Kindergarteners: Kindergarteners reinforced their classroom concepts with pumpkins, bats, and spiders in music in addition to music concepts. Students learned about two new pitch syllables so and mi, hand signs for the new notes, and where they live on a staff with a fun song, "Pumpkin, Pumpkin". They focused on high and low pitches with the Five Little Hoot Owls in which they sang high pitch and acted out the song. They all wanted to be the black cat. Then they transferred high and low vocal pitch to instrumental pitch and accompanied a bat and pumpkin story. The ended their unit with a fun ball game of singing and tossing high and low pitches to one another. They ended the month with an interactive story of "The Very Busy Spider". Students learned about quarter notes (beat) and 8th notes (beat and). They added instrument timbres as sound effects for animals, the song "Little Spider Spins All Day", and acting to the classic Eric Carl story. Kindergarteners had fun describing how music enhanced the story and made it even more interesting.
1st Grade: First graders began their month with pitch as well. They played an instrumental accompaniment to "Pumpkin Stew" and added melodic direction on the glockenspiels. We were able to rotate until everyone had an opportunity to play each part. Then first graders were able to "make" their own pumpkin stew and add any ingredients they wanted. I was glad that we didn't have to eat their creation! We moved into instrument timbre with a poem "Someone" and exciting song "The Thing That Isn't There". Students added various instruments they felt best fit the song to make it sound "creepy".... Then students were able to experiment with enhancing literature with music by choosing their own instrument sound effects to the story of "The Vanishing Pumpkin", song "Off We Go in Search of a Pumpkin", and actors. They had fun trying to act like a 700 year old woman and an 800 year old man! We ended the month with a discussion on melody and melodic direction. We discussed how to predict instrument pitch as high and low based on size and played notes moving upward and downward on barred instruments with the story, "Mortimer".
2nd Grade: Second Graders have been hard at work on their musical, "Spaced Out" in which they performed Monday evening. They did a fantastic job. We hope to spend some time watching their peformance and create music critiques. We had fun focusing on tempo and form with our show tunes. In addition to the their hard work on their musical, 2nd graders found time to work on discussing incidental music with Edvard Grieg's music, "In the Hall of the Mountain King". Students were able to discuss how Grieg's music added background to the story of Henrik Ibsen through the use of a book I created based on Henrik Ibsen's adult drama. We listened to the first part of the story and left off the ending. Then after listening to the music, students were able to create their own ending based what the music told them happened at the end. They had a great time getting to know the story and creating their own ending. It is always fun to allow the students the opportunity to create without there being any wrong answers. To end the month, we had a little fun adding instrumental accompaniment, instrument timbres, and actors to the story "The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything." 
3rd Grade: Third Graders started the month off by talking about form and ostinatos with "The Creature in the Classroom". Students were able to perform a 2 part vocal ostinato under the poem. We even included a teacher and creature actors! In addition, students focused on two new forms with "Old Abram Brown" and "Old Roger". First "Old Abram Brown" was a round, then when adding "Old Roger" was transformed into a partner song. Third graders had a blast playing the "Old Roger" game. Third graders also got their hands into enhancing literature with music through the story, "Caps for Sale". Students were able to add their own instrument timbres to words, sing and play the peddler's song, and add a peddler and monkey actors. They had a blast discussing how music changed the story.
4th Grade: Fourth Grade students started the month off by discussing dynamics in music and the importance of dynamics. They experimented conducting each other reading poems and singing songs. They also disucssed the role dynamics play in scary music. Students learned how to identify dynamic markings in music with our song "Come and Sing Together" and added instruments as well as sang the song in a round. 4th graders have begun working on a huge project to fully grasp how music can enhance literature with the story "Where the Wild Things Are". Students first experimented with percussion sound effects and percussion instruments by categorizing instruments and playing each instrument. I think we all needed ear plugs on that day! Then students chose instruments they felt best described particular words in the story. We added a song and accompaniment along with some actors and presto.... we have a master piece. It is fun to see how each class tells their own individual story. I video tape each class perform. This month we plan on watching each performance and critique the differences found. We wrap up the unit by playing a professional version and allowing time for student discussion.
5th Grade: Fifth Grade students started the month off by discussing meter in 6/8 and learning a new note, the dotted quarter note with the song "Bats". Students had to use their knowledge of fractions to understand how meter works and how to divide beats. They had some fun with our song by adding balloons on the rests and adding our song to the story, "Bats at the Beach." They also had fun playing with Carl Orff's mixed meter piece, Tanz, and peacock feathers! Later, 5th graders moved into discusssions on dynamics in music and their importance. They experimented conducting each other reading poems and singing songs. They also disucssed the role dynamics play in scary music. Students learned how to identify dynamic markings in music with our song "The Scarecrow's Dance" and added instruments as well as sang the song in a round. 5th graders have begun working on a huge project to fully grasp how music can enhance literature with the story "The Scarecrow's Dance". Students first experimented with percussion sound effects and percussion instruments by categorizing instruments and playing each instrument. I think we all needed ear plugs on that day! Then students chose words they wanted to accent and instruments they felt best described particular words in the story. We added a song and accompaniment along with some actors and presto.... we have a master piece. It is fun to see how each class tells their own individual story. And like 4th grade, I video tape each class perform. This month we plan on watching each performance and critique the differences found. 
