More 2nd grade Sneak Peeks

This is the graphic (designed by our talented art teacher, Mrs. Michelle Klopp) that will be on the t-shirts for "This is America".  Excitement continues to build as we are nearing the final rehearsals and performances! Many hours of dedicated practice go into these productions. The students memorize all eleven songs and the actions that accompany them. They work hard on speaking parts and vocal solos. I am so very proud of all of them, and am thrilled to be able to use video to track their progress and growth!

Slideshow for "This is America"

My father in law, Vernon Kellen, served in the Navy during WWII. I have always been thankful that he and so many others serve our country to protect our freedom.
Many of the 2nd graders have told me that they have family members who have either served in the military in the past or are serving now. I thought it would be especially meaningful to make a slideshow featuring those students and their family members to be included in our program.
I sent an email through the message center to all 2nd grade families and have already received a few photos digitally!  I'd like to have all the photos by November 7 if possible, to give me plenty of time to put the slideshow together!  :)

"This is America" 2nd Grade Program is in Rehearsals!

2nd graders from Mrs. Beedle's class are working hard on our program songs!

EXCITEMENT is building for the 2nd grade program "This is America"by Teresa Jennings. The program will have two performances, both on November 17, 2011 at 1:30 and 7:00 PM in the Evansville High School Performing Arts Center.  T-Shirt order forms will be sent home and we'd like to have them back before October 24. The t-shirt is part of the "costume" for our production, will cost $5 and be your child's to keep.  Scripts and solo parts will be sent home soon for students to be practicing outside of music class.
I have gotten goosebumps on a number of occasions during rehearsals... the talent and hearts of these singers are wonderful to experience!
Here is a sneak peek at Mrs. Sendelbach's class song, "Everyday Heroes" by Teresa Jennings. Enjoy it and mark your calendar for the November 17 performances!

Music Critics

The 2nd grade classes role-played as music critics, listening carefully to three songs from last year's 2nd grade program and determining how well they could understand the speakers' and singers' words.
We then talked about how we can improve OUR upcoming performance by using good enunciation (new word we discussed). We are in the early stages of preparation for the Nov. 17 program "This is America".

I will be having the kids experience auditions for speaking and singing roles in their featured class song. This connects to real life experiences for the kids, and has been successful in previous years. Enthusiasm is running pretty high!

1st graders demonstrates knowledge of Dynamics

The first graders have been learning about dynamics and have learned the Italian words Forte, Piano, Fortissimo and Pianissimo. They demonstrate their new knowledge in songs we have been working on.
They have also been covering these concepts using the SMART Board program Groovy Jungle.

Engagement in Music Class

This is what student engagement in music class looks like!  :)

Solfege in Kindergarten

The kindergarten music classes have been watching a video clip from "The Sound of Music" where Maria teaches the children to sing using solfege (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do)
We also are playing the boomwhackers with our solfege songs and holding up picture cards for "Whacky Do Re Mi".  It is great to see so many of the children working hard to learn the hand signs for the solfege!
A coloring booklet will be coming home this week...actually it is copied from a scrapbook project my daughter Brittany made...ask your kindergartener to sing you the song!  :)

First Graders and the SMART Board

This year's first graders learned to love the SMART board last year with Sibelius' Groovy Shapes software. This year we are using Sibelius' Groovy Jungle which goes deeper into the concepts of tone color, dynamics, music words, and composition. Learning on the SMART board is engaging and meets learners where they are in a variety of ways. There is auditory learning, visual learning, and tactile learning as the concepts are explored.  In addition to software I have purchased for students to interact with while learning music elements, I am also able to create "games" and use lessons that others have created via SMART Exchange. It is an amazing technology tool that I continue to learn about and integrate in my teaching. I'd love to show it off during Parent/Teacher Conferences!

Thank you Parent Instrument Demonstrators!!

Thank you ever so much to Carl Korfmacher, Matt Tedesco, Dan Brice and Regina Ylvisaker for coming and sharing their musical instruments and talents with 2nd graders! It was a wonderful experience for the students!

Kindergarten Kids and the Chicken Dance!

As promised, super cute kindergarten kids having fun with the Chicken Dance in music class!

The Colors of the Fall.... and other music class happenings!

The Kindergarten Music Classes are all learning a fun song called "I Like The Colors of The Fall" and their giggles about the "new" colors of YURPLE and SMELLOW are contagious!  I have been presenting nursery rhymes using songs and books and especially popular are the versions in "Wooley Cat's Musical Theater". Introduced just this past week, the Chicken Dance has been a huge hit!  I promise to post a video soon!  I really focus on routine: ask your child if they can sing you our Good Morning/Afternoon song, I Like School or Twelve Months of the year.  These songs open our class time and focus on the day of the week and month of the year.

The First Grade Music Classes have been learning about opposites in music: high/low, fast/slow, loud/soft, speak/sing, short/long. We have been working on pitch matching through different singing games like "Doggie, Doggie" and "Who Has the Penny...." We are exploring "Groovy Jungle" on the SMART Board, which is a popular activity!

The Second Grade Music Classes are exploring symphony websites to increase awareness and understanding of the instrument families. We are looking forward to live instrument demonstrations this coming week and some games on the SMART Board before finishing the unit with an assessment.  The timing of this unit (a change from previous years) has the positive result of the students being able to see the instruments "up close and personal" as the JC McKenna and High School bands will march past us in the Homecoming Parade!

I have been encouraged by the number of views on this blog and hope that you all will spread the word!  Thanks for following our Levi Leonard Music Blog!  :)