Engine, Engine

We spend most of 1st grade covering essential musical concepts that build a foundation for all musicians.  The things we learn in 1st grade are STILL important in 2nd grade, 5th grade, high school, and for professional musicians!  Two concepts we work hard on are pitch and rhythm.  For our pitches, we are beginning with high and low sounds, specifically Sol and Mi.  Our rhythmic building blocks are the rhythms ta and ti-ti (you might know them better as quarter notes and eighth notes.)  

We learn these concepts through experience of the music--with our voices, with our bodies, with instruments, and with play.  This week, we are experiencing pitch and rhythm with the fun song "Engine, Engine, Number Nine."   After we learned the Sol-Mi patterns for the song, we learned the words and the rhythm, learned the instrument part, and played the game.  All of this was accomplished in 40 minutes! :)  Below is a video of a 1st grade class combining all these elements.  

Have You Ever Heard Such a Sound?

This week is a BIG DEAL in 4th grade music class.  The student received their recorders!!  Our first lesson includes how to put the instrument together, how to use steamy air and hole-ly fingers to produce a great recorder sound, and how to start our air with a "too" sound.  The students have done an amazing job!  A lot of patience is required for this very first lesson, and the 4th grade classes have made me so proud!  

So, what does a brand new recorder player sound like???  Watch the video below for a 4th grade class making some of their very first sounds on their recorders.  I think they sound great!  

And, 4th graders, remember to click on the "Recorder Resources" tab at the top of the page for your very own section to this website!  

Added Bonus:  Here's the link to the Recorder Master Game! 

Lost Pockets, Howling Wolves, and Review Galore!

2nd Grade

In 2nd grade last week, we reviewed three pitches from Music Street--Sol, La, and Mi.  These three pitches (or musical sounds) make up a bunch of songs.  We learned the song "Lucy Lockett Lost Her Pocket," which has a fun guessing game that we play while we sing the song.  We also added in a simple instrument part on the bass Orff instruments to review our technique.  Singing games like "Lucy Lockett"  really help to reinforce the concepts we're learning.  Plus, they are fun! 

Here is a video of a 2nd grade class in action:

Waiting to start the pocket-passing!

All set to play the bass Orff instruments while the class sings

3rd Grade

We also reviewed the pitches Sol, La, and MI in 3rd grade last week.  Plus, we reviewed basic quarter note and eighth note rhythms.  We learned the song "We Are Dancing in the Forest" and the students figured out ALL the rhythms and pitches in the song.  Then, we added some Orff instrument parts for review.  On the Orff instruments, we use the 3 B--Bicycles, Bounce, and Belly Buttons.  We hold the mallets like we're holding bicycle handle bars and we bounce off the middle, or "belly button," of the bar. We also used the the big low drum to help get in the feel of a wolf prowling around.

The song "We Are Dancing" has the children playing in the forest, wondering whether or not the wolf is around.  At the end of their singing, they ask "Wolf, are you there?"  Then, the wolf (in the center of the circle) gets to either howl as yes or give a creative reason why he or she is not there.  It was quite a lot of fun!  I will say, some classes were more eager to howl than others :)  

Here are videos of two classes with instrument part, the singing, and the game in progress. 

And here are some candid shots of the 3rd grade classes! 

Beat Buddies

We have some new friends in PK and Kindergarten music class--the Beat Buddies! Everyone gets to have a buddy to help them show the beat.  The students have loved using the buddies!  The video below shows the students using their buddies to show whether the beat of the music is FAST or SLOW.  

More pictures of the students with their buddies!

My parents graciously dug out our old Beanie Babies from the attic so the students could use them.  If you have old Beanie Babies lying around you'd like to donate to the music room, let me know! :) 

We're Off!

