First and Second Grade
April 2017 Update:
1-2nd grade students utilized Willowwind's brand new set of Remo drums as they traveled around the world performing and learning about world music. The beginning of each day was spent learning a song from a specific world culture. Then we moved to the drums where we warmed up through various call-response and question-answer patterns. The question-answer activity was a great opportunity for students to improvise different rhythmic patterns. Then we moved to performing various 2 and 3 part ensemble music. Performing steady rhythms with a consistent tempo, and using our hands to make high and low pitches were the goals as we played. Throughout the music block, students completed Travel Books, where they learned where each region of the world was as well as the other musical instruments commonly found in each country. Students ended the music block by composing their own 3 part ensemble music in small groups, and then performing their pieces for each other. See below to see where we traveled!
North America: Native American culture, "Peace Drum" and "Earth Drum" songs
Africa: "Harambee" and "Get It Together" songs
Peru: "In the High Andes" song
Ireland: "Patsy Ory Ory Aye" and "Lord of the Bodhran Dance" songs
Puerto Rico: "Bomba Guembe" song
Favorite Drumming Games: Alligator Pie, Filling in the Holes
Overview of Music Class
The 1st/2nd grade Fine Arts block is shared between Music and Visual Arts, with students visiting each in 3-week rotating sessions throughout the year. During each music session, students have music class three times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, for 45 minutes at a time. This schedule is a great opportunity for students to engage in an in-depth study of musical concepts.
After building a strong musical foundation in Preschool and Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders are ready to begin reading music. Up until this point many of the musical concepts have been experienced. Student now begin to use formal keywords (i.e. tempo, forte, piano, crescendo, decrescendo, etc.) to describe the music students hear. Since students have engaged in activities that have demonstrated these concepts, they are able to easily apply this terminology. For instance, instead of simply verbalizing rhythmic patterns ("ta ti-ti"), they begin to write and create their own patterns with appropriate notation.
A highlight of the year includes playing Boomwhackers and learning how to use them as rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic instruments. Students enjoy exploring the different ways in which one can play these instruments and reading pictorial notation for the songs they learn.
I encourage you to view the Curriculum Maps page to learn more about the 2016-2017 1st-2nd grade curriculum.
Stay tuned for monthly blog posts to see what your child is learning in music this year!
1-2nd grade students utilized Willowwind's brand new set of Remo drums as they traveled around the world performing and learning about world music. The beginning of each day was spent learning a song from a specific world culture. Then we moved to the drums where we warmed up through various call-response and question-answer patterns. The question-answer activity was a great opportunity for students to improvise different rhythmic patterns. Then we moved to performing various 2 and 3 part ensemble music. Performing steady rhythms with a consistent tempo, and using our hands to make high and low pitches were the goals as we played. Throughout the music block, students completed Travel Books, where they learned where each region of the world was as well as the other musical instruments commonly found in each country. Students ended the music block by composing their own 3 part ensemble music in small groups, and then performing their pieces for each other. See below to see where we traveled!
North America: Native American culture, "Peace Drum" and "Earth Drum" songs
Africa: "Harambee" and "Get It Together" songs
Peru: "In the High Andes" song
Ireland: "Patsy Ory Ory Aye" and "Lord of the Bodhran Dance" songs
Puerto Rico: "Bomba Guembe" song
Favorite Drumming Games: Alligator Pie, Filling in the Holes
Overview of Music Class
The 1st/2nd grade Fine Arts block is shared between Music and Visual Arts, with students visiting each in 3-week rotating sessions throughout the year. During each music session, students have music class three times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, for 45 minutes at a time. This schedule is a great opportunity for students to engage in an in-depth study of musical concepts.
After building a strong musical foundation in Preschool and Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders are ready to begin reading music. Up until this point many of the musical concepts have been experienced. Student now begin to use formal keywords (i.e. tempo, forte, piano, crescendo, decrescendo, etc.) to describe the music students hear. Since students have engaged in activities that have demonstrated these concepts, they are able to easily apply this terminology. For instance, instead of simply verbalizing rhythmic patterns ("ta ti-ti"), they begin to write and create their own patterns with appropriate notation.
A highlight of the year includes playing Boomwhackers and learning how to use them as rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic instruments. Students enjoy exploring the different ways in which one can play these instruments and reading pictorial notation for the songs they learn.
I encourage you to view the Curriculum Maps page to learn more about the 2016-2017 1st-2nd grade curriculum.
Stay tuned for monthly blog posts to see what your child is learning in music this year!