Music at Wendell Elementary

Mrs. Riley's Class - Personal Music History Glogs

2011-11-03T10:35:00.003-04:00

5th Grade Musicians have recently finished a large music and technology project which we have been working on this entire first quarter. Students reflected on their individual music histories, interviewed an adult family member about his or her music history, and researched musical personalities, styles, instruments, and memories. They have compiled all of this information in a Personal Music "Glog" - a blog with videos, pictures, and information they have reflected on and learned. This has been such an exciting project for us all, and students are wrapping up the experience by utilizing student-created rubrics to assess each others' work. Here are the links to Mrs. Riley's 5th Grade Musicians' Glogs.

Collin
Ilana
Sarah Dean
Daisy
Abigail
DJ
Brendan
Daniel
Mia
Esmeralda
David
Taylor
Jacob
Renato
Brianna
Gabriel
Zavion
Shayna
Adriana
Marcus
Justin
Reece
Nolan
Racardo
Re'Twan
Gregory

Ms. Reid's 5th Grade Musicians - Personal Music History Glogs

2011-10-31T14:57:00.001-04:00

5th Grade Musicians have recently finished a large music and technology project which we have been working on this entire first quarter. Students reflected on their individual music histories, interviewed an adult family member about his or her music history, and researched musical personalities, styles, instruments, and memories. They have compiled all of this information in a Personal Music "Glog" - a blog with videos, pictures, and information they have reflected on and learned. This has been such an exciting project for us all, and students are wrapping up the experience by utilizing student-created rubrics to assess each others' work. Here are the links to Ms. Reid's 5th Grade Musicians' Glogs.

Madeline
Jonathan
Ryan
Samantha
Josue
Bineta
Conan
Skyler
Brisa
Jamal
Rebekah
Torryana
Luke
Kimball
Samuel
Matthew
Johana
Jordan
Mykal
Breyanna
Dylan
Christian
Nyrha
Aiosha

Mrs. Warren's 5th Grade Musicians - Personal Music History Glogs

2011-10-31T14:41:00.001-04:00

5th Grade Musicians have recently finished a large music and technology project which we have been working on this entire first quarter. Students reflected on their individual music histories, interviewed an adult family member about his or her music history, and researched musical personalities, styles, instruments, and memories. They have compiled all of this information in a Personal Music "Glog" - a blog with videos, pictures, and information they have reflected on and learned. This has been such an exciting project for us all, and students are wrapping up the experience by utilizing student-created rubrics to assess each others' work. Here are the links to Ms. Warren's 5th Grade Musicians' Glogs.

Cole
Dawson
Evan
Karianne
Justin
Pricila
Stephanie
Jaihla
Keegan
Rachel
Damien
Isaiah
Nyia
Camilla
Marco
Leslie
Takira
Amanda
Anthony
Jonathan
Cassidy
Kevin
Eric
Kyara

Danse Macabre

2011-10-25T11:41:00.002-04:00

Third Grade Musicians have been listening to some of the "spookiest" classical music around, including Camille Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre. Prior to listening, we discussed the purpose of program music and how composers often write music to tell a story. Students made connections between the elements of a story - character, setting, plot - and brainstormed ways in which a composer might create these elements with instruments, texture, dynamics, tempo, and expression. Below are some of the sketches students created while listening to the Danse Macabre. Students had to listen to Saint-Saens' musical lines and colorings to imagine characters, setting, and action. Can you find all three of these story elements in their pictures below?

Jungle Beat

2011-10-11T10:08:00.005-04:00

Kindergarten musicians have been exploring the world of Steady Beat! We have learned how to maintain a steady beat while listening to music, how to play a steady beat on the drums, jingle bells, and rhythm sticks, and even how to notate (that's a fancy music word for "write") a steady beat. We even learned a new song about two monkeys in a jungle looking for a steady beat. We discussed the types of animals you might find in a jungle, on a farm, and in the ocean, and identified ways that these animals are the same and different. Check out these awesome pictures of our "Jungle Beats." Students notated four steady beats, or quarter notes, and then decorated their notes to be in a jungle. What sort of plants and animals can you find hiding between our steady beats?

Kindergarten parents, make sure you look for your child's Jungle Beat picture, which will be coming home in Tuesday Folders soon. You can also practice a steady beat with your child every time you listen to music together. Make a game out of it and ask your child if s/he can keep a steady beat by patting their knees, patting their shoulders, nodding their head, clapping, jumping, stomping, tapping, etc. Your child can even teach you our steady beat chant: "I think music's neat! I can keep a steady beat!"

Down to the Baker's Shop

2011-09-26T21:29:00.003-04:00

Third Grade Musicians have been working hard to review note values and proper singing and mallet instrument playing technique. We have recently learned the traditional song, "Down to the Baker's Shop" in our music studies. Here's what we've been up to:

Musicians identified locomotor and non-locomotor movements.
Musicians demonstrated body and voice control while singing a song with body movements.
Musicians demonstrated proper singing technique: breathe deep, raised soft palette, open throat and mouth, strong posture, and diction.
Musicians demonstrated proper mallet technique.
Musicians identified, performed and notated half, quarter, and eighth notes and quarter rests.
Musicians identified the musical notes A, G, and F on the staff and on the xylophone.
Musicians perform cooperatively together while singing and on instruments.
Musicians identify the difference between rhythm and steady beat.
Musicians understand that all music has form and identified the form of our song as ABA.
Musicians make connections between music and the other arts as well as music and literacy and social studies.

Congratulations to all of our 3rd Grade Musicians on a wonderful start to the new year. I am so proud of you! I hope you enjoy listening to Mrs. Rogers' students perform "Down to the Baker's Shop."

Welcome Back to School

2011-09-20T11:40:00.001-04:00

Welcome back to school! Welcome back to music! I am so excited about starting a new year of music and learning here at Wendell Elementary. Here's what we've been up to this first month of music classes...

Kindergarten musicians are working on STEADY BEAT. All music has a steady beat. Students are practicing finding and keeping the steady beat with body percussion and instruments. Some of the instruments we have learned to play so far are the hand drums, jingle bells, and rhythm sticks.
First Grade musicians have been reviewing all of the classroom rhythm instruments, their names, and the correct way to play each of them. We have so many rhythm instruments in our classroom - the triangle, sand blocks, wood block, tambourine, maracas, and more - that's a lot of information to remember from last year! We are also working on a special Nursery Rhyme unit with their classroom teachers. We will have more information soon about a Nursery Rhyme Informance coming up at the end of the quarter.
Second Grade musicians have reviewed the correct technique for playing the mallet instruments - metallophone, xylophone, and glockenspiel. They are also reviewing reading rhythms with eighth notes, quarter notes, and quarter rests.
Third Grade musicians have reviewed the correct technique for playing the mallet instruments - metallophone, xylophone, and glockenspiel. They have practiced reading rhythms with eighth notes, quarter notes, and quarter rests, and have been notated (written) rhythms that use these notes, too.
Fourth Grade musicians have reviewed the correct technique for playing the mallet instruments and have identified the unique timbre of each instrument - the metallophone, xylophone, and glockenspiel. We have just embarked on a journey to Jamaica and the Caribbean for a study of Calypso and Reggae music.
Fifth Grade musicians are busy working on their Personal Music History projects. Students reflected on their own personal music history and interviewed an adult in their family - parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, etc - to see how music has been a part of their lives. We are working hard to put all of this information in a multi-media online blog as a representation of who WE are musically. Students are also learning about copyright and fair use issues in this online 21st century skills project. You can check out my project for an idea of what we are working on, and make sure you look for our finished blogs soon!

I have missed these singing, smiling faces over the summer and it feels so great to be back in the swing of things this year. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to practice music with your child. My heart is so full every day because of the love and joy your child brings into my classroom. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to come visit us for a music class. I will be seeing you all soon for some of our music performances and informances. Welcome back! xo

Hip to the Jive

2011-05-02T09:08:00.000-04:00

photo from More Things Jazz Boutique

5th Graders at Wendell Elementary have been immersed in the study of Jazz! We are exploring the origins, growth, and development of this unique American art form through a variety of listening, watching, singing, playing, reading, and writing activities. Most recently, we studied Swing Jazz Band Leader, Cab Calloway and his use of an entire Jazz language in his music and songs. After watching his energetic performances of Jumpin' Jive and Hi-Dee-Hi Man, students researched the use and meanings behind several Jazz slang words. Here's a list of some of our favorites:

Barbeque - a girlfriend, a beauty
Boot - to give (Boot me that jive)
Cat - musician in a swing band
Dig - to understand, to "get"
Gimme some skin - to shake hands
Grease - to eat
Hep - wise, smart
Hip - cool, groovy
Jive - speech, way of talking
Off The Cob - corny, old, out of date
Skins - drums
Yarddog - poorly dressed person, uncool
Zoot - exaggerated

After exploring some of these Jazzy words, students imagined they were music editors for a newspaper in the 1950s and had just seen Cab Calloway perform live. Using at least two of the new Jazz words they had learned, students wrote a headline for their article. Here is what they came up with:

Cab Calloway is the sharpest Daddy-O, honey-o! ~Lizzie
That Hi-Dee-Hi man, Cab Calloway, was the opposite of a yarddog and was truly diggin' the beat. ~Jessica H.
Cab Calloway takes off and digs a fine-as-pie hip-hep jive. ~Phillip
Cab Calloway's music is a sharp mess. He's groovy and weird but his talents are HEP-HEP!! ~Jayleen
Dude, I dig that jive with a little shab-a-daba-doo! ~Christian
Cab Calloway is a jazzing hep cat. I can dig his music. He had a hip jive. ~Lupe
Cab Calloway's music is solid. I totally dig that call and response. ~Nigel
Cab Calloway is a hep-hep hip gator, fine-as-pie, super duper, hip to ya boot! ~Nereida
Hep-Hep! I dig that beast Cab Calloway - who ain't no yarddog. He don't mess around. ~Hannah F.
This music was down dog, I digged it! It was solid. ~Aldayr
Cab Calloway is a shaba-da-ba-doo, ooh-ooh-ooh, honey-honey-pie, hep cat who digs a salty jive. ~Tyler W.
Cab Calloway will blow your top and zoot your boot. ~Blake

I am so proud of our 5th graders for using these unfamiliar words in creative and engaging ways. Don't you just want to read all about the Jazz Master Cab Calloway after reading these headlines?!? Keep your eyes out, we'll have more fun jazz things for you on our Music Blog soon! Till then, stay Hip to the Jive...

