Band and the Basketballs

This video is of 5th-8th grade band members.  They are working on a basketball routine that demonstrates repeated half notes, quarter notes and eighth notes.  This was inspired after seeing Mrs. Lukow's students doing this routine.  This is just a rehearsal so its not quite perfect, but you can see how hard they've been working.  GO BAND!  WooOoot!

Prince and Princess School

Kindergarteners and First Graders LOVE pretend play.  Oh, who am I kidding?  Me too!  One of our new favorite activities is pretending to go to Prince and Princes School.  We listen and move to Hungarian Dance #6 by Brahms.

Here's the story: Once upon a time there was a strict but beeeeeeautiful queen who ran a school for princes and princesses.  There she taught them how to walk, bow and and wave like royalty.  As soon as the queen isn't looking all the princes and princess act silly.  Finally, unable to control their silliness the strict but beeeeeeeautiful queen joins in they jolly dance.

We are going to tell this story to parents at our annual spring concert this month.  Look at the beautiful crowns they made in art class!

Music in Our Schools Month Bulletin Board

I love Music in Our Schools Month!  I also love taking every opportunity to brag on my awesome students!  This month I have the large bulletin board in the main hallway and decided to borrow the title of our spring concert's finale, Music Matters, for the board.  The plate rainbow contains pictures from music class, assemblies, concerts and other performances over the last few years.  The flowers contain quotes about why music matters from choir members.  You can scroll down to the previous post to read their thoughts.

Does Music Matter?

I asked this question to choir members.  Here are some of my favorite responses.

Music matters because it helps us express our emotions. When I am upset I listen to music. Music makes life a lot better and can also help people remember things easier. Music DOES matter!!!

-April, Choir Vice-President

Music matters because it helps you get better grades and without music people are lost. That is why music matters.

-Kylie, Choir Member

Music DOES matter! If there were no music movies would be bland, school would be boring and church less fun.

-Kaylee, Choir Member

Music matters because last year I was getting Cs, Ds and Fs. This year I’m in band and choir and I’m getting As, Bs and Cs. This is why music matters. It has helped me get better grades!

-Beth, Band and Choir Member

Music matters because if we had absolutely no music this world would be boring! I like to listen to music when I mad, sad or depressed. It really helps get me out of that mood and makes me happy!

-Kayla, Choir Member

Music matters because it lets people express their feelings through singing or playing an instrument. People will always love to make music because it is special to them.

-Shawnee, Band and Choir Member

Music matters to me because without it life would be terrible! Just imagine a world without iPods or stereos. When you have a bad day imagine not having music to cheer you up. This is why music is important to me.

-Kaity, Band President and Choir Member

Music matters because it teaches us all our subjects in one class. It also matters because some of us want to be singers when we are older.

-CarolAnn, Band and Choir Member

Instrument Football

Thanks to one of Mrs. King's music teacher friends, Karen, students in band are improving their playing skills by playing football!  Okay...not football like you are thinking, but Instrument Football.  Students have a list of songs that go from easy to challenging to difficult.  Each time students "make a play" their football player moves ahead ten yards.  Due to the many snow days we've had lately, the game is stuck in a perpetual time-out!  Here's where we are right now.

Musical Mneumonics

In January, 4th graders solidified their pitch reading skills by coming up with their own sayings for the lines of the treble clef staff.  Everyone knows "Every Good Boy Does Fine", but do you think that "Elvis' Guitar Brings Double Figures"?  Here is a bulletin board that we created with our new sayings.

Obwisana-Sing and Pass!

Getting a Handle on Handel

Second graders learn about composers all year long.  After learning about George Frideric Handel, students created "graphic" organizers that told things that they had learned.  We posted all of these on a bulletin board titled Getting a Handle on Handel.  Look closely at the pictures of Handel and you'll see some of the facts that students wrote down.  Why the bright colors?  Handel was a creative guy and we wanted to show how creative we were by choosing unusual colors for our projects!