The year is off to a great start in elementary music!  The first week or so we focus on steady beat in all grade levels.  Steady beat is the “heartbeat” of music.  All grades have used instruments to experience the beat of music.  PK-K used our egg shakers to the “Hip-Hop Body Rock,” 1^st-2^nd used the Stick Stations to copy steady beat patterns, and 3^rd-4^th used the African drums to experience a call and response game called “What’s Your Name?”  It has been loads of fun to see the students after the summer and get to make music with them again!  In the coming weeks, we’ll learn more about the instruments in our classroom, we’ll practice finding our singing voice, we’ll do movement activities, and the 4^th graders will start recorder.  Come by anytime and experience music-making with us!

Thanks for your support!

Mindy Krejci

Here is a video of a 3^rd grade class playing the “What’s Your Name?” call and response drum game:

And,here is a picture of the area of the classroom I affectionately refer to as “Instrument Zoo.”  Just like in an animal zoo, everything has a place of its own!

Making Your Own Stick Station

We had such fun playing with the Stick Stations the last two weeks of the school year!  I talked with the kids about how they can make their very own Stick Station out of items they have at home.  It would be a great summer time music project.  

Make Your Own Stick Station!

Here are some ideas that we brainstormed for each component: 

Crash Can--class set made of #10 metal food can covered in duct tape with a foam circle on the bottom.

Suggestions: plastic boxes (Rubbermaid), pots (with permission), shoebox, can, real drum

Tambourine

Suggestions: Jingle bells, homemade shaker (empty water bottle with beads/rice), maraca, metal object, baby toy with jingles, or order a mini tambourine from Amazon.  

Drum Sticks

Suggestions: Pencils, wooden sticks, crochet hooks or knitting needles, wooden spoons, or real drumsticks. 

Beat Board--class set uses a small, plastic cutting board from the Dollar Tree

Suggestions: plastic or wooden cutting board, an old book, piece of heavy plastic, a cookie sheet, heavy cardboard.  

Using the Stick Stations

There are lots of fun ways to use the Stick Stations.  Such as: 

• Create patterns using long and short sounds and rests.  
• Play a pattern and experiment with different items in the Stick Station. 
• Experiment with musical opposites
• Can you play loud?  Can you play soft?  Can you play high sounds? Can you play low sounds?  How about fast and slow?  
• Turn on a favorite song and play the steady beat on different stations!

Here are some great musical selections to play the steady beat to!  (Note, the links are to Youtube videos). 

In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg 

The Can Can by J. Offenbach

Washington Post March by J.P. Sousa

William Tell Overture by Rossini 

Sing, Sing, Sing featuring Benny Goodman

Recycling and Drumming

I asked the lunch room back in February to save a bunch of #10 cans for the elementary music room.  After maternity leave, I returned with a fresh supply of drumming kits called Stick Stations that feature those cans—cleaned out and taped in fluorescent duct tape!  The kids are having a blast with them! And, we got to help the environment by recycling.  

A music teacher from Orlando came up with the idea for the Stick Stations and published a book called KidStix.  We've used the Stick Stations and some of the activities from the book in every grade, 3K-4th, in the past week.  It's been a fun way to review rhythms and preview next year's music classes.  

A fun summer project would be helping your child create his or her own Stick Station at home.  You can use any type of can, container, box, pot, etc. for the Crash Can, some jingle bells would work for the tambourine, any flat, hard surface would work for the beat board, and even pencils work as drum sticks.  Be creative and see what you can create!  You are welcome to email me pictures of your homemade Stick Stations in action!  

We'll also use the Stick Stations some in my "Drumming Up Fun!" Summer Camp through the Center For Discovery.  Sign up your rising 3rd-5th grader for this fun class the last week of July! 

Sticks Stations with Crash Can, Tambourine, Beat Board, and Drum Sticks

2nd Grade playing on the Stick Stations.  The Crash Cans have a piece of foam taped to the top.

IN CASE YOU ARE CURIOUS...

Mr. Krejci, Calder, and I are doing great!  Calder's Grandma (my mom) has been staying with us to help take care of him.  He is 14 weeks old, is just learning to hold his head up, grunts a lot, and loves to listen to music!  He is a sweet, happy baby and we are so thankful the Lord picked us to be his Mama and Daddy.  Here's a picture of him at 13 weeks :) 

Calder Elias Krejci 05.11.15