Stars in the East is Thursday!!!

2011-04-04T12:54:00.000-04:00

We are so excited about Stars in the East this Thursday! 18 of our very talented 5th Graders will be performing in this showcase which highlights the performing arts programs at Eastern Wake County schools. Here is some important information for parents and students participating in this event:

Dress Rehearsal is on Wednesday, April 6th at 6:00pm. Please arrive in the auditorium at East Wake High School a few minutes early so we can start on time. We will rehearse the Finale first and then run the show in order. We will be allowed to leave as soon as we are finished running our number. We are 7th out of 12. If you are not planning on staying for the rehearsal, please would plan on being back no later than 7:30pm to pick-up your child and have a way for your child to get in touch with you.
Students should wear jeans and tennis shoes/sneakers. I will bring the shirts for them to change into on Thursday. Please have students wear the jeans and shoes they plan on wearing for the performance to the dress rehearsal on Wednesday so we can make sure they are comfortable moving in them.
If you have not purchased tickets for the show yet, you can do so at dress rehearsal on Wednesday. Tickets are $7.
Students should arrive at 6:30pm on Thursday, April 7th. The show starts at 7:00pm. Students should be dropped off in our waiting rooom and should be picked-up there after the show. For safety reasons, students will not be allowed to leave the waiting room until a parent or guardian comes to pick them up!
Please make sure that students have a healthy meal and/or snack before coming to the performance. This can be a long - and late - night. You may want to pack a snack, water, and a book but please do not bring anything valuable. We have to leave everything in our room when we perform and we have no way of locking things up.

Performances can be a stressful time for both parents AND students, but try to remember that this is a positive, fun experience. I am so proud of these students for all of the hard work they have put into preparing for this performance. Thank YOU for your time, effort, and support in making this special experience possible for your child. Breathe. Enjoy the moment. And don't forget to tell your child how wonderful and loved they are!! This is going to be a GREAT experience!!!

The Magic Flute

2011-03-17T12:10:00.000-04:00

Third Grade Musicians have been very busy learning all about the world of opera through our study of Mozart's opera, The Magic Flute. This has been an exciting adventure because the story of Mozart's opera is full of love, magic, princes and princesses, funny jokes, and good vs. evil! As a part of our study, students completed Character Biographies in an exciting life-size format. Here was our process:

First, students identified the character's vocal style. We really focused on our music vocabulary words of soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, and bass. Students described the way the character sang as well as their vocal range. We did this through a series of guided listening exercises.
Next, students worked together to identify (a)what and/or who was important to that character, (b)what trials the character faced through the story, and (c)how the character changed and/or grew.
Then, the students researched different costume ideas for their character. We visited the websites of the English National Opera, the Royal Opera House of London, the San Francisco Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera for pictures and sketches of costumes.
Finally, students worked in their groups to draw a life-sized (well, third grade sized at least) character, design the costume and background, and write the information learned.

The final products were simply amazing! I was so impressed with the quality of research and depth of understanding the students demonstrated as well as the creativity in designing unique and appropriate costumes for their characters. All of the students worked together cooperatively to achieve our final goal, and now we have a hallway full of the cast of characters from Mozart's The Magic Flute. Stop in and see them some time!

Take a Trip Around the World

2011-03-17T11:56:00.000-04:00

Take a trip to some place new. What will we see? What will we do? Sun or rain or even snow? Pack up your bags 'cause we're ready to go! Second grade spent the entire second quarter exploring the music from different cultures around the world. We traveled to Ghana, South Africa, Japan, Brazil, and Ireland, learning about the people, culture, art, and music at every place we visited. Students explored the country's rhythms and instruments, created handmade art (thank you, Mrs. York!), learned about the traditions and celebrations, and even learned to speak some important words in different languages from each country we visited. Students learned how to locate every country on the map and now understand the difference between continents, countries, and states. The students even kept Musical Passport Journals to document our learning all throughout our trip. We concluded the unit with a very special Informance of a traditional Brazilian Tall Tale: Kibungo, Beast of the Forest. I am so very proud of our talented second graders and all of their exploring, learning, and growing. What a wonderful world, full of music, we get to share together!

Examples of pages from our Musical Passport Journals

Stars in the East

2011-03-10T11:44:00.001-05:00

Twenty five of our 5th Grade Musicians will be performing in the annual "Stars in the East" showcase on April 7, 2011 at East Wake High School. This year's theme is Disco Fever and our students will be performing a music and dance number to "You Can't Stop the Beat" from the musical Hairspray. The showcase is a fundraiser for the East Wake Education Foundation and students from all of the elementary, middle, and high schools in eastern Wake County will be performing. Tickets are $25 for the dinner prior to the show and $6 general admission for the showcase. Tickets can be purchased through the East Wake Education Foundation and their number is (919) 366-5901. Congratulations to our students invited to perform at this special event! We can't wait to see you perform on the stage representing our wonderful school.

And the Winner is...

2011-02-10T08:39:00.000-05:00

5th Grade Musicians have been listening to, analyzing, and evaluating the nominees for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards "Song of the Year." We researched the process for a song to be nominated and then awarded a Grammy and we have been trying to follow that process as we selected our own Wendell Elementary "Song of the Year." For each song, students have been:

analyzing the form (or pattern/layout)
identifying any rhyming patterns in the lyrics
identifying the vocal structure, harmonies, and instrumentation used
making connections between various styles of music
identifying the artist's message

With an understanding that the "Song of the Year" Grammy is a song-writing award, students then voted for the song that they felt had the strongest and/or most unique form, lyrics, instrumentation, vocal layout, and message. We also discussed that in most cases (with the exception of Cee Lo Green and Ray LaMontagne), the songs were not actually written by the artists performing them. We have wrapped up our voting this week in anticipation of the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards show this Sunday. And the winner of Wendell Elementary's "Song of the Year" is:

Love the Way you Lie performed by Eminem (featuring Rihanna)

Students were required to give one musical example to support their vote, and here are some student-written reasons for why we think this song is worthy of the "Song of the Year" award:

The rhythm is driving and moves the song along.
The artist's message is clear and strong.
The way it goes back and forth between rap and singing makes this song stand out.
The ABACADA form is different from the other songs.
The artists uses some creative rhymes in his lyrics.

I was so proud of our 5th Grade students and the maturity with which they approached this project. Every single nominee received at least 2 votes in each class and their musical reasons for supporting these other songs were so strong, I wanted to share some of them with you.

Need You Now performed by Lady Antebellum - I love the piano solos at the intro and coda of the song.
Forget You performed by Cee Lo Green - I picked this because he brought back that retro beat and put a little hip hop in it to make it his own.
Beg Steal or Borrow performed and written by Ray LaMontagne - It tells a real, complicated story with simple but great music.
House that Built Me performed by Miranda Lambert - I chose this song because the lyrics are very emotional and she sings it with so much feeling.

As a final "toast" to this project, I am asking our 5th Grade students to watch the Grammy Awards Show on Sunday night with their parents. A huge theme in our learning has been that regardless of our own musical styles and preferences (let's just say our "Song of the Year" winner is anything BUT my own personal favorite style of music), the Grammy Awards are a celebration of our strongest popular music artists and songs. Each of the songs nominated for "Song of the Year" are strong examples of song-writing in their respective styles. Celebrating music, in all of it's forms (classical, jazz, world, and yes, even popular), is important to cultivating art in society and our lives. I hope you will make a special night out of the Grammys with your child. It's a great way to practice respect (especially when we don't "like" a particular style of music) and share the world of popular music with each other.

2nd Quarter Music Rock Stars

2011-02-07T09:46:00.000-05:00

During 2nd Quarter this year we started a new tradition: Miss Wirth's Music Rock Stars. At the end of each class, two students are chosen to sign the Music Rock Stars board. To become a "Rock Star" students must not only follow all of our SOAR rules and expectations but they must also be leaders in the music room, going above and beyond to excell, succeed, and share respect. Here is our 2nd Quarter Music Rock Star board - I am so proud of all of our musicians for working so hard to have their name on the board. Now that 3rd Quarter has started, we have a brand new Rock Star board up. Ask your child if he or she was a ROCK STAR in music today!

Rock Stars follow all SOAR expectations.

Rock Stars are leaders for other musicians.

Rock Stars demonstrate peace, love, and respect for everyone.

Welcome February!

