Mrs. Endicott's Music Room

Wrapping up Rhythm

Kindergarten – This week we took a trip to Japan with our Frog Song. Students practiced their quarter note, eighth note, and quarter rest rhythms using guiros and rhythm sticks. We also discovered that frogs say different things in Japanese! Students have also started to write their own rhythms. It has been very exciting to see their growth!

(Thank you www.bethsmusicnotes.blogspot.com for the resources!)

First Grade – As we wrap up our first unit, we have been practicing writing our rhythms in class. Students are doing a very impressive job composing their own rhythms! We have also been reviewing our quarter note, eighth note, and quarter rest rhythms with our song Stinky Pirates. Yo ho! To top it all off, students have been showing off their rhythmic ability through rhythmic dictation activities as well as basic composition by adding rhythm to words through creating a new character to our story, “Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?” from earlier in the unit.  We look forward to enjoying a little seasonal fun by bringing the story, “The Vanishing Pumpkin” to life in class.  “Off we go in search of a pumpkin we’ve been saving….”

Second grade has been putting their rhythm knowledge to use with the story of The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything. Using quarter notes, eighth notes, half notes, and whole notes, we worked on adding rhythms to the different characters in the book. Others helped to add accompaniment to our song. To top it off we are bringing the story to life with instrument timbre, song, and acting!  Be looking for a post of class performance.

(Thank you www.bethsmusicnotes.blogspot.com for the resources!) 

Third Grade – We’ve been putting our rhythms to good use with a hearty round of rhythm tic tac toe – girls vs. boys, of course! We also have been showing what we know with rhythm pizzas. As a class, we made a rhythm tree of how our rhythms are divided. Students got to decorate their rhythm pizzas with any toppings they wanted! Some students got really creative and came up with rhythm pies, rhythm cookies, and rhythm pumpkins! In addition, we have been enjoying further study of 16^th notes with Quaver’s 16^th note song.  Yes, we finally got to do some “drumming” with rhythm sticks!

4^th Grade – This week we used our knowledge of eighth notes, quarter notes, sixteenth notes, quarter rests, dotted rhythms, and syncopation to compose our own body percussion piece. Students got to choose whether to clap, snap, pat, or stamp a rhythm. They also got to decide in what order they would perform each rhythm. We are looking forward to some exciting performances next week!

 5^th Grade – Fifth graders have enjoyed making connections to jazz music and music they hear on the radio today with a new rhythm, syncopation.  With the help of Ella Fitzgerald and the story book, “A Tisket, A Tasket”, students were able to discover the uneven, jazzy feel of syncopation and understand the history behind the music.  They even made connections that syncopation can be heard in rap / hip-hop music today!  Pulling all of our rhythms together, students have been working on creating an ostinato for our story, “Frank Was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance.”  We look forward to pulling together the pieces for a final performance within the next few weeks.  Be on the lookout for videos coming your way!