Weeks of January 25 - February 5

Last week I was in Peoria at the Illinois Music Educators Conference.  I got the chance to be a student for a couple of days and I loved it!  It was challenging and exhausting, but I learned many things and have already started sharing these with my students!  I am grateful to work in a district that supports professional development!

And now for the updates....

Kindergarten - We had a lot of fun singing another Raffi song called "Down by the Bay!"  We are also listening to and identifying melodies that get higher and lower.

2nd Grade - Thank you to all of the parents who responded to my request for help with costumes, scenery and laundry!  Rehearsals are going well!  Next week we will have our first combined rehearsal on the stage - all 106 children!!

3rd Grade - All classes have now learned the Fifty Nifty United States song!  In addition to memorizing 50 facts, these students have leaned a lot about reading music and paying attention to details.  They have seen flats, naturals, ties, triplets, eighth rests, half rests, whole rests, and much more!  We are now starting a short composition project.

4th Grade - We started drumming this week!  We are so fortunate to have our own set of tubano drums here at Ivy Hill.  I enjoy drumming and love giving each student the chance to play, echo, improvise, listen, look, think and create.

5th Grade - Rehearsals for the 5th grade show are so much fun!  This week we started dancing to Jai Ho!  These students have memorized many songs and have mastered some challenging harmony parts.  I will soon be reaching out to parents to help me coordinate all of the various committees for the June show.

I'll see you at the Fun Fair!!