2011-02-01T21:46:00.000-05:00

Happy first day of February! Here is a recording of some 3rd Grade Musicians performing our February Poem of the Month. Students practice music reading and literacy skills at the start of every music class by performing the Poem of the Month. February's poem was written by my 5th Grade Musicians my first year of teaching up in South Bend, IN. Welcome February!!!

NC Symphony Concert Music for 4th Graders

2011-01-27T09:28:00.000-05:00

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Here is some of the music 4th grade musicians will hear at their NC Symphony Concert Field Trip on March 3rd. We are studying all of this music in class and we are also learning to sing "De Colores," which we will perform LIVE with the symphony! This trip is one of my most favorite events of the entire year. I can't wait for this year's concert!

Self-Assessments and Student Created Rubrics

2011-01-26T14:02:00.004-05:00

Part of becoming an independent musician is learning to assess yourself musically. Fourth Grade students recently completed a self-assessment of their knowledge and representation of FORM in music. Students worked for several class periods analyzing Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride and performing various rhythm patterns to represent the form (or layout/pattern) of the music. As a group, the students and I created a list of skills they should be able to demonstrate with this activity and we turned this list of skills into a rubric. Students were also working on making connections between the importance of sequence in both music and reading/writing. After completing a self-assessment, I went back and assessed the students as well. We discussed how having more than one person assess our performance can be an important learning experience. Below are some examples of student completed rubrics and assessments. I am so proud of our Fourth Grade Musicians for being so mature and intellectually critical during this assignment.

The Performance Skills/Objectives assessed during this activity include:

I stay focused while performing.
I stay with the beat/tempo of the music.
I perform quarter notes and eighthm notes correctly.
I perform sixteenth notes correctly.
I know the form (sequence) of Sleigh Ride.
I perform with a positive attitude.

Welcome 2011!

2011-01-05T08:31:00.000-05:00

We have had a very exciting 2010 in music at Wendell Elementary and I am really looking forward to all of the wonderful opportunities we have in store for us in 2011! First off, here are a few notes about our students and the wonderful work they have done in music recently:

Congratulations to 3rd Graders who performed in downtown Wendell on Saturday, Decemeber 11th. We had a rainy, cold morning but a huge crowd to support us! I am so proud of your hard work and beautiful singing.
Thank you to Mrs. Horton's 3rd Grade class for singing to and visiting with residents at Robinwood Assisted Living in Wendell on December 21st. I am so proud of these students for sharing their gifts with others and spreading some joy and love during the holiday season.
Congratulations to all of our 1st Graders for their lovely Nutcracker Informance on December 17th. These students worked very hard in both music and dance to prepare for a sharing of what they learned while studying Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker music and ballet.
2nd Graders participated in a World Festival at school during our Early Release day on December 3rd. All of the specialists and 2nd Grade teachers worked together to plan a variety of arts and multiple intelligence integrated activties from around the world for students to participate in. Students made pan flutes from Peru, learned about Kabuki theater in Japan, played a game from Nigeria, learned a rice dance from the Phillipines, and made paper flowers from Mexico.

Here are few upcoming events and activities you should know about:

5th Graders are currently listening to, analzying, and evaluating music nominated for different Grammy Awards this year. We will be charting and graphing our own Grammy "winners" and compare our list to the actual winners once they are announced. If possible, please watch the Grammy Awards Show on Sunday, February 13th with your child so they can share this musical experience with you.
4th Graders will travel to Meymandi Concert Hall (a part of Memorial Auditorium in downtown Raleigh) on March 3rd for a special educational concert given by the NC Symphony. We will be listening to, playing with, and analyzing all of the music that the symphony will play at this concert and we'll even be learning the song De Colores so we can sing along LIVE with the symphony! This is truly an amazing opportunity for our students and I can't wait to share in it with them.
Every year we have students perform at Eastern Wake County's Stars in the East Showcase. We don't have the dates and information yet, but the showcase usually takes place right before Spring Break. We'll give you more information when we have it.

I hope you have a very MUSICAL new year! Wishing you peace, love, and happiness always...

Shake the Papaya Down

2010-11-16T11:38:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, fourth grade musicians were deeply immersed in singing, performing, listening to, and composing the Calypso style of music. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post this project, but I am extremely proud of our fourth graders and all of their hard work in this unit. The centerpiece of this study was the traditional Jamaican Folk Song, "Shake the Papaya Down," which served as a great practice in Calypso rhythms and performing a syncopated rhythm. In the recording you will notice that students are also reinforcing the very difficult practice of internalizing the music inside their heads: In the B section students THINK the words and perform the syncopated rhythm with body percussion but do not perform them out loud. After learning this song and singing it to various student-performed accompaniments, students practiced their composing skills by re-writing lyrics to the song. You can see some images of this student work below. The objectives for this unit are also listed here for you.

.Music Standards

Students will sing with pitch accuracy and sing with appropriate dynamics, phrasing, and interpretation.
Students will play independent instrumental parts.
Students will identify the style or genre of aural musical examples from various cultures and identify the role of music in various music settings and cultures.
Students will compose short music compositions for voice with varied rhythmic values.
Students will notate music using standard music symbols.

Literacy Standards

Students will write a variety of different types of texts including rules, instructions, journal entries, stories, and poetry by either selecting the topic or form.
Students will come up with their own ideas for writing and organize ideas by brainstorming or discussing with a peer.
Students will review writing and make it better by improving the words used or changing the order of events/ideas

Top Teacher Blog

2010-11-07T19:03:00.000-05:00

Our Wendell Elementary Music Blog was chosen as one of the TOP Teacher Blogs in the south. We are really excited about receiving this recognition. Check out this website for a list of other top teacher blogs.

Mary's Lamb

2010-11-04T16:31:00.000-04:00

5th Grade Musicians have been working on the very difficult task of performing independent music parts. One of the most difficult skills we have to learn as musicians is to perform 2, 3, and 4-part pieces of music. We first started with performing 2-part drum patterns, where the class performed two different rhythm patterns at the same time. We continue to extend this process by adding other types of musical performance such as singing and performing harmonies on mallet instruments. This recording is of a musical "joke" performed with:

Singing
Chordal Accompaniment on Xylophones
Melodic Patterns on Metallophones
Rhythm Patterns on Cowbells
Musical Sound Effects on the Vibraslap

See if you can hear each of these individual parts as you listen to our song! I am so extremely proud of our 5th Grade MASTER Musicians for demonstrating the focus, control, and musical knowledge to put all of these independent musical parts together. BRAVO 5th Graders!!

5 Little Pumpkins

2010-11-04T16:25:00.000-04:00

1st Grade Musicians demonstrate their knowledge of vocal expression and basic composition techniques in this recording of "5 Little Pumpkins." The standards addressed include:

Music
*Recognize and demonstrate the difference between singing and speaking voices.
*Respond to the cues of a conductor.
*Recognize and play unpitched instruments.
*Improvise an appropriate musical response to words or ideas.
*Select and create music to accompany readings and dramatizations.

Reading
*Read aloud with fluency a variety of texts including poetry.
*Make predictions about what will happen next.
*Make connections to events in a story.
*Identify rhyming patterns in poetry.

September Musicians

2010-09-03T10:27:00.002-04:00

Students, families, lovers of music ~
Here is a short playlist of music composed and performed by individuals with birthdays in September. I hope you enjoy :)

This Month's Musicians are:

Welcome Back to Music!

2010-08-26T13:33:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to a new year in music at Wendell Creative Arts & Science Magnet Elementary. I am so excited to see all of our familiar faces and welcome our many new students to the music room. It is going to be an exciting year for learning, exploring, performing, and creating in the arts. Some exciting opportunities for music students this year include:

Community Performance at the Wendell Harvest Festival
Auditioning for Wake County's Pieces of Gold Showcase
Wendell Elementary Arts Fest
Performance at Stars in the East
Kindergarten Music Program
Fourth Grade Symphony Field Trip
Grade Level Informances
and much more!

Students will also have many exciting opportunities inside the music class. We have a very rigorous set of National Music Standards and every student at Wendell Elementary will study the five main conceptual areas of music, which include rhythm, melody, harmony, form, and timbre. Students will approach these areas through a variety of experiences including physical movement, speaking rhythmically and with vocal expression, singing, listening and analyzing, playing on instruments, and notating music. In addition to developing our musical skills and appreciation, students will take part in many integrated learning activities to enhance their learning in other content areas such as reading, writing, math, science, and social studies.

Please check the music blog regularly to find out what is happening with your child in music. I will regularly update you on the activities and objectives each grade level is focused on so you can have a conversation with your child about his or her learning and experiences in music. Students will also write their own blog posts from time to time and we will share recordings of our musical practices, performances, and sharings. If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me at mwirth@wcpss.net. I am looking forward to sharing my love and passion for music with your child this year. Thank you for letting me be a part of this journey with them!

Spring Music Notes

2010-05-18T09:16:00.005-04:00

We've had a bloomin' good time in music this Spring. Here's what has been going on:

Congratulations to our Kindergarten students who just completed their Spring Music and Dance Program: The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Students retold Eric Carle's famous story of the hungry caterpillar who turns into a beautiful butterfly through songs and dances. A very special thank you to all of our Kindergarten teachers for their hard work helping us prepare the students for their very special performance.
Our very first Arts Fest was held in April. Families came to enjoy arts and science activities together, purchase student art work from the art fair, and watch performances of Wendell students on the stage including our 4th Grade Recorder players! What a successful evening for celebrating student achievement in the arts this year.
Some of our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students performed at the Stars in the East showcase.Stars in the East is a very special concert with performances of students from all eastern Wake County schools. Our talented musicians performed "Fifty Nifty United States" and were so excited to see Mr. Barham and Mrs. Pridgen cheering for them in the audience!
Arts Week took place during the EOG testing week for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. Students were able to choose between music, dance, art, PE, and drama and then spent an entire week with that specialist working on special projects.

