Chorus Performance

Attention Chorus Parents and Students,

Tomorrow night's chorus performance will begin at 6:30 PM.  We will have students meet in the commons at 6:00 PM to find their places, warm-up, and touch up on a few trouble spots.  Attire is chorus uniforms, which is our blue chorus polo shirts, dark bottoms, dark shoes, and festive accessories!  Chorus polo shirts were distributed this afternoon.  Please let me know if you did not receive a shirt.  Students borrowing shirts will need to wash their shirts in cold water and return them to the music department by Friday, December 16th in a bag with your child's name located on the outside of the bag. 

We will hold a morning performance for students at 8:00 AM.  It is not required that your child wear their chorus uniform during the morning performance; however, holiday accessories are encouraged.

Please remember we are collecting CANNED GOODS at tomorrow night's performance!!!  The cans will be incorporated into our show, so let's impress our students!

We WILL hold after school chorus this Wednesday, December 14th.  We will NOT hold after school chorus Wednesday, December 21st.  Letters concerning spring chorus will be sent home when we return in January.

And lastly, I would like to thank all of our students who attended yesterdays Gladiator's Game.  The kids had a great time and sang beautifully!  We had such a wonderful time, that we will discuss another singing opportunity for the Gladiators in March!

Please e-mail the Music Department if you have any questions.  (endicott@fultonschools.org or clarks@fultonschools.org)

Thank you,
Megan Endicott

Chorus Announcements

Please review important information concerning the Dolvin Elementary Chorus upcoming events!

1.    DECEMBER CHORUS DATE CHANGE!  The chorus performance will now be Tuesday, December 13^th.  Students will be wearing their chorus uniform and may choose to wear festive accessories.  The chorus uniform consists of our chorus polo shirts, dark pants, and dark shoes.  The chorus polo shirts are the same blue polo shirts as years past. 

2.    Chorus shirts will be delivered Monday, December 12^th.  The shirts will go home with the students in their back packs.  Students borrowing shirts will need to return their shirts by Friday, December 16^th.  All borrowed shirts must be washed in cold water before returning to the music department.

3.    SING FOR SANTA / Gladiators Game:  Our special performance of Sing for Santa at the Gladiators Game is December 11^th.  This is not a mandatory event.  Students wishing to participate must turn in their form by December 5^th.  All chorus members will obtain free admission.  Parents and siblings will need to pay $13 per ticket.  All students MUST be accompanied by a parent to attend.  The event will begin at 4:05 PM.  I would like to ask that the Dolvin chorus please plan on meeting at 3:30 PM at the Arena.  Our meeting location will be setup in the Arena and labeled with a sign.  Dress for this performance will be white shirts and jeans.  Students may choose to wear festive accessories for the performance.  A separate letter with specifics will be sent home closer to the performance date to provide any additional information and obtain and official head count.  We will be performing the following songs:  Star Spangled Banner, Up on the Housetop, Once Upon a Christmastime, Blitzen’s Boogie, Feliz Navidad, Winter Fantasy, and Jingle Bell Rock.  Lyrics will be posted online on the music webpage along with links to audio songs so students may practice and prepare at home.  Lyrics will be posted by Friday, November 25^th.  Please fill out the form by clicking here to give me a rough idea of a number of participants for our Gladiator Representative.

Sing For Santa Lyrics 

YouTube Lyrics:

Blitzen Boogie:  http://www.youtube.com/user/8cm27?blend=1&ob=5#p/u/0/O4yJipHrhMY

Up on the Housetop:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j9CgvvuXXE

Feliz Navidad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOPZoX6ZSnE

Once Upon a Christmastime:  Coming Soon

Winter Fantasy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-Ms_jRSjCM&feature=related

Jingle Bell Rock:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpxNNalLTB4

The Star Spangled Banner:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i426pbQJZ_g

4.    This year’s chorus concert theme is “December in Our Town”.  As part of the script, chorus students will be collecting canned goods at the door the evening of the performance.  Please plan on bringing canned goods to donate.  The chorus will donate these canned goods to a local food drive. 

5.    Please direct all chorus inquiries to the music website at https://webmail.fultonschools.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.dolvinmusicendicott.blogspot.com.  You will find the answers to most questions on the chorus page, or in a blog post.  Lyrics and script for practicing for our upcoming shows will be found on either the chorus tab or the “December in Our Town” tab. 

