When do I have music?

The music schedule is as follows:

Kindergarten has music for one 30min block in the 5-day cycle.
Day 3:
Mme. Yolanda
Mme. Adrienne
Day 5:
Mme. Bojanowski & Mme. Ziwani
Mme. Émond
Mme. Diane

Grade 1 has music for one 60min block in the 5-day cycle.
Day 3:
Mme. Martine (grade 1/2)
Day 4:
Mme. Mollenthiel
Mme. Monique
Day 5:
Mme. Stevenson
Mme. Royal

Grade 2 has music for one 60min block in the 5-day cycle.
Day 3:
Mme. Déziel
Mme. Martine (grade 1/2)
Mme. Belzile
Day4:
Mme.Bourassa
Mme. Lyne

Week 2 - Steady Beat

 

Week 2 was spent learning how to identify and keep a steady beat.

We learned that the beat is like the pulse of music!

We used our heartbeats to determine what a steady beat was and played a listening game to separate steady beats from ones that were not (or "crazy beats" as we called them) in everyday sounds. We realized that items such as clocks and windshield wipers make sounds that keep a steady beat.

We could tap along with the sounds on our knees to help us find the steady beat.

We all played a game that reminded us of freeze dance that helped us recognize steady beats and had fun clapping out the beats of some of our favorite songs!

In some grade 1 and 2 classes, we used the rhythm sticks to help us keep a steady beat. The students did a great job following the beat and leading their classmates on the djembe drum.

We may have a few drummers on our hands!

 

Excellent work! 

In the weeks to come, we will be continuing to work on keeping a steady beat and will be diving into the world of rhythm and dynamics! Stay tuned!

Week 1 - Nice to meet you!

Hi everyone!
In our first week, we spent time getting to know the music room and playing some fun rhythm games. The students noticed that some changes have been made in the music room in terms of layout and decoration. Take a look at what the students saw on their first days.

 

 

We also began to decorate our individual name notes to decorate our collaborative music staff in the hallway outside the music room.

 

One popular game this week was "Band Leader". The students took turns being detectives and tried to discover who was leading the group in percussion patterns using our bodies. Those leaders were very sneaky and our detectives were excellent listeners! We also learned what was expected of all us in the music room and what to look forward to when we all work together to make music class enjoyable for everyone.

Here are Miss Ashley's Secrets to Success (as we discuss in class)
*I keep my hands and feet to myself
*I am a good listener  (ears, eyes and body facing speaker)
*I follow the instructions (quickly and quietly)
*I show respect to all  (classmates, teacher and music room equipment)

So far we are all doing a wonderful job of creating a fun and supportive learning environment!
Keep up the great work everyone!

As you can see here, we have begun to fill up our music staff with our name notes!

 

I can't wait until it's complete!

 

 

Let me introduce myself...

Hi everyone!

I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to all of you. I'll be getting to know the students over the course of the school year, but may not have a chance to meet all of the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, family and friends who are curious as to what's happening in our music room this year!

My name is Ashley Dunn...or "Miss Ashley" as the students know me. I am so excited to be teaching music this year at St. John Fisher Jr.! 
This is my first year teaching music and I have lots of fun in store! I have a University degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from Concordia, as well as a minor in Theatre. I also took several Music courses during my time in University and was a member of the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. I have worked with children for 10 years now, at the preschool and elementary level. I have taught French and English and have a special interest in early literacy. Some may recognize me from the local YMCA where I taught swimming and am also an Aquatics Supervisor.

I am a huge advocate for arts education and have been involved with performing arts ever since I was young. Over the years I have developed my passion for singing through choir work, musical productions and performing regularly with a band. My love of music has been enriched by playing the violin and I have also started to learn the guitar! I developed a love for theatre in high school through performing in several musical productions and went on the obtain my DEC in Professional Theatre. Along with being a teacher, I have performed professionally in both stage and film productions in Montreal. I also love to dance; with hip-hop, jazz and swing classes under my belt. It feel it is very important to incorporate movement into the classroom, so we will definitely be dancing in the music room this year! I look forward to a great year with your children and hope to communicate with all of you. 

3 words you can find posted outside the music room are: Sing, Play and Smile...and that's exactly what we'll be up to!

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions! I will be posting my email address shortly.

Welcome!

Hello everyone!

Hope you all had a great summer. Although I enjoyed the summer months, I am happy that it's back-to-school time once again! 

This is my first time setting up a blog and I am very excited that I'll be able to share what the students and I will be doing in music class this year. I won't be posting pictures of the students, but I'll be able to post about what we are exploring in class. I will also be using this page to provide parents with important updates and information regarding different activities throughout the school year.

I hope to be able to post sound files or youtube links to the songs we will be working on in class so that the children can practice singing their hearts out at home. You know what they say, "Practice Makes Perfect!"

This coming week will be the start of music classes and I am excited to meet all of the students. I have been fortunate enough to talk with a few on the first day of school and special thanks to those who came up to me in the schoolyard and made me feel welcome! I look forward to meeting many parents in the upcoming weeks and hope you will visit my blog regularly to keep up-to-date. I truly hope to keep up-to-date with it myself, although it may take some getting used to for me. I believe this will be an exciting and fun way to keep in touch. What a great beginning to the school year so far!