As we approach the end of the school year, students will be reflecting on their year in music. Ask your child what their favorite activity in music this year has been and have them share with you something (a song, game, story, dance, etc) they've learned. Being actively involved in your child's music education shows them the value and importance of music and all of the arts in our lives.

March is Music in our Schools Month

2010-03-02T10:32:00.006-05:00

Celebrate the beauty, joy, and power of music in our schools! March is Music in our Schools Month, the time of year when music education becomes the focus of schools across the nation. The purpose of such a celebration is to raise awareness of the importance of music education for all children and to remind our citizens that school is where all children should have access to music.

To celebrate Music in our Schools at Wendell Elementary, all students and staff will participate in various activities throughout the month to share our favorite songs and styles of music, to tell stories about music in our lives, and to communicate with lawmakers and other officials about how and why music is important to us. You can be a part of the celebration, too! Here are some ways you can celebrate Music in our Schools:

Advocate! Contact your representatives and tell them that music matters. Share a personal story or use some talking points from the Music Educator's National Conference Advocacy Website. Email our State House Representative Darren G. Jackson at darren.jackson@ncleg.net, our State Senator Dan Blue at dan.blue@ncleg.net, and visit Congressman Brad Miller's website at http://bradmiller.house.gov.
Listen! Discover, listen to, and enjoy music a family. Try Music K-8's Kid Tunes website, where you can download music just for kids. Discover new artists on Pandora, a free internet radio website with stations for kids and where you can make a station of your own based on your favorite artist. You can even get a live stream of music from The Classical Station on their website.
Support! Music starts in our schools, which helps it to stay alive in our communities. Support local musicians by attending a live concert. Visit the Independent Weekly's website for list of local music concerts from all varieties and genres. My "do-not-miss" concert of March is the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra's Family Concert on Sunday, March 21st at Meredith College.

Thank you for your support of music at Wendell Elementary. Help your child see that music is truly alive in our lives by taking some time to participate in one of the above activities or even just have a discussion with your child about music. Music can change the world because music can change people... when you support Music in our Schools this month, expect a musical miracle!

My Song is Love...

2010-02-19T16:34:00.004-05:00

As our 3rd Quarter starts, I am sending you and your families much love! I can't believe we have passed our 100th day of school: 100 days of making beautiful music together. Everyday I go home so thankful for the opportunity to share my love and passion with your children. The world of education is so often these days focused on data, tests, measurable gains, and numbers, and it's easy to feel like we are taking the soul out of teaching and learning. And while the entire MI Team at Wendell Elementary is actively involved in finding new ways to measure the value of the arts in student learning and in using data to drive our instruction and integration, I find that the true value of the arts is still hidden in those invaluable life lessons of peace, love, and respect. In an integrated reading and music lesson where students are analyzing literature and characters from a story as a basis for musical composition, the academic benefits are obvious. Students are utilizing higher-order thinking skills to analyze text while also transferring that knowledge to a completely different medium - music. Students are actively engaged in reading and writing skills that will enhance their literacy while also expressing their own learning and ideas in an abstract way. On top of it all, students have to dig into their musical knowledge of rhythm, melody, form, and notation to communicate their ideas and complete the assignment. Pretty Impressive. But what about the sharing of responsibilities? The trust of one musician with another to respect each others' ideas? The self-control and regulation required to handle a multi-faceted assignment? The appreciation and acceptance of others' artistic efforts? These are all important life lessons hidden in this same integrated lesson. And while we won't sit the kids down and test them on these skills at the end of the year, in my opinion, it's these skills that will allow students to truly succeed in life. So in the midst of all the testing, all the reading, math, science, and social studies that we explore and enhance in the music room, all musical learning and growth, and all the data, I find comfort in knowing that my students are leaving music class with so much more than academic knowledge. They are building the skills that will poise them to be independent, productive, responsible, respectful, and successful professionals. And they are also leaving with a whole lotta love! xo

Recorders

2010-01-25T10:50:00.004-05:00

Recorders for 4th Grade were ordered today! If your 4th grader ordered a recorder, it will take at least 2 weeks for the recorders to arrive. The company will have to hold our check for two weeks before shipping the order. I know your students are VERY excited and can't wait to get their new instruments so I just wanted to give you a heads up about what's taking so long! :) If you missed out on ordering a recorder you can visit the Woodwind and Brasswind website and order one on your own. We are using recorders with Baroque fingerings and anything in the $3-5 range will be of sufficient quality. As soon as our recorders arrive, we will begin our recorder unit with 4th Graders. These students will be expected to spend some time each week practicing their recorders and memorizing songs at home. This is a very exciting time for these students and I can't wait to get started!

Happy Musical New Year 𝄞

2010-01-07T18:18:00.005-05:00

Welcome to a new year in music! I hope you all had a wonderfully peaceful and joyous break filled with family, friends, and MUSIC :) I am so excited to see my talented musicians back in action in the Wendell Elementary Music Room. We are wrapping up the first semester with learning stations in all grade levels to review the many concepts we've covered in music. Some of the learning stations your child might be visiting in the next two weeks include:

iPod Listening - students will use the iPods our PTA purchased for us last year to re-visit the music we've listened to, studied, performed, and composed this semester. Students will be able to hear the recordings of their own compositions and listen to their favorite selections from the Symphony Field Trip and other lessons.
Vocabulary Review - students will continue making connections between music and other content areas with vocabulary review activities such as word searches, word scrambles, word/concept scavenger hunts, and more.
Reading - students will become familiar with our many new books in the music room. They will be able to choose between fiction and non-fiction texts and will practice sorting books, reading aloud, and independent reading.
Music Technology - students will work on various websites to compose, listen to, arrange, and explore music of various styles including classical, jazz, and electronic. Thanks to Mrs. Brannock, our Librarian, for finding so many cool sites to explore!
Rhythm Reading - students will practice reading rhythm syllables through performance, games, composition, and improvisation.
Instrument Performance - students will learn to perform on a variety of new instruments we've just received from our PTA and a DonorsChoose.org Grant including Sound Shapes, Boomwhackers, Drum Practice Pads, and Frame Drums.

These learning stations offer an active and exciting way for students to review and make connections between all of the learning we have been doing in music and all content areas this semester. Students also get a chance to direct their own learning. It also provides an opportunity for me to work individually with students and perform assessments of basic music skills.

I'm looking forward to making 2010 our most musical year yet!

A Season of "Informances"

2009-12-07T07:45:00.004-05:00

Our students are very busy preparing for many "informances" this month to share their learning in music and other content areas with you. The definition of informance, as given by the NC Standard Course of Study, is: a sharing or showing that demonstrates the process ofr how students arrive at the product or performance as a result of instruction, rather than focusing solely on the end result. Mark your calendars for these exciting informances at Wendell Creative Arts and Science Elementary this month. We can't wait to celebrate our learning with you!

3rd Grade Presents "I am from..."
A Language Arts, Music, Dance, and Art Informance
Wednesday, December 9th at 12pm in the Auditorium
2nd Grade Presents "Peter and the Wolf"
A Language Arts, Music, and Dance Informance
Thursday, December 10th at 1pm in the Auditorium
Kindergarten Presents "Bears, Gingerbreads, and Happy Holidays"
A Social Studies, Music, Dance, and Art Informance
Wednesday, December 16th at 12pm in the Auditorium
1st Grade Presents "The Nutcracker"
A Language Arts, Music, and Dance Informance
Thursday, December 17th at 1pm in the Auditorium

Check back soon for pictures and updates from these very special sharings.

I'm Thankful For My...

2009-11-19T16:43:00.003-05:00

In music class this month we have been reflecting on the many things we have to be thankful for. We have composed and improvised music for instruments and voices. Some of the things students have been saying they're thankful for are:

my mom
my family
my friends
my dog
my education
my teacher
my parakeet
my turtle
my clothes
my house
my food
my playstation

Listen to Ms. Mound's 5th graders perform a chant (from Randy DeElles' GamePlan) and share what they are thankful for:

NC Symphony Field Trip

2009-11-12T17:52:00.007-05:00

Our Fourth Grade musicians recently traveled to Meymandi Concert Hall in downtown Raleigh for a special concert performed by our very own North Carolina Symphony. This is such a very special privilege and experience for our students and we spent several weeks preparing for our trip. Before the concert, students listened to, studied, and analyzed the pieces they would hear. We explored the elements of music (rhythm, tempo, melody, dynamics, texture, and form) and how composers use all of these elements in different ways to create interesting, unique, and complex music. Thank you to the classroom teachers for playing the music for students during their learning activities and for helping me teach a music and writing integrated lesson where students wrote dramatic stories to accompany Camille Saint-Saëns' "Bacchanale" from Samson and Delilah. After the concert, students reflected on their learning experience by identifying at least one thing they had learned about symphonic music and at least one thing they will remember about their concert experience. A very special thank you to the extraordinary musicians of the NC Symphony for providing this wonderful opportunity for our students and especially to conductor and music director, Grant Llewellyn, for taking so much time between conducting to speak to, laugh with, and enrich the learning of our students!

