St. Christopher School

May 2012

K-Grade 2: During the first three weeks of this month we will concentrate on preparing for our Spring Program, to be held on Tuesday, May 22 at 10:00 a.m. in the Church. The program is entitled, "Sing America," and is a compilation of favorite American traditional repertoire. The script will be read by Grade 2. Included in our class preparation will be learning concert etiquette, practicing safe use of risers, and demonstrating good performance technique. We will discuss our repertoire, which celebrates our country and recognizes the importance of giving thanks to God and those who help make our country great. After our program, classes will do a unit on movement and dance, which will include standard folk song music. Rhythmic movement is an exciting and essential experience and helps children enjoy all activities more successfully.

Grade 3-6: Our Spring Program is entitled, "Celebrating Our Country," and commemorates our nation, rich history and traditions. it will be performed on Thursday, May 24 1t 10:00 a.m. in the Church. During the monthe of May, we will review concert etiquette and performance and practice our presentations. Concurrently, we will be learning how to put together a talent show, which students will perform for each other by grade level during class time, at the end of the unit. Performances may include dance routines, singing, acting skits, poetry reading, instrument solos, choreographed karate routines, presentation of art work, or sports skills. Individual and group presentations will be accepted.

*National Standards for Arts Education

1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
5. Reading and notating music.
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music performances.
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.

April 2012

Kindergarten: We will develop more complex dramatic play, exploring and improvising responses to rhymes and songs. Classes will be introduced to notation by following the pulse with shapes.  We will also learn how to notate body percussion. We will review unpitched rhythm instruments and playing technique. Simple form will be introduced with An Old Dance from Kabalevsky’s 30 Pieces for Children. During the month we will continue to practice our songs for the upcoming Spring Program in May.

Grade 1: We will begin to prepare for our Spring Program, which has a Patriotic Theme. Grade One will be singing about the flag. Also, during class we will experience form with Country Dance from Handel’s Water Music. We will review and notate body percussion, using it as ostinatos that accompany our rhymes and songs. Timbre of rhythm instruments such as woods and metals will be explored and used as accompaniment.

Grade 2: Grade Two will lead Pre-K, Kindergarten, and Grade One during our upcoming Spring Program. Readers from 2T and 2W have been chosen to recite the script of the presentation.  Part of performance preparation includes becoming aware of concert etiquette, as a participant and an audience. We will work on effective presentation as well as how to use the risers safely.

Grade 3: Our class work will cover the last segment in our Recorder Unit. We will continue to reinforce reading of treble clef score, and improve playing technique. Rhythm instruments and singing will accompany our songs, and we will continue to add popular song repertoire to our playing. This month we will memorize the lyrics of our songs for the Spring Program.

Grade 4: Using recorders, we will learn new repertoire and review recognition of music symbols. With form, we will review rondo form and compose compositions using body percussion and rhythm instruments. Spring Program vocal repertoire will be practiced and memorized. A select group of students have volunteered to learn a recorder song to play during the program, which will require extra practice.

Grade 5: We are practicing our Spring Program music which involves an Armed Forces Medley for which groups have chosen sections to learn to perform. In addition, we continue with videotaping original skits of traditional folk tunes. Other composition projects involve rondo form and writing rhythm charts with instruments for class presentation.

Grade 6: We are videotaping original commercials, written with a rhythmic jingle; reviewing rondo form with body percussion compositions; writing rhythmic compositions and accompaniments; and creating movement and instrumental accompaniments for popular songs. Grade Six will also lead grades 3, 4, and 5 in our Spring Program presentation, both  singing and providing the script.

*National Standards for Arts Education

1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
5. Reading and notating music.
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music performances.
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.

March 2012

Kindergarten: Each week has a different theme this month, with songs, rhymes and movement activities reflecting the subject. Included are “Occupations,” “St. Patrick’s Day,” “Weather,” and “Easter.” We will work more with rhythmic patterns and being aware of “time/space/shape/force” when we move and have dramatic play. Our repertoire prepares us to learn common intervals in melodies, beginning with the sound of “so” to “mi.”

Grade 1: Our vocal repertoire this month teaches “sol-mi-la” as we learn to sing melodies accurately. Each week we will concentrate on unpitched percussion instruments, learning mallet technique and recognizing timbre. Our movement activities will help us practice loud/quiet, fast/slow, and same/different.