6.    Please review the rehearsal schedule below for special parts.  These rehearsals will begin at 7:10 AM in the music rooms.  Please provide transportation on these dates for your child to attend rehearsals on time. 

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Nov. 21-22	2nd Grade Performance… December in Our Town Dancers / Sign Language	Light the Candles (dancers)	THANKSGIVING	BREAK	------------------
Nov. 28 – Dec. 2	Season of Hope – Instrumentalists / Season of Hope Solo	Kwanzaa Scarf Dancers / Christmas Comes to Town Duet	Season – Sign Language / December in Our Town Dancers / ALL SPEAKERS / Christmas Comes to Town Vocal Ensemble	NEW: Light the Candles Dancers	Season – instrumentalists
Dec. 5 -9	Light the Candles (dancers) / Season of Hope Solo	Rockin’ St. Nic (sliders) / ALL SPEAKERS / Christmas to Town Duet	Kwanzaa scarves / December in Our Town Dancers / Christmas Comes to Town Vocal Ensemble		Season – Instrumentalists
Dec. 12	Season – Instruments / Sign Language	PERFORMANCE

Please let us know if you have any questions.  We are looking forward to our upcoming performances and sharing your child’s talent with you!

Thank you,

Megan Endicott & Sara Clark

IMPORTANT CHORUS DATE CHANGE!

Dear Chorus Parents,

Our chorus performance has been changed from Dec. 12th to Dec. 13th.  Please mark this change on your calendars!

Thank you,
Megan Endicott

Attention Chorus Parents and Students:

Several students were unable to sign up for special roles for our upcoming chorus performance.  If you are interested in an instrumental, dance, or sign language role, please click on the page for online chorus signups above and complete the form to submit your interest.  These special roles will be chosen via drawing names.  We hope to complete the drawing as soon as we have completed singing and speaking auditions.  Please remember these musical roles will be rehearsing in the mornings from 7:10 - 7:40.  A detailed schedule will be sent home as soon as results are announced.  Rehearsals will begin next week.  Please e-mail if you have any questions!

Thank you!

Chorus Auditions Tomorrow during after school chorus!!!!

For practice singing "When Christmas Comes To Town" click on the link.... When Christmas Comes To Town

Dear Chorus Students and Parents.... Important Audition Information!

We will be placing audition signup sheets next Monday and Tuesday morning on the table outside of Mrs. Clark's music room.  Please don't forget to sign up.  Auditions will be held next Wednesday, November 2nd during after school chorus.  Please click on the tab marked "December in Our Town" for all script and song lyrics. You should have received a list of available opportunities last Wednesday after chorus rehearsal.  Please begin working now.  We are looking for clear speakers, nice volume, confident, vocal and body expression to match the script / lyrics and pitch matching for vocalists.  Consider memorizing materials; however, you may bring in your script or lyrics to your audition.  Also remember there are 100 students involved in chorus and limited parts available; therefore, chances of recieving a part are very difficult.  We will have more opportunities in the spring for special roles.

Here are the available opportunities for signups:

Audition Roles:

1.     Speaking Parts

2.     Dancing Parts

a.     December in Our Town (meets at 7:10 AM with Mrs. Polaski; day to be announced)

b.     La Fiesta (Conga Line)

c.      Light the Candles (meets at 7:10 AM with Mrs. Endicott; day to be announced)

d.     Rockin’ Old St. Nicholas (Sliders)

e.     Kwanzaa Celebration (Scarves) (meets at 7:10 AM with Mrs. Endicott; day to be announced)

3.     Solo

a.     When Christmas Comes to Town (Duet)

b.     Season of Hope

4.     Instrumentalist

a.     Season of Hope (meets 7:10 AM with Mrs. Endicott; day to be announced)

5.     Sign Language

a.     Season of Hope (meet 7:10 AM; day to be announced)

Please e-mail Mrs. Endicott if you have any questions!

October Music!

This month in the music room....

All students have learned about our new vocabulary word TIMBRE.  Timbre is the special sound an instrument or voice makes.  With an exciting song from the Plank Road Music K-8 series, "Did You Hear That Sound", students have been playing instruments from crash cymbals to boomwhackers to demonstrate matching action words to instrument timbres.

Grade Level Concepts This Month
Kindergarten and first grade classes have been continuing their study of steady beat verses rhythm.  We have also begun to work on distinguishing between high and low pitches in music with exciting songs about pumpkins.