Meymandi Concert Hall at Memorial Auditorium

Reflections from 4th Grade Musicians

4th Grade Soundscapes: NC Long Ago

2009-11-02T18:36:00.005-05:00

Listen to our soundscapes composed by 4th grade musicians!! A soundscape is an atmosphere or environment created by sound. Every 4th grade student composed their own soundscape to represent the character of their NC Long Ago Narratives. These soundscapes were edited and combined into a final class song with background music composed by Danny Elfman. When participating in this 6-week integrated unit, our musicians:

listened to and analyzed Tchaikovsky's Swan Theme from Swan Lake to understand how composer use timbre (the unique sound of a voice or instrument) to represent emotion and ideas.
listened to and classified classroom instruments by timbre and emotion.
mapped key characteristics, emotions, and ideas of their NC Long Ago Narrative written in their homeroom classes.
composed sounds to represent each of these main ideas.
performed rhythms and melodies on a variety of classroom instruments.
notated and recorded their final soundscape compositions.

Welcome to 2nd Quarter

2009-11-02T12:01:00.008-05:00

We have had an extremely busy 1st Quarter in our new magnet program exploring music and learning through all of the multiple intelligences. The 2nd Quarter brings some exciting new projects and opportunities for our talented musicians!!!

Kindergarten musicians have been practicing using our voices EXPRESSIVELY when we are speaking and singing. Ask your child to recite the Five Little Pumpkins poem and listen for how they change their voices to show you how each pumpkin feels. We will spend the next five weeks studying holiday traditions and customs all around the world and how music plays a very important role in all types of celebrations. Students will be learning and using healthy singing habits and will be preparing for a Holidays Around the World music and dance sharing in December. We'll have more information on a date and time for you soon.

First Grade musicians just finished a unit on spiders! We've been practicing keeping a steady beat while speaking and singing different rhythms. At the same time we have also been sharpening our reading and literacy skills. We read Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider and chanted "the spider kept on working until the job was done" while keeping a steady beat after every page. Ask your child to tell you about the story and to perform the chant for you. We also transferred our steady beats to xylophones and metallophones. First graders LOVE performing on instruments! Soon we will start our unit on Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker where we will learn about all the instruments of the orchestra and how composers use music to tell a story.

Second Grade musicians have just completed their Science of Sound unit and now we are very excited to start a project combining dance with Mrs. Atkins! Students will be studying Sergei Prokofiev's musical story of Peter and the Wolf. In music class we will study how composers can use timbre (the unique sound of a voice or instrument) to represent different characters. Then we will compose our own music for each character in the story. In dance, students will create movements to represent these characters. We'll combine all of our hard work into an informal sharing on Wednesday, December 2nd. Parents will receive an official invitation soon!

Third Grade musicians are combining their poetry, art, dance, and music skills into one exciting unit for 2nd quarter! Mrs. York, Mrs. Atkins, and Miss Wirth recently visited third grade classrooms to work with students on writing an "I am from" poem. In this poem students express all of the experiences and memories of their family and life to give us an understanding of who they are and where they are "from." The students did such an incredible job writing these poems and now they are using them in dance, art, and music class to further express their ideas and feelings. Students are creating self portraits in art and choreographing a collective "We are from" dance with Mrs. Atkins. In music, students are composing sound effects to accompany their poems. We will record their readings with sound effects and use them to create a class song. This class song is what students will perform their "We are from" dance to. We are so excited about working with third grade students and teachers in this very special project. Our informance (where we will share our poems, compositions, dance, and self portraits) will be on Wednesday, December 9th at 12pm. Look for your official invitation soon.

Fourth Grade musicians just completed their NC Long Ago informance! Hopefully you were able to come and listen to our NC Long Ago soundscapes, see their costumes, and hear their monologues. We are going on our NC Symphony field trip on Tuesday, November 3rd and we have been working so hard on listening and analyzing the music we will hear the Symphony perform. We studied texture in Beethoven's 6th Symphony (the "storm" movement), dynamics in Georges Bizet's Carillon from L'Arlesienne, and form in Tchaikovsky's Swan Theme from Swan Lake. The fourth grade classroom teachers even taught a lesson with Miss Wirth where students used Camille Saint-Saens' music from Samson and Delilah to write dramatic stories. We will post our soundscapes and some personal reflections from our symphony field trip soon.

Fifth Grade musicians have been exploring the world of rhythm. We have found and made connections to rhythm and math with conversions, place values, fractions, and even geometry! We have been composing music using patterns, symmetry, rotations, reflections, and translations. We are currently "constructing" musical machines that demonstrate force, friction, and inertia (key vocabulary concepts in science) as well as synchronization and interdependency (key concepts for musicians). In just a few weeks, we will also start composing music based on the rhythm and patterns of our optical art projects created with Mrs. York in art class.

Whacky Learning for a Booming Good Time!

2009-10-11T20:45:00.004-04:00

Miss Wirth has recently set-up a project on DonorsChoose.org for our special needs learners at Wendell. This project will help us purchase boomwhackers and drum practice pads that will allow students the chance to experience music in an active and safe way. These materials will help students learn music, develop and build social skills, enhance learning in other content areas, and provide a bodily-kinesthetic outlet. And the best part is that ALL students at Wendell Elementary will benefit from this project. Please visit our project site, consider making a donation, and forward it to your friends and families who may also be able to help. We have 5 months to meet our financial goal. Thank you for all of your support!!
Peace, Love, Respect, for Everyone!

O-C-T-O-B-E-R X X XX X

2009-10-08T08:52:00.008-04:00

Welcome October and Welcome Fall! Don't forget to ask your music student to perform the October Poem of the Month for you. Check for understand with K-2 students by asking them what rhyming words they hear in the poem, and with 3-5 students ask which words have long sounds and which words have short sounds.

Here's a look at what's been going on in music...

Kindergarten students have been studying all of the music basics - steady beat, body percussion, high and low music sounds, loud and soft musical sounds - through an animal unit related to their work in science. We have created vocal animal sounds and charted these sounds together as high or low. We are singing songs and performing rhythms to animal songs about both the farm and the zoo. To end our unit we will be studying Camille Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals. This is a great way for us to review fast, slow, high, low, smooth, choppy, loud, and soft musical sounds. You can listen to Carnival of the Animals with your child online at Rhadsopy.com.

Kindergarten Chart of Zoo/Farm Animals and High/Low Sounds

First Graders have just finished a unit on timbre (the unique or special sound of each voice or instrument). Students classified the instruments in our classroom into timbre groups - ringing, rattling, scraping, thumping, and clicking. Ask your student to tell you the name of their favorite instrument and what timbre is has.

First Graders listened to each instrument, named it, then colored it's square to match the timbre. (Blue/Scraping, Red/Ringing, Purple/Rattling, Yellow/Thumping, Green/Clicking)

Second Graders are wrapping up their science of sound and orchestra unit. We have listened to and even made some of our very own versions of each instrument family of the orchestra - strings, woodwind, brass, and percussion. We will test our knowledge in a study of Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. This is a great way to review instrument sounds because each character in the story is represented by a different instrument throughout the whole piece. You can listen to each character's theme with your child on Phil Tuga's website.

Third Graders are enriching their math knowledge through our work with rhythms, canons, composing, and notation. We have been studying whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth note values and performing them in a canon. Students recently composed their own 4-beat rhythm pattern that we are using as a part of a song we chant and play instruments with. The students LOVE having their own music become a part of a real song!

Third Graders drew their face on one side of the plate and notated their 4-beat rhythm pattern on the other side.

Fourth Graders are getting reading to record the soundscapes we have been working so hard on since the beginning of the year. These students have been using the explorer, Native American, or Lost Colony character from their personal narrative in class to compose a soundscape that represents their ideas, challenges, attributes, and emotions. We have used alternative graphic notation to notate our scores and we will be recording these compositions to be performed at the 4th Grade Informance on October 29th.

Fifth Graders have finsihed up their Native American unit and have begun working with music and math. We are making connections between note values and place values, as well as the relationship between conversions in math and the conversion of note values (for example: whole note is to quarter note as gallon is to quart). We have been performing two, three and four part canons using half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth note patterns. Students have just started composing their own 16-beath rhythm patterns that are designed to be performed as a canon. In order to do this students have to understand the relationships between each line of the composition and use patterns to create rhythms that will "make sense" or "sound good" when performed at the same time.

Fifth Graders wrapped up their Native American Music Unit by listening to the Zuni Sunrise Call. The red line is a representation of the melody of the song as students heard it. They then had to turn the melody line into a sunrise landscape and identify at least 3 landforms.

Congratulations to Mrs. Ralph's Kindergarten Class for their wonderful performance at the Wendell Harvest Fest on Friday, October 2nd.

Don't forget to find ways to make music a part of your life! Listen to the Classical Station on the way to school (89.7) and have students guess what instruments they hear. Have your children listen to YOUR favorite song from when you were a kid and tell them why you liked it. Have a pajama dance party and jam out to your favorite tunes before bed time, or start a new tradition of playing lullaby music from around the world before you go to sleep. Thank you for all you do to support your child's journey in music. Peace, Love, Respect for Everyone!

High, Low, Go! Go! Go!

2009-09-09T09:05:00.008-04:00

We've started another exciting rotation in music! The Multiple Intelligence (MI) Team has been meeting each Wednesday afternoon with grade level teachers to make sure our instruction in the arts is meaningful and connected to their learning in the classroom. Fourth and Fifth graders have already started integrated learning projects and units in music and the other grade levels will soon follow. Here's a look at what's happening in music...

