Please check out the Dropbox link to download the new choir songs (copy/paste the link):
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/p40fxtsbem7e9q9/bp0PqcnN2S
So far we have learned
- Squirm
- Cool to be a Worm
- A Spider Song
This week we will be starting to learn:
- A Snake in the Grass
Have fun!
Music
credit: stonehamschools.org
Monday, 17 February 2014
Sunday, 2 February 2014
Squirm - music and lyrics
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/p40fxtsbem7e9q9/bp0PqcnN2S
There you can download the lyrics, as well as the music for practicing.
With just two rehearsals so far, the students have already learned 2 songs from the show! I am very impressed at their dedication so far and we are having a lot of fun learning the silly moves that go along with the music too!
Talent Day SUCCESS!
Hi everyone!
Just wanted to post quickly about what a great success our talent days were. Lots of students chose to perform and I was so impressed by their courage and talent! We had lots of incredible singers, dancers and musicians. I wanted to say a big congratualations to those who chose to perform and a thank you to those who showed that they could be wonderful audience members. We learned what concert etiquette is and the importance of being polite, quiet and supportive during a performance. We also learned about performance and what it takes to show our hard work to others. We had a wonderful time learning about the hidden talents of some of the students! Great work everyone! You made me very proud. :)
Just wanted to post quickly about what a great success our talent days were. Lots of students chose to perform and I was so impressed by their courage and talent! We had lots of incredible singers, dancers and musicians. I wanted to say a big congratualations to those who chose to perform and a thank you to those who showed that they could be wonderful audience members. We learned what concert etiquette is and the importance of being polite, quiet and supportive during a performance. We also learned about performance and what it takes to show our hard work to others. We had a wonderful time learning about the hidden talents of some of the students! Great work everyone! You made me very proud. :)
Thursday, 9 January 2014
Excitement ahead in 2014!
Hi there everyone!
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!
Some exciting news for 2014:
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
Friday, 20 December 2013
Congratulations and Happy Holidays!
Hello all,
With everything that has been going on these last couple of weeks, I am only now getting around to posting about our fabulous concerts!
What an AMAZING job all of the students did! I was so proud of them for all of their hard work and I think they performed wonderfully. The afternoon concert was great and the students really warmed up to having an audience. For the evening show, the students all remembered to sing "loud and proud" (as I constantly remind them :) ) and it was just fantastic! I think we really rocked it out!
Fun was had by all and we even managed to raise $350 for our Christmas baskets!
This was my very first time organizing a school concert and I was blown away by the effort that the students put in and the support I received from parents, fellow teachers and staff members. It was a real team effort and I thank everyone for helping us out and coming to have some fun with us.
Although I can't really post any pictures that were taken at the show, I did manage to make an audio recording of most of it. I will post the link on Dropbox (which I hope is working out well for you...haven't gotten much feedback about it...although I now realize that you have to download the free version of it) and you can relive the wonderful show all throughout your holiday season! :)
Click here for the sound files from the concert
Before the holidays, most of the classes had a chance to watch one of my favourite movies, The Wizard of Oz. As some of the children had already seen the movie, we had fun singing along to many of the popular songs. The kindergarten groups had fun watching the movie Happy Feet, about a penguin who loves to dance. There was lots of great music that got the students wanting to get their own happy feet moving. We danced around with our classroom mascot for the season: a singing and dancing stuffed penguin we like to call "Lil' G" because he sings a mean, modified version of "Fly Like a G6" about slipping, sliding, penguins, blizzards and hot choco.
Thank you all for the thoughtful gifts I received from many of the students this week. I am truly blessed to be working with such an awesome group of children and on such a wonderful team!
I hope you all have a very happy holiday season and a merry Christmas! See you in 2014!
With everything that has been going on these last couple of weeks, I am only now getting around to posting about our fabulous concerts!
What an AMAZING job all of the students did! I was so proud of them for all of their hard work and I think they performed wonderfully. The afternoon concert was great and the students really warmed up to having an audience. For the evening show, the students all remembered to sing "loud and proud" (as I constantly remind them :) ) and it was just fantastic! I think we really rocked it out!
Fun was had by all and we even managed to raise $350 for our Christmas baskets!
This was my very first time organizing a school concert and I was blown away by the effort that the students put in and the support I received from parents, fellow teachers and staff members. It was a real team effort and I thank everyone for helping us out and coming to have some fun with us.