Grade 2: This month we will work on hand drum technique and identifying the intervals “mi-re-do.” Music elements covered include ostinato, accents, introduction/coda, AB and ABA form and forte/piano. In addition to activities requiring listening and recognition, we now will experience visualization and notation of these concepts.

Grade 3: Students are enjoying our unit on recorders. It is a first instrument for many. They are learning to read and understand score, practicing rhythms and singing as we play new and familiar tunes. The series we are using is called “Rockin’ Recorders” and is available online, as some have asked how they can find the music to play at home.

Grade 4: We continue working with our recorders, improving our understanding of reading score. We will continue to add unpitched percussion instruments to some of our recorder songs, creating our own arrangements of the music. New musical concepts include triplets, ledger lines, glissando, D.C. al Fine and pianissimo/fortissimo.

Grade 5: Most of our activities this month will be with small group creativity projects, including exploring variations of theme in music and movement. We will consider “found sounds” (such as paper rustling, scraping pencils, etc.) adding creative movement and group design. Along with this we will explore rhythm patterns through imitating folk dances. Students will also learn to notate eighth, quarter and sixteenth note patterns.

Grade 6: Classes look forward to a field trip to the Boston Symphony on March 16. In class, we continue our unit on Creativity, exploring rhythm compositions and developing dramatizations of original ideas. After practicing concepts as a group, pieces will be created in a small group format.

*National Standards for Arts Education

1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
5. Reading and notating music.
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music performances.
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.

 

 

January 2012

Kindergarten: January begins a new part of the curriculum with stories and creative drama, more hands-on music making and exploring the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of music and its connection with other subjects. We will continue to experience the musical concepts of fast/slow, long/short, high/low, up/down, and same/different.

Grade 1: We will continue to work with quarter and eighth notes and rests, understanding how to recognize and label them.  Students will also be introduced to ostinati and simple music forms. Curwen hand signals will be introduced to recognize and sing so and mi in the musical scale.

Grade 2: We will review recognizing and notating quarter and eighth notes and will identify half notes and rests. We will continue to learn about simple forms; introduction, AB, ABA and Coda. Students will have several opportunities to explore and improvise with instruments. Classes will also be introduced to working in small groups, using simple problem solving techniques.

Grade 3: Classes will continue to review half notes, rests and dotted half notes; basic musical forms, recognizing interludes and rondo form; and identify and demonstrate crescendo and decrescendo. Shortly, as we continue our Music Literacy reading program, we will begin recorder, a first experience for most. More information will be forthcoming.

Grade 4: In January, fourth grades will review recorder, demonstrating proper playing technique and continuing to identify the lines and spaces the of the treble clef staff. We will work to understand and perform musical concepts such as ostinati with speaking, singing, moving and playing activities. We will begin a unit on recognizing and identifying members of the orchestral instruments, and continue to work with partners and in small groups to demonstrate problem solving techniques.

Grade 5: Working with partners and independently in groups, we will continue to experience and reinforce significant musical skills about rhythmic figures, different meters and harmonic accompaniments. We will continue to identify the names of the treble clef staff lines and spaces and review distinguishing between the four orchestral families of instruments.

Grade 6: We will continue to study classical music of great composers, experiencing the music in a way that is meaningful and significant. Included this month is music by the composers we will hear on our field trip to the Boston Symphony in March. We will study the history of each selection and learn about each composer. Simultaneously, we begin a unit on Creativity, as we learn to produce original ideas with effective musical content.

December 2011

Christmas Program for K-3: Tuesday, December 13, 10:00 a.m. Church

Christmas Program for 4-6: Thursday, December 15, 10:00 a.m. Church

Fine Arts Christmas Festival: Thursday, December 15, 6:30 p.m. Church

This program will feature the Beginner and Advanced Bands, Christopher Handbell Choir, Handchime Ringers, Grade 3-4 Chorus, Grade 5-6 Chorus, Boys Select Chorus and members of the Drama Club. Please join us for an exciting program!

Kindergarten: This month our activities include more complicated rhythm patterns and songs that require an understanding of same/different. We will listen and respond to Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Reed Pipes” and build Christmas repertoire with traditional holiday songs. The pieces we learn involve singing, listening, and playing instruments in order to experience many different melodies and forms in a variety of ways.