Kindergarteners are still being introduced to the world of music, exploring rhythm and beat and our very own amazing music-making machines - our bodies! This week we will extend our exploration into high and low sounds. Ask your child to make high and low vocal sounds. Identify sounds you hear when you are together. Ask your child to name the sound (truck, siren, bell, etc), imitate it, and describe it as high, medium, or low.

First Graders arereviewing the names and correct playing techniques of the non-pitched percussion instruments in our classroom. We are continuing to use our "Welcome Back to School" song while playing a steady beat on the instruments as we count to 8. Ask your child to name an instrument from music class (guiro, wood block, triangle, cow bell, hand drum, tambourine) and pantomime playing that instrument correctly while imitating its sound.

Second Graders are continuing to explore ta (quarter note) and ti-ti (2 eighth notes) rhythms while also developing an understanding of harmony (when two or more notes sound at the same time). Students performed a rhythmic harmony for our "Go! Go! Go!" chant on xylophones and metallophones. The words for the chant are below. Have your child perform the chant for you and have them identify the short (ti-ti) and long (ta) sounds.

One for the money. Two for the show. Three to get ready, now go! go! go!

Third Graders are also exploring the concept of harmony (two or mroe notes sounding at the same time) by performing a rhythmic harmony for our "Fuzzy Wuzzy" chant on xylophones and metallophones. The students identify the form (pattern or sequence) of the piece and identify other areas where form and sequence are important. Have your child perform the the chant for you with the correct body percussion (pat knees on the words "fuzzy" and "wuzzy").

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, wuzzy?

Fourth Graders started a new integrated unit in music where they will compose a sound scape to express the themes, emotions, and ideas of a character from the Lost Colony. In their regular classroom students will be writing a personal narrative as one of these characters. To begin this project students listened to Tchaikovsky's Swan Theme from the Swan Lake Ballet to analyze how composers use TIMBRE to express emotion and ideas. Students then worked in small groups to identify the timbre of classroom instruments and make informed choices for the types of emotions these sounds might represent. These choices are being charted and organized on a large graph to use as a resource for when we begin planning our compositions.

Fifth Graders are preparing for their Pow Wow field trip on September 18th by listening to and performing Native American music. Students discussed the need for and roles of music in Native American cultures and identified the traditional Native American musical timbres - frame drum, flute, rattle, vocables. To further explore this style of music, students performed a half-note pulse on gathering drums, a quarter-note pulse on hand drums, and an eighth-note pulse on rattles to the Navajo song "I Walk in Beauty."

I hope you find time this week to explore music with your child at home. Even listening to music in the car and having a discussion about the instruments you hear or your thoughts and opinions on the style or performance are great ways to engage your child and show them the importance of music in our lives. I love making music with your children... thank you for giving me this opportunity! Peace, Love, Respect for Everyone.

Welcome Back to School ♫

2009-08-28T17:51:00.003-04:00

We are so excited to be starting a new school year with our new Creative Arts & Science magnet program. Through this magnet program all students will visit music for 50 minutes every 6 days. Instruction in the music classroom and throughout the entire school will focus on learning through Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences (MI). Listed below are the objectives each grade level is focusing on during our first 6-day rotation along with some MI-based home activities you can do with your student to further explore music together as a family.

FIRST GRADE
We are reinforcing our understanding of Steady Beat and Rhythm. Discuss with your child that music can have a steady beat and have them demonstrate a steady beat by patting their laps to the music on the radio as you drive in the car. Discuss how rhythm is a pattern of long and short sounds. Play a call-and-response game with your child where they clap a rhythm and you repeat it. Then clap a pattern and have your child perform it back to you.

SECOND GRADE
We are reviewing rhythmic notation. Students have been performing "ta" (♩) and "ti-ti" (♫) patterns. Ask your child to sing and perform our "Summer Vacation" song with the ♫♩pattern. The words are below.
Summer's almost over, the school year has begun ♫♩
Hope that your vacation was lots and lots of fun ♫♩

THIRD GRADE
We are working on developing independence between our singing and instrument playing skills by singing a syncopated rhythm (stressing the unstressed beat) while keeping a steady beat with body percussion and instrument playing. Have your child teach you the "Up the Ladder" song and partner clapping game. The words and movements are below.
Up the ladder (pat partner's hands above head twice)
Down the ladder (pat partner's hands infront of your chest twice)
One by One (pat R hands, pat L hands)

FOURTH & FIFTH GRADE
We are working on improvisation using body percussion and improving our focus and cooperation when performing as a musical group. Students improvised the rhythm of their name and the class had to repeat these rhythms together and in increasingly-long sequences. Ask your child why we have FORM in music, what Rondo form is (ABACADAE...), and what other areas in our life and school learning do we have patterns and form to help us organize information?

MI-BASED ACTIVITIES TO DO AT HOME WITH MUSIC

Art-Smart: Play a piece of music for your child and have them finger paint the shape or line of the melody. Try FM 89.7 The Classical Station as a great way to find classical music to use for this activity.
Body-Smart: Play a control game with your child. Play a piece of music and have your child keep a steady beat as they move around the space. When the music stops your child must freeze in an interesting shape until the music starts again.
Word-Smart: Listen to a piece of music with your child and have them write a story to describe what they think is happening. Be sure to use music without words so that their stories can be truly creative. Try finding some Miles Davis or other jazz tunes for really exciting story starters.
Math-Smart: Graph the dynamics (loud/soft) of a piece of music on a line graph. Play a piece of music and stop at 30-second intervals and plot where the dynamic level (volume) is. Then connect all the dots and look at the line graph to see how the dynamics change throughout the piece.
People-Smart: Find instruments in the kitchen (pots, pans, spoons, oatmeal containers, etc) and create a rhythm parade. Jam together in a parade around your yard or have your child(ren) plan a special concert just for you!
Self-Smart: Create a music journal and have your child draw, write, make a collage, etc on their personal reflections and reactions to a piece of music.
Nature-Smart: Go on a "listening walk," and listen for all the sounds they hear in nature. After your nature walk you can discuss what you heard or have your child cut out pictures from magazines to show you the different things they heard.
Music-Smart: Any of these above activities would be GREAT for music learners, but if you have a serious music lover in your house you may want to consider signing them up for private or group music lessons so they can continue to study music outside of school.

Welcome back to school and as always, please feel free to contact me at any time for questions, concerns, or ideas at mwirth@wcpss.net. I am so excited about working with your children in exploring music this year.

School's out for Summer :)

2009-06-10T10:54:00.009-04:00

We've had a wonderful year together learning, exploring, and making music! I hope you all have a wonderful summer and to our talented 5th Graders, I hope you choose to keep music in your life in some way. Don't forget that you don't have to PERFORM music to have it in your life. Listening to music, discovering new artists, discussing music with your friends and families, going to live concerts and shows - these are all ways to explore music and allow it to become a part of what makes and keeps you happy in life. I wish you every happiness as you continue your journey into Middle School - work hard and have FUN!!! And as for the rest of you... I'll see you in the fall! ♪

Check out some LIVE MUSIC this summer

Toubab Krewe
Saturday, June 20th 8pm at the NC Museum of Art
$15 General Admission, $7.50 Children 7-12, Children 6 and under are free
Toubab Krewe hails from Asheville, NC and presents a great show of rock and roll music fused with West African music.
Dan Zanes & Friends
Saturday, July 18th 7pm at the NC Museum of Art
$18 General Admission, $9 Children 3-12, Children 2 and under are free
Famous for his House Party videos on Playhouse Disney, Dan Zanes has been performing first-class children's music of many years. This is a wonderful family-friendly show!\
The Grass Cats
Saturday, July 18 6pm at Lake Benson Park in Garner
Don't miss this five piece bluegrass band from NC perform outside at beautiful Lake Benson Park!

Summer Travels can be fun with Music, too!
Visit these websites to learn more about road trips, day trips, and long trips you can make with your family this summer to find great live music (and do other fun things too!)

Asheville, North Carolina
Just four hours from Raleigh is one of the most thriving music scenes in the Southeast! Nestled in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains and Pisgah National Forest, Asheville offers so many natural wonders and adventures to share with your family. Click here to see a list of their many live music concerts and festivals happening all summer (and year) long!
Outer Banks, North Carolina
If you're headed to the Outer Banks this summer, Manteo offers many concerts and cultural events throughout the summer. Check out the Roanoke Island Festival Park's website for a complete list of music festivals, children's events, and other performing arts happenings.
Floyd, Virginia
If you still haven't made your summer vacation plans and are looking for something new, exciting, fun, and musical to do, check out Floyd Fest this year with your family in Floyd, Virginia. The 4-day festival (you can camp or stay in a hotel near the festival site) features musical acts all day long as well as an entire "children's camp" where kids can play games, make art projects, and perform some music of their own. Artists performing this year include Blues Traveler, Donna the Buffalo, The Old Ceremony, and The Duhks (Miss Wirth's favorite!). Check out their website for more information.

