Big News in Elementary Music!

Big News in the elementary music world!  Mrs. Mindy Krejci and her husband Kyle welcomed their first child into this world last week!  Calder Elias Krejci was born on Wednesday, February 11^th.  Baby Calder, Mindy, and Kyle are overjoyed and  feel blessed by the FPD Community.  Dr. Ernie Carlton, FPD Parent, delivered little Calder.  And, now, FPD Parent Niki Mixon is at the helm of the elementary music program, filling in for Mrs. Krejci while she is out on maternity leave. 

Elementary students have been busy preparing for our annual Grandparents’ Day programs. This year’s theme is patriotic music.  Grandparents’ Day will be held at the FPD Campus on Friday, March 27^th.  There will be separate shows for grades 3K-2^nd and grades 3^rd-5^th.  Look for more information to following the coming weeks.  We hope to see you there as we celebrate America!

Calder hopes to be a Wee Viking in 2018! :) 

Quaver Kids' Website

In music class, we watch Quaver, the quirky Music Store Owner teach us about various topics--from steady beat, to instrument families, to music styles.  There are Quaver songs and learning activities we use in the classroom.  But, there is also a whole world of Quaver games and music activities that kids can use at home!

Students can log on to our free FPD account, or they can make their own account at home. It's free to register and free to use.  It's simply for their enjoyment and learning--Mrs. Krejci does not have access to their own individual accounts.  

Go to www.quavermusic.com and enter the info below to use our shared account! (Note: it might kick you out if more than one person is trying to log on at a time--another great reason to create your own account!) 

Username: fpdmusic

Password: govikings

Even More Bow Wow Wow

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about the song and game "Bow Wow Wow" that we've played in 1st grade this month.  At the time, I only had one class videoed.  Since then, the other two classes have gotten to make their video version.  So, posted below, are Mrs. Kross's class and Mrs. Hooper's class.  Enjoy! 

Mrs. Kross's 1st Grade Class

Mrs. Hooper's 1st Grade Class

Recorder Song for Grandparents' Day

Our 4th graders are hard at work on a brand new song for Grandparents' Day.  Our theme this year is Patriotic Music, so we are learning a jazz standard called "When the Saints Go Marching In."  Jazz is a type of music that was first developed in America--what's more patriotic than that? 

Here is a video of "When the Saints Go Marching In" played by a jazz band with Louis Armstrong on trumpet and vocals.  Louis Armstrong is one of the best known jazz musicians from America.  He is famous for playing trumpet.  Legend has it that he earned his nickname from the unique way his cheeks puffed out when he played.  Some people thought it looked like his mouth was a satchel (a bag), so they started calling him "Satchel Mouth", which was shortened to "Satchmo," a nickname he is still recognized by.  

For the link to the song,4th graders can look under the "Recorder Resources" tab on this blog.  

Here are the two new notes 4th graders are learning: 

Bow, Wow, Wow

In 1st grade, we are practicing our rhythms of ta, ti-ti, and rest.  We've learned that rhythm is the "way the words go" in a song.  Here's a peak at the song we learned called "Bow, Bow, Wow" written in rhythmic notation.  The 1st graders are able to clap and read these rhythms: 

Next, they learned a partner dance game that goes with the song.  They actually switch partners while they sing the song.  Here's a video of a class playing and singing.  I told them that they do not need me to play.  As long as everyone has a partner, they can do this game on their own! 

In the Hall of the Mountain King

In 3rd grade this week we reviewed a stick passing game from back in the fall.  It's a game we play to the piece "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg.  He wrote this music to go with the Norwegian play Peer Gynt.  In this piece, Peer, a young boy (who has a hard time following directions) is trying to escape a cave full of trolls!  The music gets louder and faster.  We learned the terms crescendo (to gradually get louder) and accelerando (to gradually get faster.)  We talked about a car's accelerator helping a car get gradually faster. 

We also watched a video of an orchestra playing this piece, as we are studying instruments of the orchestra.  Here is a link to a live performance of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by the Berlin Philharmonic. 

And, here are videos of each class playing the stick passing game to the piece. 

Mrs. Brittain's Class

Mrs. Blizzard's Class

Mrs. Justice's Class

Welcome Back with Sasha, part 2

Hard to believe that we are already in January 2015!  We are getting back into the swing of things in the Viking Music Room.  The 4th graders learned the Russian folk dance "Sasha" this week.  (The 2nd graders learned it back in the fall.)  We talked about how this dance is a "mixer"--you don't keep the same partner, and often times this dance is done at the beginning of events as an ice breaker.  We talked about how important it is to mix things up. For example, if I don't mix my cake batter, the cake will taste gross! :)  Enjoy some videos of each 4th grade class doing "Sasha" this week! 

Mrs. Bryant's Class

Mrs. Rabun's Class

Mrs. Thigpin's Class