Although I can't really post any pictures that were taken at the show, I did manage to make an audio recording of most of it. I will post the link on Dropbox (which I hope is working out well for you...haven't gotten much feedback about it...although I now realize that you have to download the free version of it) and you can relive the wonderful show all throughout your holiday season! :)
Click here for the sound files from the concert
Before the holidays, most of the classes had a chance to watch one of my favourite movies, The Wizard of Oz. As some of the children had already seen the movie, we had fun singing along to many of the popular songs. The kindergarten groups had fun watching the movie Happy Feet, about a penguin who loves to dance. There was lots of great music that got the students wanting to get their own happy feet moving. We danced around with our classroom mascot for the season: a singing and dancing stuffed penguin we like to call "Lil' G" because he sings a mean, modified version of "Fly Like a G6" about slipping, sliding, penguins, blizzards and hot choco.
Thank you all for the thoughtful gifts I received from many of the students this week. I am truly blessed to be working with such an awesome group of children and on such a wonderful team!
I hope you all have a very happy holiday season and a merry Christmas! See you in 2014!
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
More updates! More songs!
Hi everyone!
I attempted to record the songs for the concert and uploaded them again. I know some were missing or not working. It seems that you do need to install dropbox for this to work, but it's free so hopefully you can/will upload it. I apologize for the songs I recorded (the ones that say "practice" at the end), as I realized that I chose them to suit the children's vocal range and maybe not my own! Although I'm a soprano, some of them were pretty high for my chest voice. Hopefully the children don't make you play those ones too often! :) When they know the words well enough, they can also practice with the real tracks we will be using for the show.
DRESS CODE: I have asked the students to please dress in a PLAIN WHITE top (no logos) and a DARK BOTTOM (navy or black). If possible, no jeans. Thank you!
One of the boys asked me if he could wear a tie - I think ties are adorable but, obviously not expected. Any plain white top would be great.
PARTICIPATION: All of the children are expected to participate in both concert performances. If your child cannot attend a concert, please let me know through your child.
DATES & TIMES:
Dec. 9th -We will be having a dress rehearsal next Monday (Dec. 9th). Please try to make sure that your child does not miss this important run-through.
Dec. 10th - Our afternoon concert on the 10th will start at 12:45 (after lunch). We hope to see many of you there!
Dec 11th - For the evening concert on the 11th, students are expected to be at school at 6:30pm and make there way to their classroom. The concert will start at 7.
DONATIONS: We are asking for donations to help with the Christmas basket for St. John Fisher Church for families in need this holiday season. Your generosity will be greatly appreciated.
****UPDATED SONG FILES & LYRICS******
Click the group to access the files via dropbox (should work even if you don't have a dropbox account)
Mme. Martine
Mme. Mollenthiel
Mme. Stevenson
Mme. Monique/ Mme. Cesari
Mme. Royal
Mme. Deziel
Mme. Lyne
Mme. Sophie
Mme. Bourassa
Glocks Galore!
This week, as many of you have probably heard, I was on crutches due to an ankle injury. Therefore classes were a bit more sedentary than usual. I originally wanted to focus on singing this semester, but I was also itching to get the students playing some instruments! We have played a lot of percussion so far, but nothing with a pitch.
I planned an introduction to our glockenspiels for them and so far we have had a blast learning all about this instrument. We now know that glockenspiels are pitched percussion instruments whose bars are made of metal. Although most of the children thought that they would be playing "xylophones" when I showed them the glockenspiel, we quickly learned that xylophones are made of wood, as opposed to metal. We will soon be experimenting with our xylophones too!
With all grade levels this week, we learned how to hold the mallets, strike the bars of the glockenspiel (no bouncing too high!) and played along with a Robert Munsch story entitled "Mortimer". We practiced playing from low to high and from high to low whenever a character in the story went up or down the stairs. We also sang along with Mortimer when we belted his favourite tune "CLING CLANG RATTLE BING BANG gonna make my noise all day! CLING CLANG RATTLE BING BANG gonna make my noise all day!" (sorry parents!)
Here's an interesting article I came across: Kids Music 101
I planned an introduction to our glockenspiels for them and so far we have had a blast learning all about this instrument. We now know that glockenspiels are pitched percussion instruments whose bars are made of metal. Although most of the children thought that they would be playing "xylophones" when I showed them the glockenspiel, we quickly learned that xylophones are made of wood, as opposed to metal. We will soon be experimenting with our xylophones too!
With all grade levels this week, we learned how to hold the mallets, strike the bars of the glockenspiel (no bouncing too high!) and played along with a Robert Munsch story entitled "Mortimer". We practiced playing from low to high and from high to low whenever a character in the story went up or down the stairs. We also sang along with Mortimer when we belted his favourite tune "CLING CLANG RATTLE BING BANG gonna make my noise all day! CLING CLANG RATTLE BING BANG gonna make my noise all day!" (sorry parents!)
Here's an interesting article I came across: Kids Music 101
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