Grade 1: We continue to learn song lyrics of traditional Christmas classics. This month we will incorporate our understanding of quarter and eighth notes and rests as it applies to several favorites as well as new Seasonal repertoire. Our listening activities will include several variations of “Jingle Bells” as well as “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” Grade One is very ready and looking forward to our upcoming Christmas Program!

Grade 2: During class we are practicing our songs for the upcoming Christmas program. We will also review traditional Christmas repertoire and add instruments to our songs. A fun piece we will include is “Chinese Dance” from the “Nutcracker Suite.” We will also experience singing, moving and improvising to other favorite Christmas songs.

Grade 3: Rehearsals for our Christmas Program, “Guess Who’s Coming to Bethlehem”, are going well as each student is learning how to present his or her lines effectively and use a microphone. A memo recently went home outlining details of wearing a headpiece appropriate for each part. Please let me know if you have any questions. In accordance with the Season, this month we will explore music from “The Nutcracker Suite” and review traditional holiday songs and carols.

Grade 4: Our Music Literacy Unit continues and we definitely be ready to work with recorders after our Christmas break. We have added sign language to one of our Christmas pieces for the Christmas program – I am amazed how quickly students can learn this! Two students will be selected to lead both classes during the performance. Several 4^th graders are also in the Hand Chime Choir, and they will help accompany one of our pieces as well. During December we will also study Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” and Tchaikovsky’s “Trepak” from “The Nutcracker Suite.”

Grade 5: We will complete our Recorder Unit this month and continue learning to read music with our Music Literacy Unit. Several soloists have been selected to perform during our Christmas Program and everyone is working to learn the music we will sing together. During class time we will also review both new and favorite Christmas songs and explore singing “partner songs”, different pieces that can be sung together at the same time.

Grade 6: In addition to preparing the Christmas Program reading and reenactment of the Christmas Story, we continue studying the music of great composers. We want to be prepared for our recently approved field trip to the Boston Symphony on March 16! The program we will partake in is called “The Beat Goes On: a Musical Look at Perseverance, Pace and Pulse in Music.” The conductor will be Thomas Wilkins. In preparation, the music we will learn about includes that of Williams, Fucik, Beethoven, Prokofiev, Anderson, Naughtin, Sousa and Tchaikovsky.

*National Standards for Arts Education

1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
5. Reading and notating music.
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music performances.
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.

 

 

November 2011

Kindergarten: This month we will explore direction and the musical concepts of high/low,  up/down and same/different. Classes are getting very good at keeping the pulse while listening or singing! We continue to develop independent singing and our repertoire will include songs that are about Fall and Thanksgiving.

Grade 1: Classes will learn about introductions and repeat signs and continue to practice eighth and quarter notes and rests. Creative movement will explore fast/slow and same/different. Preparations will also begin for our Christmas Program coming up next month.

Grade 2: In rhythm we learn about half notes and rests, in harmony we sing vocal ostinatos, and in form we learn about codas. Our singing will include patriotic songs as well as the music we are learning for our upcoming Christmas Program. During November we will also honor the family…several songs and activities celebrate Grandma and Grandpa.

Grade 3: We have begun working on our Christmas Program, “Guess Who’s Coming to Bethlehem.” Each year the third grade leads the Kindergarten, Grades One and Two with a musical celebration of Christmas. Parts have been assigned and we are learning the script and music. Some students will be part of the manger scene and others will take the part of the animals visiting nearby. We will also continue with our Music Literacy Units, and it has been very exciting to hear the classes understand how to follow the note reading. Our vocal repertoire will include learning about the songs of the military branches and other patriotic favorites.

Grade 4: Christmas songs for our program with grades five and six will be introduced this month. We will use our “Music Express” magazines to learn about contemporary musicians and how music is used in television and the movies. Our Music Literacy Unit continues and we build our vocal repertoire to include military and patriotic songs. With listening and movement activities we will learn about shadowing and use rhythm patterns as accompaniment.

Grade 5: We are adding weekly to our note reading and repertoire through the recorder and our Music Literacy Unit. Practice on our Christmas songs has begun and this month students will have the opportunity to try out for a solo verse in the program. We will also learn folk dances and review favorite military and patriotic songs this month.

