Storytelling and Music

One of my favorite things to do is read stories and create mini dramas and music to them.  This past week the Grade 1/2 classes have been listening, acting, and playing to fun stories that connect us to the fall season.

Outdoor Music Challenge

The fields are alive... with the sound of music!

I have been planning these last couple of weeks of music for atleast a year now.   When I first read @prairiemusik's blog on outdoor music learning, I started to see more possibilities and benefits of getting outside the 4 walls of the music room.  Our professional discussions on staff included the benefits of play and connecting with the outdoors.  We were all inspired by our next door neighbours, Discovery Children's Centre and the 2 week outdoor challenge taken on by many in our school, our division, city, and province .

I grew up on a farm and played outdoors alot.  Now that I am living in a city of concrete, it's hard to find time and space to connect with the beauty around us.  I wanted to give the Stevenson students a little taste of inspiration in their playing, singing, and dancing and above all, give them some platforms to create and use their imaginations to make music.

Here is a short video that captured some of the precious discoveries and activities going on throughout the past 2 weeks.

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!

Bird Song

Spring has sprung and with this new awakening is the sound of many birds.  I was in awe over spring break after stepping out in the quiet of an early morning to be ambushed by thousands of song birds happily singing their songs.  This week our Grade 1 classes have been discussing the bird/creature sounds we've been hearing around us.  We hope to take these to create a song over the next few week.

Our homework assignment is to stop and listen to the various sounds of birds and try and recreate them.  What birds do you know and what sounds do they make?

Check out this fun Walt Disney movie called Birds in the Spring from 1933.

Reading is Music to our Ears

This month, Kinder to Grade 3 classes are using literature to inspire us, spark our imaginations, work as a team, explore sounds and create musical stories.  

Congratulations to the Kindergartens on their performances at our "I Love to Read" assembly at the beginning of February.

Mrs. Grant's class performed "Pete the Cat - I Love My White Shoes" by Eric Litman.

Mrs. Lowe's class performed "When It Rains It Rains" by Bill Martin, Jr.

These are the 5 stories Room 11, 12, 17 and 18 have been exploring.  We look forward to sharing our performances with you in a few weeks.

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?

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.

Art is Music - Music is Art

Listening to the following musical selection.  Imagine this song is a picture.  What do you think this song is about?  How would you draw this music using lines, shapes and colours?  How does this song show contrasts?

The following are some initial markings of Grade 4/5 students as they listened to this piece.  Where do you see the music in these pictures?  How do they show contrasts, interest, energy and excitement of this musical piece?

Art-astic!

 The Grade 4/5 classes have started their exploration of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO) songs they will be hearing on the music field trip to the Concert Hall on Tuesday, March 10.  We've been exploring the 'mystery art contest song' and how musical elements can be translated into feeling and messages through art.  We look forward to sharing our art pieces and interpretations of the song in the near future.

Group discussions on how this art piece shows contrast through lines, shapes and colours.

When these students were asked to think of words that would describe this work of art, these were the words that came to mind: wacky, math, school stuff, geometric, outrageous, volume, surreal (Picasso), colourful buildings, war, nighttime

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.