March Newsletter
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
I am auctioning off two piano lessons for our Annual PS 261 Auction which is being held on Friday, March 13th. If you're attending the auction and think your child would enjoy some teacher time with me, please be sure to bid on this exciting opportunity!
I will be available for Parent-Teacher Conferences on Thursday, March 19th from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
Pre-K: Our song repertoire continues to grow! Through song and imaginative play, we are experiencing the world around us. Soon, we will begin our discussion and preparation for the Pre-K celebration, which will take place on Tuesday, June 23rd.
Kindergarten: Our singing voices are getting stronger and stronger! We are learning how to perform the call in a call and response song. We are reviewing the sounds SOL and MI and getting ready to hear a third sound: LA. Movement is always a part of music class, this time we are exploring, creating, and performing a movement to a known song. Finally, towards the end of the month, we will begin discussing and preparing for the Kindergarten Celebration, which will take place on Wednesday, June 24th.
First Grade: Our music reading skills are improving! We are combining rhythm, solfege, literacy on our music flash cards. By starting off our music lessons with flash cards, we are integrating all of the music concepts we have been studying. Students perform flash cards as a class and after a few weeks of practice, some of them will be able to perform them as a solo.
Second Grade: Our music analysis skills are growing! We recently listened to excerpts of Saint Saens' "Carnival of the Animals" and identified the motives that represented certain animals and what were the characteristics of each motive. Students were then asked to complete an unfinished story as a class. We then performed the story using classroom instruments that represented the characters. Kind of like our own "Peter and the Wolf"! Other things we are working on: our flash card studies, playing on the xylophones, and round singing.
Chorus: We are working on songs for the Spring Concert (May 13th and 14th). We are excited to have a special guest visit who will work with the singers on March 20th, which is Arts Day. Our guest will be Elizabeth Woodhouse, who works with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.
Mr. O
