Ready for the 2014-2015 School Year!

My classroom is ready and waiting for students to arrive tomorrow! I have added some extra details, more instruments, music activities, and even more color! We will have so much fun with music in the year to come.

Bulletin board outside my classroom. Shows students note names!

5th grade band students will become a "band rockstar" and receive a guitar to decorate when they earn 100 practice points.

Composer spotlight is where 5th grade students will learn about a new composer every month and do some fun related activities. (Posters found here)

We are so lucky at DBS to have so many ukuleles! Keep your eyes open for a community ukulele class in October through the rec. department.

I added ribbon and colorful labels to all my bins around the story rug!

I now have twice as many boomwhackers as last year! 

Wrapping paper added to my desk and table for some pizzazz! 

Here we go 2014-2015 school year. Let's make some music!

Hungry to Learn Spring Concert Pics!

Our Spring Concert "Hungry to Learn" was a wonderful event! The 4th grade ukulele players plucked their hearts out, the 4/5 chorus danced the night away, and the 5th grade band wowed us with their pieces about garden gnome attacks and superheros flying through the sky! Here are some pictures of the concert:

4/5 Chorus

Grade 5 Band

4th graders on the ukuleles

'Attack of the Garden Gnomes' with gnome hats!

Thank you to everyone in the audience who supported the arts at DBS and to all the wonderful staff that helped make this concert possible. See you next year for some more fun music-making!

Chorus performs a concert "preview" at the healthy brains assembly!

The chorus gave a "preview" today of their May 21st concert by performing two songs about learning and healthy brains! They performed them at the healthy brains assembly that kicks off screen time turn off week and brain-o-mania night on Friday April 25th from 6-7:30 PM at DBS.

"Hungry to Learn" from MusicK8

"Forever Learning" from MusicK8

Like what you see? Come see our whole concert, "Hungry to Learn", on May 21st at 6:30 PM in the DBS Gym! The concert includes 5th grade band, 4th grade ukuleles, and 4/5 chorus.

5th Grade Learns about Opera

For the past two weeks 5th graders have been learning about opera. To be specific, "La Serva Padrona", the most popular opera of the 18th century, by a composer named Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. Students watched a scene of the aria "Stizzoso mio Stizzoso".

Then students learned how to play an accompaniment I wrote to the aria for hand drum, tambourine, and finger cymbals. The notation below might look confusing at first, but students were able to discuss what each part meant that they already understood, and asked questions about the parts they didn't understand.

Here is a clip of one 5th grade class playing this accompaniment.

4/5 Chorus Performs at the VA Hospital

4th and 5th grade chorus members performed at the VA Hospital's celebration of Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural address, on March 31st, 2014. Students performed "The Star Spangled Banner" and "Amazing Grace". They were eager and excited to learn these two songs in addition to the six songs they are already preparing for their concert on May 21st. Great job chorus!

Somebody that I Used to Know on Orff Instruments

4th and 5th graders learned an arrangement to the popular song by Gotye, "Somebody that I Used to Know" on the Orff instruments and ukuleles (from here).

Mallet Madness Videos

Below are three videos from our Mallet Madness adventures!

1st grade follows the leader! Stepping is hands alternating, jumping is hands together, and wavy arms is a glissando (going up and down the instrument).

I read the book "Rumble in the Jungle" and after every short poem students play and say, "Rumble, Rumble, Rumble in the Jungle!" They learn about dynamics and how to crescendo.

This kindergarten class plays hands together on "JUMP FROG JUMP!" to the cumulative book, "Jump, Frog, Jump".