Happy New Year!
We have kick-started the year with some hip-hop dance in kindergarten to get the students feeling the music and recognizing the beat again. It's great to see how many of the students are able to move with the music and transition the type of movement they do depending on the music. In our freestyle session, I saw lots of students taking risks and jumping into the middle of our dance circle to have some fun and show off their best moves! This term, we are focusing on music appreciation and will be translating our feelings about movement into different mediums. I think dance was a great way to start off 2014. We have already experienced moving with the music by using scarves and ribbons to follow the rhythm of a piece.
*Parents: please note that ALL songs used in class are appropriate for children. If the originals are not, I use the KidzBop or Minipop Kids versions (which you should check out!) which are 100% child-friendly and sung by kids! For example, this week we danced to the Minipop version of Timber.
In cycle 1, we started back with some exciting stations in music class. We are reminding ourselves of what we have already learned about rhythm by playing different rhythm partner games I created at one of the stations and focusing on music appreciation with the other 2 stations. With the introduction of the iPad and iPods into our music class (I managed to wrangle up an old iPhone and some iPods from my own family members), students have been able to listen and respond to different pieces of instrumental music. By drawing whatever they feel the music is telling them to draw while they listen, students have been expressing their creativity and learning to appreciate and differentiate between different types of music. We have also been thinking about our favourite bands, singers and musicians and will be presenting our artwork on them as soon as we are finished.
In order to expand our listening station (which will be used for music education purposes), we always need more listening devices. I am not sure how big of a request this is but I was reading another music teacher's blog and she had expanded her station and enhanced her classroom by accepting donations of old iPhones from parents that were wiped clean. If you know anyone who has an old iPhone lying around that means nothing to them anymore (like my own father, who just upgraded to the iPhone5 and whose old phone will now be used in our class), we would love to use them in our classroom!
We will be stating our Choir on January 22nd!
Choir is open to cycle 1 students (grades 1 & 2) and permission slips go out today.
It will be held every Wednesday at lunchtime. We will eat as a group and then start rehearsals.
This year we will be trying something a little different and we will be presenting the short musical Squirm!
As there are only 30 spots available, please be sure that your child returns their permission slip asap!
As our time together is limited, I must reserve the right to not allow students who are continuously disruptive to participate (after 3 warnings) in the choir.
I look forward to seeing everyone and am excited to start this fun activity!
The last week of January (27th, 28th, 29th), we will be having talent day in each of our classrooms.
The students have been asked to decide if they'd like to show their classmates a musical talent that they have.
They are encouraged to sing a song, do a dance or play an instrument. They can perform anything we have learned in class or something that they have practiced at home or at lunch/recess. It can be very simple and should not exceed 2-3 minutes. They can participate by performing alone or with friends or by being a good audience member.
Students have been told that although I would like them to take a risk, have some fun and show the class something (music-related), I will be just as happy if they participate by giving their full attention to those who choose to perform.
No one is forced to perform, but I'd be really happy if you could encourage your children to come up with something to show us. I will be signing the students up in class and they must specify what they are doing and who they are doing it with. More flexibility and spontaneity will be expected in kindergarten.
I will be sending a letter home next week to share my expectations with all parents.
If your child decides to play an instrument brought from home, you will need to specify this on the form that will accompany the talent day announcement. All instruments will be kept safely locked up in the music room until the end of the day, however it will be your child's responsibility to ensure it gets safely to and from school. We do have some percussion instruments, as well as a keyboard/piano and guitar (3/4 size) available for use at school.
I am really excited to see what the students come up with!
If you have any further questions, please feel free to post comments on the blog or contact me at adunn03@lbpearson.qc.ca
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