Week of December 1 - 5

1st Grade - We had two rehearsals on the stage this week.  I am so proud of how patient and well-behaved they all were as we ran through the process of switching rows.  They've been so good that we are now able to add a little icing to the cake by adding more details to the show!  Please continue to check the 1st grade show tab at the top of this blog.

2nd Grade - We are having some December fun with a song called "Hip Hop Elves".  It has the musical form of ABABB and is great to dance to!  We are also learning a song called "Dreidl, Spin".  In this song we are adding percussion instruments with different rhythm patterns.

3rd Grade - We are enjoying a fun song about Santa losing weight in "Santa's Getting Fit for Christmas".  It's full of great vocabulary words like "heart's aerobic rate" and "nice and naughty calories".  We are creating our own rhyming lyrics to a classic song "I Have a Little Dreidl".  Next week we will play choir chimes in a lively song called "Season of Bells".

4th Grade - We are learning about time signatures and meters in music by playing instruments and singing in groups of 2, 3, 4 and 6.  We are using a song called "Hanukkah, Hanukkah" and another called "Christmas Bells are Ringing".  By writing and playing rhythms, the students are doing great at feeling how meter can change the feel of a song.

5th Grade - We are working on two special songs for December.  One of them is a song I grew up with - and maybe you did, too!  It is called "Christmastime is Here" and is from A Charlie Brown Christmas".  The other song is Auld Lang Syne.  The students sing it beautifully!  I am also making sure that all 5th graders are connected with me on Edmodo.  I will use this as a tool for sharing music and communicating with the students as we prepare for their 5th grade show.