances.  To end the week, we listened to a different Remembrance Day song, "Remember Flanders Fields" (link below), and shared how it made us feel.  We discovered that the 'sad' parts contain flats (♭), which lower the pitch by a semitone and are used by songwriters to evoke emotions and/or add interest to the music.

Grade 5 & 6

Rooms 20 and 21 continued to work hard on their performance for the Remembrance Day assembly, while the other classes were introduced to the activity in which they assign two-beat rhythms to world locations (see my October 26 post).  Every student also completed a self-assessment questionnaire for their "Viennese Musical Clock" performance.

PLP

This week, we reviewed some fundamental music concepts (high pitch vs. low pitch, loud vs. quiet, fast vs. slow, beat vs. rhythm).  We enjoyed practicing these by applying them to some class favourites, such as "Button You Must Wander" and the main theme of Star Wars.

Listen to This! (Try Something New - Division I)

Our theme of the week was "Songs Written Over 100 Years Ago." Though children are often not the biggest fans of classical music, the group enjoyed watching 'Line Rider' videos set to works by Beethoven, Grieg, and Tchaikovsky.  One family also thought to share an original recording of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" from 1908, which was a much-welcomed contribution.

October 29 - November 2, 2018

Kindergarten

The children really enjoyed singing Halloween-related songs this week.  They particularly liked "Costume Fun" (where a child acts out a Halloween costume for the others to guess) and "Pumpkin Fat" (where all children make jack-o-lantern faces).  Both of these incorporate elements of Drama.

Grade 1 & 2

This week revolved around Halloween music and practicing a difficult musical concept.  The Halloween songs we sang are fun and should encourage students to view music as an enjoyable pastime.  Children are presently learning the difference between 'beat' and 'rhythm' - a song's beat is steady, like a heartbeat, while the song's rhythm is based on how the words go.

Grade 3 & 4 -and- Grade 5 & 6

We began the week by listening to a podcast about eerie music from the Classical and Romantic eras.  Grieg's "In The Hall of the Mountain King" proved to be the unanimous class favourite.  I have included a link to the full version:

Beyond this, we watched clips of music from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ("Double Trouble") and The Nightmare Before Christmas ("This Is Halloween") to get in the Halloween spirit.  Each class also sang and acted out a song called "Old Woman All Skin and Bones," which depicts an old woman who wanders around a graveyard at night.

PLP

As with the other classes, Halloween music was this week's focus.  The students participated in several action songs that had them pretending to be everything from their favourite animals to Dracula.  A game song, "Pass the Broom," was also very popular.  This song asks students to pass a broomstick around a circle in 'Hot Potato' fashion.

Listen to This! (Try Something New - Division I)

Our theme of the week was "Rock Music." Thank you to those families who emailed YouTube links for the songs that they wanted to have shared during our session!  The students heard music from acts such as Queen, Imagine Dragons, Foo Fighters, and the Toronto-based July Talk.  Next week, our theme is "Music Written Over 100 Years Ago." I anticipate we will be listening to classical favourites, as well as music composed for the opera and ballet.