Week of October 19-22

Kinder

The Kindergarten students have had a great start to the year in music class! They have started travelling to the music room for music class. We have been having fun participating in movement songs and games, exploring different ways to move our bodies to music. In Kindergarten we are learning many action songs and poems, such as The Green Grass Grows all Around, Little Chief and Mighty Gopher, and Five Little Pumpkins. Our focus is keeping the beat during songs. We've learned that the beat is the 'heartbeat' of music, and have practiced keeping the beat on our hearts, hands and even feet. We will continue learning spooky songs and poems for the month of October - next week we are making pumpkin stew!

Grade 1

Grade 1 students have been learning about beat and rhythm. The beat is the 'heartbeat' of music, while the rhythm is a combination of short sounds and longer sounds that can change. We started by keeping the beat on our hearts, laps, hands, feet or instruments. We have learned about 'ta' and 'ti-ti', and have started clapping out 4-beat rhythms using these rhythm words. Using craft sticks, students create their own rhythms. Students are also exploring different ways of moving to music during fun movement songs and games.

Grade 2

Grade 2 students are learning about rhythm words as well as notes. They are beginning to recognize quarter notes, eighth notes, and half notes. We are still using rhythm syllables such as 'ta' and 'ti-ti' to learn about rhythm. Through call and response games, students are learning to say and clap 4-beat rhythms. Students have been challenged to write out rhythms that the teacher speaks and claps. Hearts and popsicle sticks help us create 4-beat rhythms. We point to the hearts along to the beat of a song, and use popsicle sticks to create 'ta' and 'ti-ti' rhythms.

 

 

Grade 3

Grade 3 students are learning to read rhythms with notation. Through play-along activities, we have reviewed the note values of quarter notes, eighth notes, half notes, whole notes and quarter rests, as well as what each note looks like. Grade 3 students also learned a new note; the sixteenth note. Using these notes, the students have worked together in groups to write 4-beat rhythms. They have clapped out and played these rhythms with instruments. Fun Among Us and Minecraft songs have helped us learn about rhythm even better! This week, we also began learning about time signatures.

Grade 4

Grade 4 students have begun learning to read rhythms involving quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, half notes, whole notes and quarter rests. We have practiced reading rhythms through play-along activities and reading percussion scores off of the large whiteboard. Students have used hand drums and djembes to play many different rhythms. Using our knowledge of rhythm, students have tried to dictate the rhythms of video game songs such as Among Us. We have started learning about how words can have rhythms attached to them. We have begun a video game poetry activity where students will use the syllables of video game words to write a percussion score.

Welcome to Music!

Students dove right into music learning this year with a drumming unit!

Through the month of September, all grades participated in a drumming unit using djembe drums. Learning rhythms, singing and playing songs together on the drums built community and trust amongst each class, and got the students excited to use instruments right away! Students learned the importance of drumming in indigenous cultures in Canada. Forming drum circles and singing Cree songs allowed us to connect to indigenous ways of knowing through music. We were also able to learn from the land as we took our drum circle outside in the beautiful fall weather. We sang our songs out in nature, and played replicated sounds that we heard outside on the drums.

Some buggy friends clearly enjoyed our music and joined us outside!

In October, we've been moving on to a unit on Rhythm. Students are learning about beat, rhythm and note values at different levels. Ask your child what they are learning in music right now!