Grade 6: Congratulations to the Sixth Grades for their awesome performances in the  Oktoberfest Play! Activities followed, for our audience of grades three, four and five, and  included pumpkin decorating, relay races and musical chairs. All events were lead and conducted by the sixth graders and it was a fun day for everyone! We conclude our Composer Unit this month by studying and experiencing through movement/dramatic play four interesting selections: Saint-Saens’ “Fossils”, Strauss’ “Persian March”, Brahms’ “Hungarian Dance”,  and Bizet’s “Habanera.”

*National Standards for Arts Education

1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
5. Reading and notating music.
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music performances.
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.

October 2011

Kindergarten: We will continue with our Farm Unit, adding to our repertoire of farm animal songs. With each one, we use a different instrument and explore dramatic play. This month we will introduce up and down, music phrases, and include songs about Autumn and Halloween.

Grade 1: We will cover rests and ‘ti-ti’ for eighth notes, and practice vocal qualities such as whisper/shout so we can understand music dynamics of loud and soft. We will read and move to traditional stories such as “The Very Busy Spider” and listen to Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King.”

Grade 2: We will learn about ostinatos and continue to explore music dynamics. Our new repertoire will include songs about Christopher Columbus and Halloween, and we will listen to Gounod’s “Funeral March of a Marionette” and Brahms’ “Hungarian Dance.”

Grade 3: We will continue with our Music Literacy Unit, where students learn to read rhythm and notes on the staff. This is in preparation for learning recorder in January. The music qualities we will cover are crescendo and decrescendo, and we'll prepare to sing canons and rounds. We will listen to Corelli’s “Gavotta”, Saint Saens’ "Danse Macabre", and explore dramatic play with Halloween repertoire.

Grade 4: We are reading rhythm and notes in our Music Literacy Unit so that we will be ready to continue learning recorder in November. We explore creating and notating body percussion (stomp, pat, clap and snap), and through the listening to recordings, will learn to identify instruments in the Woodwind Family.

Grade 5: This month we begin to study scales, chordal harmony, and additional expressive dynamics. We will review recorder basics and continue to practice new repertoire. We will create rhythmic ostinati for characters in traditional stories.

Grade 6: We are rehearsing our Octoberfest Play, “Compose Yourself” which tells a story about six composers: Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Handel, Haydn, and Mozart. We are also reviewing and creating activities for grades 3, 4 and 5 for our celebration after the play on Thursday, October 27. One of our ideas is to ask the students in those classes to bring a pumpkin to school that day to decorate. After next week, we hope to work without scripts!

September 2011

Kindergarten: We are learning to keep the 'pulse' while we are singing! This will be the time to review fast and slow, long and short, and high and low. We will begin to use all the unpitched percussion instruments and will have fun performing simple dances, like the chicken dance!

Grade 1: We will review basic concepts like sound and silence, high and low, and up and down. Boomwackers, as well as other percussion instruments, including chimes will be used and identified.

Grade 2: Many of our songs will include keeping the beat, movement and instrumental accompaniment. We will begin to build repertoire and improvise lyrics and sounds, laying the foundation for simple composition later in the year.

Grade 3: We will continue to learn about rhythm, harmony and form. Each class will include a new lesson on music literacy, covering all aspects of notation. The reading is done to music, so there is immediate application. By the end of the year, each student will be able to read music!

Grade 4: Classes include work with rhythm, melody, form and movement. We will learn about canons and rounds and introduce the rondo form. We will review the reading of the treble clef in preparation for the recorder, which we will begin at the end of the month.The music literacy program will be taught in this grade as well.

Grade 5: We will work with more complicated dotted rhythms and sixteenth notes, and begin to learn to hear chordal harmonic changes. We will review basic music literacy and continue to improve our skill level.

Grade 6: Our first unit is about composers. We will study the three basic time periods of Baroque, Classical and Romantic composers. Our culminating project will be a short musical play called "Compose Yourself", which will be performed during our "Octoberfest" celebration for grades 3, 4, and 5 the last week of October.

 

 

Fall 2011: Welcome to Music!

We begin in September with an active music curriculum for each class! In part, our program is based on GAMEPLAN, an exciting curriculum that sequences musical skills and objectives that support the National Standards for Arts Education. Principals of Orff and Kodaly are used to teach rhythm, melody and reading, and in addition to singing, there are lots of traditional games and dances.

The 6^th grade this year will again present an early fun Fall event, based on famous composers, as part of a focus on creativity and composition. Plans are to develop our “Octoberfest” celebration, with games and a picnic for the upper grades, and entertainment by our talented 6^th graders!