Second grade students are continuing their work on their musical "Spaced Out"; learning about space through music.  We did have time for a quick break and discussion on famous composer Edvard Grieg and how he composed music to add atmosphere to a story.  Ask your children to tell you about the story of "In the Hall of the Mountain King!"

Third grade students have been working on a very complex concept of playing multiple contrasting parts during a piece of music.  Test your child's knowledge on ostinatos and partner songs!  They will surprise you with their brillance!

Fourth grade students have been working the use of dynamics (volume changes) to make music more interesting.  This topic peaked their interest and transformed our discussion to other musical changes to add interest and excitement to music.  See how many your child can list:  dynamics, \register, tonality (major / minor), timbre)

Fifth grade students have been discussing beat division in music through the use of time signatures with an unlikely instrument source... balloons!!!!  They are excited to FINALLY learn what the bottom number means in a time signature.  Ask your child to teach you about time signatures.  Soon, they will even be able to tell you the time signature of a song on the radio through listening!

SOMETHING SPECIAL IN THE MUSIC ROOM:
We have been working on incorporating instrument timbres, movement, song, and acting into well known children literature.  Be on the look out for videos of students finding creative ways to enhance literature through music and movement!

Kindergarten:  Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider

First Grade:  Arold Lobel's Frog and Toad All Year "The Surprise"

Second Grade: Linda Williams's The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything

Third Grade:  Tony Johnston's The Vanishing Pumpkin

Fourth Grade / Fifth Grade:  Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are

Check out Ms. Hemmann's kindergarteners playing, singing, and moving to "Autumn Leaves" (anonymous) from our McGraw Hill, Share the Music - Kindergarten Series.

Listen to Ms. Mentzer's third grade class accompany "Rocky Mountain".  Keep checking back for more audio clips and videos of our young performers!  Each 3rd grade class completed this activity in a matter of 45 minutes.  Way to go 3rd graders! 

Music this week!

This week in music....

Kindergarten and first graders have been learning songs about fall and creating their own movements to depict the story the music tells using scarves.  They have also added instrumental accompaniment on barred instruments.

Second graders have been auditioning in class for Spaced Out as well as playing with partner songs!  Ask them about it; they think it is exciting!

Third graders have been continuing their study on melodic direction through movement, song, and instruments.  Be on the look out for video postings soon of your children making music!

Fouth and fifth grade students have begun their recorder study.  In preparation students have been playing with Music Ace, a computer game on the ActivBoard to review the note names on lines and spaces.  So far Mr. Weigand's 4th grade class is leading with 2,030 points (all notes) and Mrs. Rivera's class with 2,150 (FACE).  Parents, please make sure your child remembers to bring their recorders to class!  This is part of the music participation grade.  Please refer to the recorder letter on the right column of this blog for specifics.  And as always, feel free to e-mail me with any questions you may have!

Thank you!

Spaced Out!

Dear 2nd Grade Parents,

We are now working on our musical Spaced Out.  Students will be learning the lyrics to their songs and participating in auditions.  Please click on the Spaced Out tab above to find lyrics and script to our show!

Thank you!

First Weeks of Music at Dolvin

We have had a great first few weeks in music.  Our focus has been finding the steady beat and discussing the difference between steady beat and rhythm.  How many of you have seen your children look around your house for items with a steady beat and without a steady beat, or even found your child testing your knowledge of distinguishing between the steady beat or rhythm in the car to your favorite songs! If you haven't yet, be ready... it's coming! 

What are we doing in class?

• K and 1 have been playing beat and rhythm on drums and tambourines
• 2nd graders have already begun work on their musical, "Spaced Out".  Parents, be on the look out for information about the musical coming your way soon! 
• 3rd graders have been improvising rhythms on instruments. 
• 4th and 5th grade students have been playing chords on boomwhackers and tranferring them to barred instruments. 

Check back to see what we are learning next!

Also, a BIG thank you to Dolvin principle, Laura Zoll, for our brand new instruments! The kids have already begun having fun with these new items!

Music Letters...

Dear Parents,
Please click on the page links above for a detailed description of paperwork/events.  Here are quick links to parent letters if you are in need of an extra copy.

Chorus Sign-up Sheet: 4th - 5th
Chorus Polo Shirt Information: 4th - 5th
Music Matters Information Sheet: 3rd - 5th
Dolvin Instrument Rental Form: 3rd - 5th
Recorder Letter: 4th - 5th
Music Store List

Please e-mail Megan Endicott if you have any questions!

We are looking forward to a wonderful year!
Thank you!