We are off to a great start in Elementary Music! We are starting out the year with steady beat
movements, name games, and instruments.
The 4th graders this past week helped me make practical applications
from my summer course in World Drumming.
Back in June, I was able to take a week-long training session for music
teachers in drumming, mostly in the West African tradition. One of our instructors was actually
originally from Ghana. It was a great
experience for me to learn music in a completely non-Western modality. West African drumming instructors use a lot
of listening and watching, as opposed to talking or reading musical notation. I was challenged to become a better musician,
and I know our students will appreciate the challenge associated with drumming. We were having so much fun with our call and
response name game last week, that I did not take pictures of the 4th
grade classes in action. However, here
is a picture of our class set of tubano drums.
Having these drums for the students gives them a literal hands-on,
multicultural musical experience. Even
in elementary music, we are learning about how big God’s world is and how many people
groups there are that He cares about! You’re welcome to come drum with us
anytime.
We use three sizes of drums as a group: low, medium, and high. Each "voice" has a unique sound.
During the month of April, 5th grade chorus members had a chance to help me try out the brand new Quaver's Marvelous World of Music Curriculum. It's an interactive, multimedia program for grades K-5. It's a very impressive product!
One of the components of the 5th grade curriculum is called the "Commercial Jingle Project." Over about 7-8 class periods, students worked in small groups to create a promotional package for a fictional product. They came up with a product, a poster for their product, a 30 second ad copy (the "spiel" for the commercial) with live background music, and a catchy jingle with recorded backing tracks.
We took two days to present our commercials in class. It was sort of like the 5th grade equivalent of Shark Tank! Below are a few videos of some of the presentations. There's a video of each group's ad copy with background music and a video of their jingle. You'll see the videos for Relax Central (a comfy chair for school), Cutty Cutters (a programmable hair-styler), and Micro Magic (a microwave-style product that creates any food you program it to!).
*Note: Please forgive the poor quality of these videos. I was filming on my iphone while simultaneously running the sound for all the groups.
Music classes in grades K-5 have been using materials from Quaver's Marvelous World of Music this school year. This is an interactive approach to music education. We watch 12-14 minutes episodes on topics like beat, meter, the musical alphabet, instruments of the orchestra, and loads of others. Quaver is sort of like Bill Nye the Science Guy meets Doctor Who and teaches about music. The series is very well done and the students retain the knowledge! There are also interactive quizzes, games, and activities that we do together. Recorder students and chorus members have helped me test out a free, all-access pass to the new Quaver curriculum with play along recorder teaching track and creating commercial jingles. The great thing about Quaver is that it supplements my teaching; it does not replace what I do!
Below, I've copied the letter to parents on the Quaver website. There is an entire online component that kids can access and use at home. They can compose their own music for fun right at home! They need an online account (it's totally free), but they do need parental permission to sign up. I've shown most classes the website in music class, so they know their way around. If you'd rather us have your child use the account I made for school, you can do that.
They can sign on at www.quavermusic.com username: fpdmusic password: govikings
You might want to play along, too!
And, for an extra special bonus video, I actually met Quaver at the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) Conference this past January. I showed the kids, and they all thought I met a rock star :)
The feather boa was THEIR idea :)
Hello Parents:
We are so glad you found your way to our world!
Maybe your child came home today talking about Music Class . . . going on and on about an awesome lesson their teacher taught and a new friend named Quaver they met along the way. Quaver’s Marvelous World of Music is home to cutting-edge resources for today’s music teachers. Our interactive Programs give your child’s teacher new and engaging ways to bring music to life for their students!!
Students in classrooms using Quaver will be introduced to Quaver’s world via fun, video episodes – a place filled with musical adventures that is part Bill Nye the Science Guy, part Beakman, and part Monty Python all rolled into one. Teachers may also use Quaver’s cutting-edge teaching resources on their Interactive Whiteboards or mobile devices, enhancing the technology in your child’s classroom!
Or maybe you’ve been looking for a way to encourage your children to love music at home – to enjoy listening, creating, and learning more about it!
QuaverMusic.com is a great place to start - an interactive virtual world that gives your child the freedom to create, explore, and learn about music in a safe, age-appropriate world they will love. Teachers use QuaverMusic.com to distribute assignments and reinforce lesson objectives with musical games and quests. The site is free to students at home or in the classroom – so they can continue to foster a love of music wherever they are.
Our mission at QuaverMusic.com is to see the greatest possible number of children learn to love music – and we know that starts with parents who support music education and creativity.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
The elementary students performed in our Annual Grandparents' Day show on March 28th, 2014. Our theme this year was "An American Patchwork: A Collection of Folksongs." The students sang, danced, played instruments, and put on a fabulous show. I am so proud of all their work! As always, we were delighted to have a full house of grandparents and special friends come to join us. I think the students really enjoyed singing songs and having their grandparents say, "Oh! We sang that song when I was in elementary school!" It was a neat way for the children to bond with their grandparents over music. Thank you for all your help and support of the Fine Arts here at FPD! Hopefully, when these children grow up, they will be able to share musical memories with their own grandchildren! Below are a few pictures from our performances!
We are a little over 3 weeks out from Grandparents' Day. We are putting all the elements of the program together. In 5th grade, we've taken an old folksong called "Turn the Glasses Over" and put a relatively new tradition with it. The videos below show the 5th graders performing the Cup Game to the song while they sing. And, this is one piece of their performance! The song also has a dance and parts for Orff instruments. Enjoy this sneak peak!
Our 1st and 2nd graders are working on learning "Home on the Range" for Grandparents' Day. I am amazed by how much they love this song! They enjoy learning a song that their parents and grandparents know. We also have been talking about meter--how the beat is grouped. We usually hear music in meters of 2, 3, or 4. This song is in a meter of 3. So, as we learned the song, we also learned to keep the beat to the meter of 3. We felt the STRONG-weak-weak beat while using body percussion. Here's a 1st grade class on their first day on this song!
We are about a month away from our Elementary Grandparents' Day program. Again, this year's theme is "American Folk Songs." In classes, we are busy learning the songs to sing, as well as the instrument parts that accompany theme. Most grade levels are also learning a traditional folk dance. The students are working hard to learn all the "nuts and bolts" of our songs. They are learning how all the parts fit together to make a whole. Here are a few pictures of the xylophones in action!
