Here is a song you are very familiar with. In music class, we played a game where we picked 4 sandwich items from Ms. Rothfeld's "lunch," chose an order for our sandwich, and then everyone would keep the macrobeat in that order while we sang the song. Some beats were be harder than others. Try it at home. Choose any 4 sandwich items (you can pick one more than once) organize it the way you want to keep the beat and then try it while you sing a song. Let me know what you picked in the comments section! Was it hard? You can even make up your own!
Here is a Music BINGO game created by my friend Jennifer Bailey, another music teacher in Michigan. See how many of these things you can do while at home. Hint: Some of these items can be found on the Videos page right here on Ms. Rothfeld's music website.
The 1st graders composed a song last week and did an amazing job! We took the chant, "A Chubby Little Snowman," and then students that had an idea would sing to me how they wanted a line to sound. I wrote it down, and then we practiced what they came up with. Below are the compositions of each of the 1st grade classes. All of them sound great, don't they?!
This past week we learned about Peer Gynt and the Mountain King. Then we listened to the piece, "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Greig. Many of the 1st graders were familiar with this song. You may have heard it on the radio, on TV, or even in a movie. Ask your child to tell you about the story, or to lead you through the "mountain" below. I have also attached the music so you can listen to it at home.
If you were at Thurston last year, I'm sure your children are very familiar with "audiating" music. Mrs. Krohn talked a lot to the students about audiating. Audiation is to music as thinking is to language. Audiation takes a child from imitating musical sounds around them, to engaging in, understanding, and creating musical sounds. A student who audiates music is giving meaning to music. In other words, it is “thinking music with meaning.” In 1st grade, tonal and rhythmic patterns are an important part of audiation development. In every music class, there is some kind of pattern instruction happening. Similar to learning vocabulary of a language, patterns are our “music vocabulary.” Pattern instruction is tailored to each student’s ability to encourage musical growth. It is a great way to differentiate instruction and be able to allow each student to grow and develop at his/her own pace. Welcome to a new school year! This year the 1st graders will have music with both Thurston music teachers. Twice a week, they will go to Ms. Rothfeld, and three times a week they will see Ms. Vaujin (until Mrs. Krohn comes back from maternity leave). I am looking forward to getting to know the 1st graders better this year. Last year I got to know the Kindergartners a little bit as Mrs. Krohn and I did music buddies with the Kindergarten and 3rd grade classes. This year I am excited to get to know them even more. |
1st Grade MusicThe 1st grade has music 5 times a week--twice with Ms. Rothfeld and twice with Ms. Vaujin (Mrs. Krohn, when she comes back from maternity leave). Archives
September 2020
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