Term 1 Learning Gr. 3/4/5

Our Grade 3/4/5 classes were busy this term creating, reading, writing, and playing rhythms.  Here's a little glimpse into some of our work.

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

Snuggle Up and Read

Yesterday the Grade 4/5 classes dusted off our boomwhackers for a little end of the week fun.  Boomwhackers are a RAINBOW of colors and notes that lead students to a pot of musical gold.   They are tuned plastic percussion tubes that vary in lengths according to their pitches. We play by (gently!) striking almost anything: a table, the floor, your thigh or hand, a shoe.  They are not only WHACKY and fun – these instruments are therapeutic and accessible for all.

This following activity hit many outcomes and skills in a very short amount of time.

We also learned about octaves.  We know that the musical alphabet has 7 letters.

Once we get to repeating the pattern, that next note becomes the eighth note, which is an octave.  One is the high and one is the low.  When we add a special cap to the boomwhacker, we can create a high and low note that is exactly 8 notes apart.

Old Mother Hubbard Songs

The Grade 2/3 classes have been making couplet poems that we are turning into songs.  Wow!  I am amazed at how well they are turning out and we're excited to sing you some.  Right now we're in the process of writing lyric drafts.

PART A

 PART B (students wrote these)

Music Games for Learning

One of the best ways of learning is by doing. Carl Orff says "Tell me, I forget, show me, I remember, involve me, I understand." This week in music we've been playing singing games, writing new verses to songs and creating word rhythms. We have been identifying parts of music including form, phrase, pitch, rhythm and beat. Here are a few of those pieces.

Movin' and Groovin'

The music room has been a hopping place these past two weeks as we've been exploring the Drums Alive program.  Here are 2 new dances that Ms. Rempel created.  Enjoy!

La Bamba Remix 2008 - Safri Duo

Moves Like Jagger - Kidz Bop version

Starships - Kidz Bop version

The Gummy Bear Song

Tapping Our Potential

It's hard to believe that Mrs. Kaczmarz's class just learned to tap dance this year.  Here is their amazing video produced by Mr. Miller and Mr. McKiel of their culmination piece.  Thank you for sharing your talents Mrs. Kaczmarz.  You are an inspiration.  Room 5 - hats off to you for your dedication and determination to learn something new.  Your dancing has been such a treat to see and your hard work has payed off.

Cup Games

A few new resources have come across my desk this week and I'm excited to introduce these to my students.  Last week, in some of the classes, we pulled out the cups for a quick team building / beat keeping exercise.  This new resource, Rhythm Cup Explorations, gets the rhythms into the students' hands.

Grade 4/5 team work to "When I'm Gone"

We look forward to sharing these games with you in the future.

Tweeting Rhythms

Today our Grade 1 classes figured out the rhythms to these sentences.  We then practiced them on the instruments and repeated them 4 times each.  We noticed how important it is to stay on the beat or it sounds like a messy noise.  Our instruments need to sound like one.

We chose 3 of these patterns and layered them into a musical piece.  Can you hear which 3 patterns we picked?

Room 16's Birdy Rhythms

Spring Has Sprung on the Drum

The Grade 1 classes were working on their dynamic playing today.

This is a crescendo.  It starts quiet and gets louder.

Here is a short video of the poem we learned and drummed to.  Can you hear the crescendo?

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!

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!

Incredibox

Today some of our music classes had a few minutes of fun time and we learned about the website called "INCREDIBOX."    Here is a link to the website:  www.incredibox.com

You need a desktop computer to create free songs with a mix of fun rhythms, beatboxers and sound effects.  You can also record your mix and share it.

Rhythm Writers

The Grade 1's were practicing writing and playing rhythms.  

Rhythm Test

Grade 4/5 classes have a rhythm test tomorrow.  Study sheets are going home or see the file below.  Happy studying!

Dice Games

Room 4 got to learn some new music games at the end of the day to practice our note naming and rhythm skills.  We played "Battle of the Notes" (like the card game "War.")  We also played "Prediction" and "Note Racer."  It was fun and most students showed great fair play and cooperation skills.

I Can Write Music!

I am so proud of Room 11, 12, 17 & 18.  Today they learned a children's rhyme called "Pease Porridge."  We reviewed quarter (ta) and eighth (ti-ti) notes as well as the quarter rest (sh).  We did one measure together and then they had to complete the rest of the song independently.  For some students, this was their first experiences writing music and they did REALLY well!  After this, they had to practice playing it on the hand drum.

Hats off to this Grade 1 student for only learning about this a couple of classes ago.  She did this all by herself!

Next class, we are going to write our own melodies on the pitched instruments to create a little tune.  I wonder what this will sound like?

Rhythm Test

Preparing for the playing test.

Don't forget to count in the beat, which sets the tempo (or speed).  We say 1, 2, ready go

Grade 4/5 students will be having a rhythm test next week on Wednesday.  We did a practice test this week and many found it challenging to listen to an 8-beat rhythm and write it out.  Yet, many students are able to do it!

The test will include:
1. separating rhythms into measures using bar lines
2. putting the rhythms you hear in the order you hear them
3. writing the rhythm you hear (8-beats long)
4. creating your own 8-beat rhythm using quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes
5. playing 4 measures of a rhythm pattern on the hand drum
6. identify note names, rests and their values (whole, half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth)

Make sure you practice them all because Ms. Rempel will choose which 2 you'll play for your test.

Note and Rhythms

The Grade 4/5 classes have been reading, writing and performing various rhythms showing whole, half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes and rests.

Practicing rhythms on our hand drums.

An excellent example of a student's work!

Listening tests.  Can you clap these rhythms?