There is something for everyone in music! Learn to play handbells or handchimes, or join one of our choruses: Grade 3-4, Grade 5-6, or our Select Boys Chorus. All groups are scheduled during school time, with the exception of handchimes, which meets Thursday mornings at 8:30 a.m.

This is also a great time to consider joining Mr. Bailey in band. There will be a band instrument presentation the first day of school, with all the information you’ll need as well as time for questions.

All our classrooms and music groups perform during the school year and enrich our students in countless ways.  Looking forward to a fun year ahead!

National Standards for Arts Education

1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
5. Reading and notating music.
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music performances.
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.

 

 

 

APRIL/MAY Music Notes

Spring Programs

Our Choruses, Handbell and Handchime Choirs are all doing very well rehearsing for our spring performance. Due to scheduling, our presentation has been changed to Monday, June 6 in the Church, starting at 6:30 p.m. Mark your calendars to enjoy a musical night!

Grades Pre-K -2 will present “The Tales of Mother Goose” on Tuesday, May 24 at 10:00 a.m. in the Church. Our rhymes, stories and songs will show how nursery tales help us learn. Grades 3-6 will perform on Thursday, May 26 at 10:00 a.m. in the Church. Our program is entitled “Proud to Be American.”  Please join us for an enthusiastic review of what has made our country great!

Class Work

Pre-K has made great progress learning to keep the beat to our songs with unpitched instruments. It has also been fun to explore the sounds these instruments make.

 

Kindergarten is learning how to distinguish and respond to long and short sounds. We have also enjoyed learning beginning circle games. Along with music skills, these games encourage social and motor skills, as well as language development.

 

Grades 1 and 2 are concentrating on memorizing music and lyrics for our Spring programs. It has been helpful to practice for our “Buddy Class” to get used to an audience and help us learn.

 

Grade 3 will join the upper grades for our Spring presentation this year. We have been having fun learning the recorder, which has been an opportunity to begin music note reading for many students.

 

For our Spring Program, Grade 4 has been busy learning music about the Liberty Bell, great leaders and our cultural “melting pot.” We are also making great progress on the recorder as we learn new songs each week. In addition, we continue our study of orchestral instruments.

 

Grade 5 is studying important musical repertoire, most recently, Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. The selections are chosen for their quality and special interest and help give valuable listening experiences!

 

Grade 6 is continuing a study on the elements of creativity and after vacation will continue work on a class composition.

 

All music classes support the National Standards for Arts Education*. Classes continue with age appropriate concepts about rhythm, melody, and performance, as well as children’s games and dances.

*National Standards for Arts Education

1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
5. Reading and notating music.
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music performances.
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.

March Notes: Change to Spring Program Presentation…

This year the pre-K and Kindergarten will join Grades 1 and 2 to present a program about Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes. Each grade will demonstrate a particular aspect of the history and development of this important and fun part of growing-up. We have begun to work on our program which will be presented on Tuesday, May 24 at 10:00 in the Church. Mark your calendars now!

 

Grade 3 will now be part of the program presented by Grades 4, 5 and 6. Our theme this year will be a patriotic one, as we sing about our history, traditions and heritage. Mark your calendars for Thursday, May 26 at 10:00 in the Church.

 

The 6^th grade trip to Symphony Hall last month was definitely something we would like to plan every year! We had a great time, enjoyed exciting music and had the best seats…third row! Our students represented our school well!

 

As 6^th grade graduation comes into sight, we will be working on a class song as well as a select chorus to present a special piece. Ideas and suggestions continue… In the meantime, we are working on creating variations of music themes in class.

 

Grades 3, 4 and 5 continue using recorders as part of music class. Listening activities of important musical works, lots of movement to build coordination and a study of orchestral instruments are planned along with our Spring Program preparation.

 

Melody contour is being introduced to Grade 1 as we continue to learn and play unpitched instruments as accompaniments and improvisations. Grade 2 is working on hand drum technique, the use of time, space and shape in music form, and will begin to learn more specific skills needed to read score.  In Kindergarten we have been working on ‘high and low’ and will soon begin ‘melodic patterns.’

The Pre-K classes have really enjoyed learning circle games and can often recite many favorite simple songs. They are eagerly working on the spring program material!