Kindergarten students flew through space in May, singing
about the adventures of the Five Space Men who visit the moon. In this project,
students supported each other as they rotated through three roles. The
instrumental team played “star music” on the xylophone, while the alien team
moved creatively in response to the music and the audience team expressed
appreciation for specific ideas that they saw and heard. It was fascinating to
see how the movement and instrumental music evolved as the students learned
from each other!
Grade One students planted musical gardens in May. Groups
have used their homeroom experience with real life plants to compose a flower
chain which they used to improvise a melody on the xylophone. They then
transcribed their own music using formal rhythmic notation. The music room now
smells delightful now that these gardens have fully matured inside our
xylophones!
Grade Two students used melodic notation to learn the
traditional song “Ambos a Dos”. Once they learned the song and dance, students
noticed a repeated phrase in the form of the music. Groups then broke this phrase of the music,
re-composed it with their own melody and then incorporated it back into the
original song. After all this hard work, group then represented the melodic
contour of their phrase using their own clapping pattern which they shared with
their peers.
Grade Three students told the story of “Grandma Grunts” – a
kindly old lady who gives out surprising advice! Groups generated their own
lyrics and actions to perform in alternation with a sung chorus. In addition to
singing and speaking and acting, students also performed a complex xylophone
pattern to accompany the song. The good-natured humor of students’ silly advice
was a great release between the hard work of mastering the instrumental part!
In addition, students in Grades One, Two and Three have been
listening to and analyzing increasingly complex pieces of music, exploring how the
experts create mood using tempo and dynamics. After describing the music using
musical vocabulary, students visualized an image inspired by the piece. Click on the links below and have enjoy a
conversation with your child about these rich pieces of music!
Grade One
William Tell Overture by G. Rossini
Wiegenlied by J. Brahms
Grade Two
March of the Toreadors by G. Bizet
Gymnopedie by E. Satie
Grade Three
Mars by G. Holst
Symphony 9 (Largo) by A. Dvorak
