The month of October has flown by with the Primary classes working hard to learn all of the music and dialogue for our upcoming program. The children have learned about virtues that will make our lives better, while also learning about different Mother Goose Characters. Each class has been diligently working to make this a memorable performance. I hope all of the parents will be able to come and enjoy their children singing and performing. Our performances will be Tuesday, November 6th at 9:00 a.m. for P1, Tuesday November 6th at 10:00 a.m. for P2, Thursday November 8th at 9:00 a.m. for P3, and Thursday November 8th at 10:00 a.m. for P4.

Lower Elementary classes are continuing to learn lessons on rhythm, ostinato, and solfege (particularly Do, Re, Mi, So, and La). The end of the month was fun singing about the Old Woman who was Skin and Bones. We turned the lights down and created a spooky graveyard using our bodies as the trees. The Old Woman went to the cupboard to get a broom to sweep up all of the bones…ask your child what she found there!

Upper Elementary has been exploring different emotions and working in groups to find ways to show those emotions. Others in the class had to guess which emotion was being portrayed.

We listened to Mischief Managed by John Williams from Harry Potter followed by a discussion of how he as a composer created emotions in his music by using tempo, dynamics, instrumentation, style, timbre, etc. to make us feel different emotions. The students in upper elementary used rhythmic patterns to create ostinatos to supplement the story The Old Woman Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything.

I am including a link to a website that explains the Orff approach to teaching music to children. https://www.thoughtco.com/the-orff-approach-2456422  

I love teaching your children music and hope they are enjoying my classes.

August Music Blog

The new school year has begun and FMS music is filling the air. The children enter the classroom to my bulletin board that reminds them that they are the reason I am here.

The primary grades (ages 3-6) are learning each others names, how to keep a steady beat, and what different rhythm instruments sound like and how to play them. We do brain gym activities, which progress through eight fundamental movement patterns each week to promote healthy brain development. I am planting small seeds of music basics that will grow through the year with our primary classes.

The lower elementary classes (1st – 3rd grade) are building on knowledge gained in the previous year. We have been learning mallet technique while playing the barred instruments, proper playing technique with the unpitched instruments, listening skills, reading rhythms, and solfege (scales). Each class brings exciting experiences that heighten our musical abilities.

The upper elementary classes (4th – 6th grade) have begun a study of the North American continents beginning with Nevada. We began our music classes learning a traditional Folk Dance called The Boston Tea Party. The opportunity to participate in this traditional dance has been a joyful experience in cooperation and celebration. This dance has an intricate “Dip and Dive” figure which was tricky to explain, but fun to dance once it was understood. We will continue learning traditional folk dances of North America with the goal of having a “Hoedown” at the end of the year. We have also been working on doing tableau’s of Native American folk tales. A tableau is a series of still pictures that tells the story which will be posted in a future blog.

The beginning of our school year has been a successful start to our year in Music!

The school year has flown by!! We’ve had so much fun in music this year. All of the students at FMS have had the opportunity of learning the joy of singing, dancing, creating, and playing Orff instruments.

Lower and upper elementary students performed in programs for their families. Upper elementary and middle school students had the opportunity to put on the Broadway musical, Beauty and the Beast, in March which was a great success!

I hope all of the students and families at FMS have a wonderful summer, returning next year excited to learn and create music!

March was a whirlwind including St. Patrick’s Day, the annual PTO Family 5K, the Beauty and the Beast production, followed by spring break. April is in full swing including amazing experiences.

The primary classes learned about dinosaurs, reptiles, and amphibians. We sang songs about paleontologists and pretended to dig up dinosaur bones as we sang. We also learned songs about frogs, turtles, and snakes. The children are becoming very good at keeping a steady pulse with rhythm sticks, and moving their bodies in different ways to the pulse.

The Lower Elementary classes have each learned a folk dance in their lessons, and played games about leprechauns and potatoes!

All classes are continuing to gain greater understanding of musical concepts such as phrase, form, ostinato, introduction/coda, solfege hand signs, rhythms, and even question/answer using body percussion. The third grade students are being introduced to playing the soprano recorder. They had fun trying to keep a feather on a chair by not blowing too hard, as an exercise to control their breath! (an important skill to have when playing recorder).

The Upper Elementary and Middle School classes successfully presented the musical Beauty and the Beast. We have some very talented and dedicated musicians in these grade levels! All who participated came away feeling we had accomplished a very  professional level of performance. We had many positive comments from those who attended.

Upper Elementary is now preparing for Shakespeare Unshackled to be performed the end of May. In addition, a select group of students have formed a small performance group to play recorder duets before each production. Plan to come and see these plays!

February Music Blog

The school year is marching on and so is the music program! Valentine’s Day brought many Heart themed songs and games to our class. The new bulletin board in the multi-purpose room (thanks to the help of Kini Tan) says “Music makes life sweet.” Our music program at Foothills definitely makes my life sweeter.

The Primary grades have been learning about sea creatures and Australia. We did a search of the ocean floor using scarves to help us move like the creatures we found. The children heard what a real didgeridoo sounds like and jumped like a wallaby to it’s unusual timbre.

Lower elementary students are increasing their abilities to recognize intervals on the music staff, read and perform different rhythms, and create their own rhythms as a B section to learned songs.

The third grade class really enjoyed trying to make their bodies take the shape of different letters (uppercase and lowercase) which classmates put on the board. All of the classes have been introduced to patriotic music in appreciation of Presidents’ Day. America the Beautiful, The Stars and Stripes Forever, and our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, have all been enjoyed by the children.

Upper elementary and middle school students are working hard to prepare to present our musical this year, Beauty and the Beast. Miss Katie (our director) has included some amazing choreography that all should appreciate and enjoy.

Our students in the  productions class are creating costumes, set pieces, and props to enhance our performance. We hope you will attend the performance of Beauty and the Beast on March 20th and 21st. Information about ticket sales will be coming soon!