October Newsletter

Music is in full swing here in Room 150, it's swinging so much that I almost forgot to write this month's Newsletter!

I am thrilled to be hanging with my new Pre-K friends two times a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays! We are building our repertoire of songs and learning to make music as a community. Kindergarten students are an exciting and enthusiastic bunch. 5 of the 6 classes I see on Mondays, (now called Kindergarten Mondays) and currently we are learning important concepts like keeping a steady beat, how to use our singing voices, and performing simple rhythms on the rhythm sticks. First Graders are working on their inner hearing, which is the ability to audiate parts of a melody or chant quietly in their head. On cue, students are learning specifically when to switch from inner hearing a song to singing or chanting out loud. Inner hearing skills are crucial for the musician's ear.

My student teacher, Kristina Abella, working with 2nd graders.

Now onto Second Grade! Second Graders are learning how about simple staff notation of the four known sounds we have studied: "DO", "MI", "SOL", and "LA". Using my new carpet as a tool, we are plotting notes on the lines and spaces of the carpet. We are aware of the relationships between the notes (SOL and LA are neighbors, DO, MI, and SOL, are a skip apart) but now the lines and spaces of the carpet serve help to reinforce that concept. Students walk or jump on the carpet based on the note they hear from the teacher (or a chosen student "composer"), or the visual from a hand sign associated with each music note. This is music literacy made fun!

Chorus rehearsals have started!! I look forward to working with both ensembles, as we are already preparing for our first major concert: the Winter Concert. SAVE THE DATE! This year's Winter Concert will take place on December 15th and 16th. It's an event not to be missed.

Mr. O