Charles Pettee

2009-05-13T20:09:00.004-04:00

Our 4th Graders recently participated in a residency with bluegrass musician Charles Pettee. It was an AMAZING experience for our students! They learned about the history of bluegrass, it's instruments, and it's people. Students also worked cooperatively with Mr. Pettee to write their own folk song based on their experiences at Wendell Elementary and their own family histories. Other grade levels got to join in the experience at the end of the residency by attending a live performance given by Mr. Pettee and our very own 4th grade bluegrass musicians. A very special thank you to the United Arts Council of Raleigh & Wake County for their support of bringing this program to our student and to Mr. Charles Pettee for bringing so much excitement and musical learning to our school. Students and families, check out Mr. Pettee's website to order CDs and find upcoming events and concerts.

Congratulations Kindergarteners!!

2009-05-13T19:01:00.005-04:00

Congratulations to our talented kindergarten musicians on their WONDERFUL performance in our 2nd Annual Kindergarten Music Program: "It's a Small World." Students performed songs from all over the world including Jamaica (Nanny Goat), Mexico (Vamos a Cantar), Australia (Kookaburra), and China (Are You Sleeping?). The kindergarten teachers joined all of the classes to sing the finale, All Around the World, and even Mrs. Pierce made an appearance in our show! The gym was decorated with student art work created with Mrs. York in art class in units related to the countries students studied and performed music from. A huge thank you to all of the kindergarten teachers and assistants for their hard work and preparation with the students. We are so excited about continuing this wonderful celebration each year with our kindergarten musicians.

Important Upcoming Dates

2009-04-27T13:54:00.004-04:00

Please mark your calendars for these important dates at Wendell Elementary!

Musical Production students have after-school rehearsal from 3-5pm in the Auditorium on Wednesday, April 29th and Wednesday, May 6th.

The Wendell Elementary School Band students will be performing their concert in the Auditorium on Thursday, May 7th at 7pm.

4th Grade Students will be taking part in a bluegrass music residency with musician Charles Pettee on May 5th-8th. Join local bluegrass musicians for a free concert in the Auditorium on Friday, May 8th.

The 2nd Annual Kindergarten Music Program, this year titled "It's a Small World," will be held on Tuesday, May 12th at 6:30pm in the Gym. Please join the PTA Meeting in the Library immediately following the performance.

Musical Production students will perform "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" on Thursday, May 21st at 7:30pm in Auditorium. Come see our performances for students on Tuesday, May 19th at 1:15pm and Wednesday, May 20th at 1:00pm.

ALL K-5 students will take part in Creative Connections once EOG Testing begins. Students will work with Music, Drama, Dance, Art, and PE Specialists on integrated arts activities for 90 minute blocks of time. We are working very hard to plan exciting and enriching end of the year learning activities for our students. We can't wait to share all of our learning adventures with you. Check back soon for updates!

The Arts are in Full Bloom!

2009-04-14T19:46:00.006-04:00

Welcome SPRING!!!! and welcome to the many exciting arts events coming up in our area. Make plans to attend one of these events and celebrate the vibrant arts community we have here in Wake County while enjoying a family fun day with your bright, young musician! ♫

Durham Art Walk
April 18-19th - Downtown Durham

Stroll the streets of downtown Durham and enjoy live music and great food, explore local galleries, and visit unique shops! Visit http://www.durhamartwalk .com/ for more information.

If you don't feel like making the trip out to Durham, stay closer to town and visit the NC Museum of Art's Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 18th. Create art with recycled materials from the Scrap Exchange, play games with Be Active North Carolina, and more! Visit http://ncartmuseum.org/events/festivals.shtml for more information.

Merle Fest is a four-day grassroots music festival in Wilkes County held April 23rd-26th. Merle Fest is an extremely family-friendly celebration of NC music and you can go for just one day or night of the event or pack a tent and make a whole weekend out of it! Visit http://www.merlefest.org/MerleFestCMS/default.aspx for more information.

If you're ready for a mountain vacation, think about heading to the Asheville are for the LEAF Festival on May 7-10th. This amazing celebration of music and arts takes place on beautiful Lake Eden and the weekend is packed with activities and classes for kids and adults alike along with impressive musical performances held on several different stages all day long. This event is DEFINITELY worth the trip :) ...Miss Wirth will be there - and she can't WAIT!!! Visit http://www.theleaf.org/index.php for more information.

We are so fortunate to live in an area that supports and celebrates the arts! Visit the NC Arts Council's website for a list of even more exciting arts events throuhgout our state. I hope you and your family will take the time to celebrate music and the arts together this spring.

New Music Updates

2009-03-30T20:24:00.008-04:00

The 2009 Spring Kindergarten Music Program, "It's a Small World," will be held on Tuesday, May 12th at 6:30pm in the Wendell Elementary Gym. Information will be sent home to Kindergarten families this week - please make sure you return the form to your child's classroom teacher so we'll know if your child will be able to attend.
The Spring Musical this year will be "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." The evening performance will be held Thursday, May 14th in the auditorium. We'll share more information with you soon.
Our 4th graders will take part in a week-long music residency with bluegrass musician Charles Pettee. As a part of this residency our students will use their family histories to experience, analyze, perform, and compose bluegrass music. The residency will end with a free public bluegrass concert on Friday, May 8th in our school auditorium.
4th Quarter Recorder students are learning to play a diverse variety of recorder pieces that we will perform and record as a part of our Recording Project. In this project students will learn how to record and edit musical performances, create a playlist to burn to a CD, and how to create art images for the cover and booklet. Students will leave the quarter with a CD they have "produced" and includes their performances of traditional recorder pieces as well as original compositions.
3rd, 4th, and 5th Graders are currently working on an Opera Unit. As a part of this unit we are studying how literary elements are used and integrated into Opera - such as internal and external conflict, character motivations, dynamic and static characters, and elements of plots. We are also studying the elements and history of Opera and Operetta as we take an in-depth look at Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance." Students will use the iPods purchased by our PTA to support their learning and take a deeper look at the music and how composers use arias to develop characters and plot.

STARS IN THE EAST 2009

2009-03-17T19:41:00.000-04:00

Many of our production students are preparing for the 2009 Stars in the East Showcase - a celebration of the arts in eastern Wake County - which will be held Thursday, March 19 at East Wake High School.
Information for Parents/Students Performing:

Dress Rehearsal Wednesday, March 18 - arrive at North Gym on East Wake High School's campus by 5:45pm. Please plan on staying for the rehearsal as we do not have an exact end time - or plan ahead of time for how your child should contact you once rehearsal is over. They will run the finale number first then all the elementary numbers so we do not anticipate the rehearsal running any longer than about an hour for our students.
Performance is Thursday, March 19 - students should arrive at North Gym by 6:30pm. Please look for Mr. Jenkins or Miss Wirth and drop your students off with us before entering the Gym for the performance (starts at 7pm). ALL students must be picked up by a parent at the end of the performance for safety reasons - please see Mr. Jenkins or Miss Wirth when you both drop off AND pick-up your child.
Ticket information was sent home students. You can still purchase tickets for the show (but not for the banquet) at the dress rehearsal.

We look forward to a great performance. Thank you to all of our talented students and parents for putting in the extra time and effort to be a part of this special event.

4th Quarter in Music

2009-03-17T19:22:00.000-04:00

We are starting our last quarter in music for the 2008-2009 school year. I am so excited to continue exploring music with our Kindergarten students as we prepare for the 2nd Annual Kindergarten Music Program. This year's theme will be "It's a Small World After All" and students will learn all about different musical and artistic cultures from around the world. Mrs. York will be working with the students to create authentic props, costume pieces, and set decorations. The performance is scheduled for Tuesday, May 12th at 6:30pm in the school gym with the May PTA meeting directly after in the library. Check back soon for more details about this year's program!
Our new music magnet classes this quarter are Recorder (3-5 grades) and Music we can Play and Sing (K-2 grades). Recorder parents, please check out the websites below if you'd like to purchase a recorder for your child. We will not only be learning how to read music and perform on this exciting instrument in solo and ensemble pieces but we will also learn beginning recording techniques as students produce their own CDs! Music we can Play and Sing students are embarking on a traditional Orff learning experience which utilizes singing, movement, and instrument playing to teach musical skills. For more information on the Orff approach to music education, please visit this website: http://www.aosa.org/.

Websites for purchasing Recorders:

SOME local stores may have recorders but CALL before going to make sure:

Burrage Music (Raleigh 919.872.0211)
Music & Arts Center (Cary 919.854.0024)

Welcome to a New Year in Music ♫

2009-01-11T18:31:00.000-05:00

As a new year starts we are full of all kinds of new beginnings in music at Wendell Elementary! Our 1st and 2nd Graders are having their last music classes and will soon begin exploring new specials for the rest of the year. Our 2nd Quarter Magnets have also just finished. This week, on Tuesday January 13th and Thursday January 15th, our Musical Production students will be performing School House Rock Live! Junior, a musical performance these students have been working on all semester. Mr. Jenkins and I are so proud of our gifted AND talented Musical Production students and we know they are going to have a great performance. Performance times are Tuesday at 1pm and Thursday at 1pm and 7:30pm in the school auditorium.
On January 27th, 3rd Quarter Magnets will start and Kindergarteners will begin coming to their music special. We have so many exciting things to look forward to this spring including the annual Kindergarten Music Program, Stars in the East (Eastern Wake County's Performing Arts Celebration), the Spring Musical Production, 4th Grade's trip to the NC Symphony, and so much more! Music magnet electives that will be offered this spring are listed below. We will post again soon once we have started our new semester. Welcome Back, Wendell!

