Instrument Petting Zoo

Come on down to the music room during our Student-Led Conferences this Thursday, March 16th and check out our Instrument Petting Zoo from 4:30-7:00.

Parent-Teacher meetings are on Friday, March 17th (between 9:00-11:30) and by appointment only so please call the school to schedule a 10 minute conference if you need to see Ms. Rempel.

Arrangements of Songs

Today the Grade 4/5 classes watched this video of Alexander Misko playing an original arrangement of Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean.'  Super cool!

Some of the words we were using to describe what we saw and heard were:

percussion, rhythm, melody, strike, strum, vibration, fret, tap, drumming, thump, pluck, ringing, high, dab, hold, beat

MusiCounts at Stevenson

This year we are LOVING our new instruments!  It's been alot of fun trying them out.  Thank-you to MusiCounts and all the sponsors of this Caras music grant that have allowed us to purchase many new instruments for our school.  Here is alittle video that was made of some of our music journey at Stevenson-Britannia.

Thank-you Ms. Couch and Ms. Amaral for your words in the recent SJASD Contact Newspaper.

Celebrations

For term 2, our classes did a variety of music activities and practiced many instrument and team building skills.  One of our highlights was playing together on the barred instruments and creating songs and stories.

Grade 1 Abiyoyo by Peter Seeger

Grade 2/3 playing Old Mother Hubbard

Sing it Like You Mean It!

The Stevenson band got together to create a winter cheer video.  Enjoy!

I hope everyone has a wonderful safe and relaxing holiday.  Thank-you once again to the staff, students and families for all your support of our music program.  See you in the New Year!

Coffee Can Search

I am in search for about 30 - 3 lb (48 oz) size coffee cans with their lids.  If you have any empty ones, please send them to school with your child as we'll be using them for some special music making.  Thanks!

Sound Story Videos

Finally, all the videos are made and recorded.  Enjoy our performances by our Grade 1-3 classrooms.

Room 17 - One Hundred Hungry Ants

Room 18 - Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock

Room 11 - Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon

Room 12 - Swimmy

We've had a lot of fun for the last month working on creating music, sounds and movements to a variety of stories in our music classes.  We've had to learn to work together as team, patience, playing techniques and proper care of the instruments.  We've had to make decisions about what instruments to chose and the best sounds for parts as well as taking turns letting others get parts.  We had a lot of fun.  Enjoy the shows!

App Smackdown

Great sharing of apps today in our assembly.  I love this app called "VidRhythm."  You can record sounds and video snips.  The app puts them all together in a song style of your choice: rap, hip hop, beatbox, dance, holiday, metal, funk, reggae, classical, jazz, pop, ragtime and ballad.  Check out the cool patterns, sounds and layers this app makes.  The only downside is that it costs $2.29.

Check out our video we made today in assembly.  Here is D-O-G-S!

Sound, Sound, Everywhere Sound!

Grade 4/5 students have been studying sound in their Science classes.  They have had a few classes now to explore the sounds of a variety of instruments in the music room including pitched and non-pitched.  In the following pictures, students are given a variety of instruments and ask to identify and sort various sounds according to their own criteria.  Can you guess how they sorted these?

Tuesday Assembly

 

Come on out to our Kick Off to I LOVE TO READ assembly on Tuesday, February 3 at 9:00.  Our Kindergarten classes will be presenting 2 stories with some really cool sounds! 

Rhythm Reading and Playing

The Grade 1's were reviewing and repracticing their rhythm skills using 'ta' 'ti-ti' and 'sh'.  They also took turns leading their groups.  So much fun and great job cooperating!

Instrument Exploration

The Kindergarten classes have begun a music unit on sound exploration.  We are learning how to put special sounds into a story to make it interesting.  We will be sharing these in February.

Can you guess what sound this instrument makes?

Play the sound of the above instrument...

Getting ready to play the temple blocks.

Posted Practice Songs

I would highly encourage students and families to check out the new tab titled "K-3 Concert Songs" just above.  Here I have posted the concert songs and lyrics for students to rehearse.  There is never enough time to practice in class so in order to have a successful concert, students must rehearse outside of regular music time.  In addition to singing, some classes will be playing instruments and creating special dances to show the culture and style of music.  Happy practicing!

Instrument Sort

The Grade 1 classes have been accompanying songs with the non-pitched instruments, creating simple rhythmic textures and performing a steady beat.  We also identified, described and classified non-pitched percussion sounds into 3 groups - metals, woods and skins/membranes.  Students showed excellent listening and control as we practiced taking turns and waiting to play at the right times in the music.  This takes concentration.

Can you sort these instruments?

Showing playing and waiting positions.