The new school year is off to an exciting start with a whole
new cohort of kindergarten students!
We
began our work together by visiting an imaginary farm.
Of course, we’re always singing as we travel,
moving our bodies to show the meaning of the words, as well as keeping a steady
beat.
So far, we have met some hens and
ducks who each have their own special songs – and instruments.
Students have been working on playing rhythm
sticks and drums like a team to represent the rhythm of language.
Grade One students have been exploring the
question of “What is beat?” After moving, singing songs, speaking poems
and playing instruments, students have discovered that there are many ways to
keep the beat. But wherever it is, the
beat is always that steady pulse that makes you want to tap your toe. Sometimes it is a slow beat, sometimes it is
a fast beat, but it is always steady,
just like the healthy heart beat in our bodies.
Students have also been singing, moving, and playing instruments to
create high and low sounds to prepare for their first taste of melodic notation.
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| Click HERE to keep the beat to J.P. Sousa's Semper Fidelis. |
Grade Two students began our year with the classic poem Hello, My Name is Joe, in which we pushed buttons with our hands, feet, and even our tongue - all while keeping the beat! Partners then used that sense
of steady beat to create a movement pattern for the march Semper Fidelis by J.P Sousa.
Grade Twos also reviewed So and Mi, and used those melodic notes to
learn a song about Liza Briggs and her naughty, naughty pets. Then we added a repeating pattern (called an
ostinato) to accompany our song, as well as some movement and percussion
instruments before and after to finish telling the whole story.
Grade Three students also strengthened their
sense of steady beat by transforming the old skipping rhyme Down, Down, Buddy into a movement piece,
passing the beat from shoulder to shoulder and emphasizing important words with
dramatic actions. The drama continued as
students created movements to illustrate the spooky song Sharks’ Teeth, which they then used to learn their newest rhythmic
note “tika tika”. Finally, we took a
break from all that moving with our Garbage
Song, which will eventually offer students a chance to sing three different
parts at the same time!
On a different note, here's this week's joke:
The new school year is off to an exciting start with a whole
new cohort of kindergarten students! We
began our work together by visiting an imaginary farm. Of course, we’re always singing as we travel,
moving our bodies to show the meaning of the words, as well as keeping a steady
beat. So far, we have met some hens and
ducks who each have their own special songs – and instruments. Students have been working on playing rhythm
sticks and drums like a team to represent the rhythm of language. 