K - 2 Magnets
3rd Quarter - Experiences in Music and Movement
Students will explore the elements of music - tempo, rhythm, melody, timbre, etc - through experiences with musical instruments, singing, and movement. We will look at how the elements of dance are similar and related to the elements of music as well.
4th Quarter - Music we can Play and Sing
This is a fun music magnet where students explore music through a variety of action songs and dances, instrument explorations, and other activities. The focus will be on teaching students through the Orff approach and method of music learning. Students will prepare several musical pieces for a performance at the end of the quarter.

3-5 Magnets
3rd Quarter - Sounds of the World
Students will explore the instruments, musical styles, cultures, and traditions of countries around the world. We will make connections between these cultures and our own through an integrated approach where students will listen, play, sing, dance, write, create, and explore.
4th Quarter - Recorder
Students will learn proper playing technique for Recorder and learn several songs on the instrument. Students will also explore improvisation and composition with the instrument. Students may purchase a recorder ($2-$5) or borrow one from the school. Students will also be expected to perform in a concert at the end of the quarter.
Semester - Musical Production

CREATIVE CONNECTIONS

2008-10-10T20:08:00.000-04:00

This year at Wendell Elementary we have started something NEW called Creative Connections. Creative Connections is designed to enrich your child's learning and understanding of important concepts in the curriculum. Using music, dance, drama, art, and PE, the Creative Connections Team (Mrs. Atkins, Mr. Jenkins, Mr. Merritt, Ms. Wirth, Mr. W, and Mrs. York) plans integrated units to share with each grade level once a month. During this Creative Connections time students are exploring concepts in Math, Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and the Specialty Subject Areas in an integrated, holistic, hands-on, and interactive experience. This week 2nd and 3rd Graders had Creative Connections. Here is what we learned...

Second Grade Creative Connections Objectives

Punctuation
Non-Locomotor Movements
Vocal Sound Effects
Elements of a Story (Story Order, Characters, Setting)
Form in Dance
Landscape Techniques in Art

Second Grade Creative Connections Activities

Punctuation Storytime - Students reviewed different types of punctuation that are commonly used in stories. They then chose a vocal sound effect and a non-locomotor movement to perform for each. After practicing, students performed a retelling of Shel Silversteins's The Giving Tree. Every time a punctuation mark is used in the story the students performed the appropriate movement and sound effect.
Story Order Dance and Creating a Setting Backdrop - Students reviewed story order by creating a short movement piece representing the beginning, middle and end of The Giving Tree. Students then created a backdrop for their dance using their knowledge of setting in stories and landscapes in art.

Third Grade Creative Connections Objectives

Communities Around the World
Pie Charts and Bar Graphs
Compare and Contrast using Venn Diagrams
Writing Complete Sentences

Third Grade Creative Connections Activities

Comparing and Contrasting Different Communities - Students learned about different communities around the world - including Brazil, Ethiopia, Russia, and Japan. They learned basic economic, geographical and demographic information as well as facts about daily life, diet, and school life. Students then wrote down one fact they learned in a complete sentence. As a group, students used these facts to compare and contrast two different communities in a large venn diagram.
Creating Life-Sized Graphs - Students used their bodies to create life-sized bar graphs and pie charts. Students chose which community/country they would most like to visit. Ask your child how they worked together as a whole group to create a graph with theri bodies represent this data.

Ms. Mound's Class is Composing with MATH!

2008-10-10T19:59:00.000-04:00

Ms. Mound's third graders have been busy composing their own musical pieces using math! Students have been adding up note values to creative rhythm patterns. Each line of their musical composition can only have so many beats. After composing the rhythm of our pieces, we have started to add a melody. Students are experimenting with patterns of notes that sound the best. We are also exploring the writing process as we compose our own pieces. Students have already planned their pieces and written a rough draft. Our next step is to revise and edit our rough drafts so that they are ready to be recorded and performed as final versions.

Second Grade is "Off to the Zoo"

2008-10-10T19:56:00.000-04:00

Second Graders have been learning how to read, notate, perform, and compose rhythms using Ta (quarter note), Ti-Ti (eighth notes), and quarter rests. In this video, Ms. Peterson's class is performing their own orchestration to our song, "Off to the Zoo." Listen for our rhythm patterns using the names of our favorite zoo animals!

6th Period Students perform at Wendell Harvest Fest

2008-10-03T18:25:00.000-04:00

Students in the "Music Through a Variety of Sound Sources" Magnet performed today at the Wendell Harvest Festival. The students performed three different songs on the recorder: Hot Cross Buns, Lucy Locket, and Down by the Station. I am so proud of these students. They represented our school well by following all of our "We Soar" Behavior Expectations and showing the town what talented, hard-working, respectful students we have at Wendell Elementary. Thank you to Mrs. York for walking downtown with us and a very special thank you to the parents who came out to support us :)

Rhythm Band is "Coloring the Beat"

2008-09-30T19:40:00.000-04:00

Rhythm Band students (8th Period, K-2 Magnet) are learning about whole, half, quarter, and eighth notes and their values. We've been learning how to play rhythms in both 4/4 time and 2/4 time. Ask your child how many beats are in a measure in a 4/4 time signature and how many beats are in a measure in a 2/4 time signature.

"The Farm" is in a flurry in 1st Grade

2008-09-30T19:11:00.000-04:00

Our 1st Grade students have been exploring the many different ways you can keep a steady beat. Singing a fun song called "The Farm" that tells about a rather sick little rooster, students kept a steady beat using body percussion with a partner and on instruments. Ask your child what the word "xylophone" means. I am so proud of all of our 1st Grade musicians!! Our next adventure will have us exploring melody and melodic direction.

2008-09-16T16:18:00.000-04:00

1st Quarter Magnets and Specials have started!!!
Today we started our 1st Quarter Magnets and Specials classes. It was so exciting to see familiar (and NEW!) faces in the music room again. Here are some of the activities we have coming up for the next few weeks.

1st Grade General Music - We are reviewing steady beat in music through our funny partner song "The Farm." We are keeping the beat through a partner clapping and movement game and we will review how to play some of our favorite classroom instruments such as the xylophones and hand drums by adding a special accompaniment to the song. Ask your child to teach you the song and movement game - and see what has happened to our rooster!
2nd Grade General Music - We are distinguishing between steady beat and rhythm in music. We will learn how to write, perform, improvise, and compose simple rhythm patterns. Ask your child to teach you how to perform "ta," "ti-ti," "ta-ah," and a rest using your voice and body percussion.
3rd Grade General Music (Ms. Mound) - We will start with an integrated unit on math and rhythm. We will review what we've learned about measures, time signatures, and note values in 2nd Grade while we learn to compose and perform music based on math topics. Later in the quarter we will look at the history of the Spiritual in American culture in an integrated unit on Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. Students will continue their study of this topic with Mrs. York in Art and Mrs. Atkins in Dance throughout the year! Ask your child to teach you the "It's Gonna Be Great" song. This is how we greet each other at the start of class. We'll be adding a partner clapping game to it soon.
4th Grade General Music (Ms. Kane) - We are spending this quarter looking at cinquain poems and how we can use them to compose our own music. We will write our own poems, add rhythm and a melody, make our own instruments to perform on with our pieces, and learn how composing music is just like writing a story. We'll use the same writing process they use in their regular classroom to plan, draft, edit, revise, and finalize our compositions.
5th Grade General Music (Ms. Warren) - We are learning a multi-part drum circle based on a couplet rhyming poem. Using the rhythm of words, students will learn to play several instruments and rhythms. Once students have mastered the drum circle, they will write their own poetry in rhyming couplets to use as a part of our final performance.
Production - The first two weeks of class we will be working on team-building exercises to develop our cooperation skills and to help us get to know everyone better. We will also have students do some reading, singing, and moving exercises on the stage to help us (Mr. Jenkins and I) make our casting decisions. We'll have performance dates, information about after-school rehearsals, and other information for you soon!
Music Through a Variety of Sound Sources - We are starting with RECORDERS! We will learn the proper care and correct playing technique for recorders as we start learning how to read music and perform on this exciting "sound source." Throughout the quarter we will also learn hand drumming techniques, mallet instrument techniques, Ukelele techniques, and piano techniques. We'll also look at some non-traditional instruments in our study of STOMP and the Blue Man Group!
Rhythm Band - We are learning correct playing techniques for a variety of rhythm instruments such as the triangle, hand drum, cymbals, rhythm sticks, maracas, tambourines, and jingle bells. As we explore these instruments we are also learning how to read, improvise, and compose music. Ask your child to tell you what a measure and a time signature is!

Check back soon for pictures of our adventures in class! And don't forget to subscribe to the blog if you'd like to receive an e-mail every time we upload a new post. Thank you for your support of music at Wendell Elementary.

Welcome to the 2008-2009 School Year

2008-09-08T20:51:00.000-04:00

We are so excited to be starting a new year in Music at Wendell Elementary! All students K-5 will now visit music as a specials class this year in addition to signing-up for specific music electives. Here is our schedule for the first quarter:
1st Period ~ General Music with Harris (1st), Mound (3rd), Kane (4th), and Warren (5th)
2nd Period ~ General Music with 1st Grade
3rd Period ~ General Music with 2nd Grade
LUNCH
5th Period ~ Musical Production (3-5 Magnet) *taught with Mr. Jenkins
6th Period ~ Music through a Variety of Sound Sources (3-5 Magnet)
7th Period ~ Planning
8th Period ~ Rhythm Band (K-2 Magnet)
Magnets/Specials start on Tuesday, September 16th! Check back soon for a list of our quarterly goals and objectives for each grade level and class. ♫