Month: November 2014

UKULELE ORDERS

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Students who ordered ukuleles will be smiling this Monday, December 1st, as the instruments will be ready to go by the end of the day! Students with ukuleles might find the “Ukulele Karate” page on this blog helpful! Enjoy!!! 🙂

Classroom Music Program, 2014-15

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The 2014-2015 school year began with students learning two catchy songs: “The Fish Philosophy Song”, and “Gang of Rhythm” a song by the Band, “Walk Off the Earth”. We integrated Art in music class by each child drawing and colouring a fish to emphasize and take ownership of the “Fish Philosophy”, an initiative to promote positive relationships. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZKiJejNRtw) The four pillars of this are: Be Present to Others, Make Their Day, Choose your Attitude and Play. I asked the students to draw their fish according to a rubric, including, “Draw at least five patterns that represent you, whether it be a series of notes for your interest in music, hockey sticks for sports, ice-cream cones for food, etc.” The students seemed to enjoy this activity, listening to music all the while, and taking care to represent themselves in their design. We spoke about the connection between drawing patterns in Art, looking for patterns in math and language and also looking for patterns in music, like form and repetitive melodies. When all 450 fish drawings are removed from the walls of the atrium, students will be asked to create their “OWN SONG” using their fish as inspiration. The colours they choose might represent dynamics, and the repeated patterns of soccer balls, ballet shoes, etc., might represent repeated notes which they will play on perhaps a xylophone, metallophone or glock. Students will consider mood and tempo as they depict themselves in their composition. They will notate their melody with notes on the staff.

Students who finished their drawing before the others had two sheets to complete. The first asked students to list as many words as possible using the seven letters of the musical alphabet, and then draw the notes on the staff as they correspond to the letters they used in each word. Any words were accepted, single letter words, abbreviations, names, etc! Some students found over 100 words! The second sheet called “Code Breaker”, required students to simply identify the letter names of given notes. The letters created words.

These sheets reinforce note-naming activities that we have done over the past two years, the most fun involving a game! Using a giant musical staff on the floor, one student tossed a large bean bag onto the staff, while a second student shouted out the name of the line or space where the bag landed, followed by a third student who played the note on a mallet instrument. Each group of three was timed. The teams that were 100% accurate in the least amount of time won the game! The kids became very proficient at note naming as a result! Competition was intense!

Following the fish and work sheet activity we analyzed several pieces of music, by the band, “Walk Off the Earth”. Several students saw them perform live at the Celebration Zone this summer, and felt a connection with their very creative musical arrangements! Students identified instrumentation(kazoos, melodicas, ukuleles, car doors, car keys, saxophones, guitars, drums, etc.) and mood, being amazed at their energetic performance and positive energy! (Walk Off the Earth: “Gang of Rhythm, Beetle Three Track”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzyrhyxh2DU)

We have begun learning the ukulele. We are starting with strumming, learning chords by rote and soon by note reading, We will be learning the C and G Major scales, reading the notes from the staff. Students will learn several easy tunes to sing and play. They will be asked to create their own four bar melodies, or longer if they wish, using musical notation. They will be given “Mystery Melodies” where they will need to read the notes to identify the familiar tune that they represent. Students were asked to listen to me strumming simple rhythms and then to play them back. We will be doing, “Guess which strumming pattern is different from the rest.” Kids will be asked to listen and assess what I play, what they play and what their peers play.

Other in-class units will include: Drum circle, Favourite Band project, Technology in the music classroom using the program, Audacity; Singing Games; Dramatic improvisation, and Rhythmic Composition.

Music class outcomes include: 1) students will create, perform and express themselves through music 2) students will be well prepared for further study of an instrument or for singing in a choir  3) students will look back on their time in music class as a happy and meaningful experience 4) students will appreciate the connections between music, numeracy and literacy 5)students will realize the many benefits of music education for themselves, their community and beyond 6) students will enjoy music for it’s own sake!

UKULELE KARATE

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All students are having great fun learning to play the ukulele! Coloured belts tied on wrists or kit bags and stickers on charts are being earned very quickly! To date, we have learned:

1. White belt: resting, holding and playing position/”Lime in the Coconut”/C7 chord. (Reminder words: chicken necks, chicken eggs, Farmer Fred, chicken wings, chicken feathers, appendix, Snow Bird tutor jets)

2. Yellow belt: C Major Scale. (Do, re, me, fa, so, la, ti, do/ C D E F G A B C / open, 2; open, 1, 3; open, 2, 3)

3. Orange belt: “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More”: C chord (A string, third fret, 3rd finger with 2nd finger on 2nd fret just for fun!) and G chord (“twins” on A string; one falls asleep while the other  scoots upstairs for pizza and Spiderman flies into the 2nd apartment on the third floor!) “1-2-3-4-5-6 switch/1-2-3-4-5-6-switch”

4. Green Belt: Note names on the musical staff, Mystery Game.

Lots more “belts” to come! 🙂

PEI JUNIOR HONOUR CHOIR repertoire! (Thanks to guest conductor, Kelsea McLean!)

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1) Bonse Aba (2-part) – Victor C. Johnson (Heritage Music Press) 
 
2) J’entends le Moulin (2-part) – arr. Mark Sirett (Boosey and Hawkes)
 
3) The Song that Nature Sings (Unison) – Ruth Elaine Schram (BriLee Music Publishing)
 
4) When the Tide Goes Out (SA) – arr. Dianne Loomer and Amy Stephen (Cypress Choral Music)
 
5) My Heart Soars (SA) – David L. Brunner (Boosey and Hawkes) no recording
 
6) We Will (2-part) – Jim Papoulis (Boosey and Hawkes) 
 

Aladdin Role Reveal!

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The Aladdin roles were revealed yesterday with great excitement as cast members applauded for each other, imagining each other in their “new” character! From Marching Band members, to Dancing Girls, to Townspeople, to Narrators, to Magic Carpet Chorus Members to Castle Dwellers, and more, over ninety students have an important part to play for the success of the production! New friendships have been made already, with a great feeling of support and celebration!

Thank you to all participants! Thank you to parents for your support for your child’s interest in musical drama!

We look forward to the first read thru and rehearsals beginning next week…stay tuned!

 

Celebration Choir Concert

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The Celebration Choir has been established to showcase various celebrations enjoyed by students at Stratford Elementary School. Come join us on Wednesday, December 17th at 7pm, to hear music of various styles, from many countries and traditions that reflect our student’s origins! The school’s Rock Band and Ukulele Crew will make their debut performances at this event!