Well, it has been quite some time since I wrote a new post and I have to say it feels GREAT to share some of the terrific things our McAnnulty & Whitehall kids have been doing in music class!!
Our kindergarten students have been focusing high and low sounds which is a little trickier than it sounds! Soon they will meet their first notes on Solfa Street, So & Mi! So exciting! It seems to be their absolute most favorite activity is playing ANY type of instrument!
Second graders at WES have been busy composing and arranging rhythms including the HALF NOTE! To wrap up this rotation they will create their own compositions using the xylophones and them perform them for the class if they choose to do so! So fun! They've also started learning about the instruments of the orchestra beginning with the PERCUSSION family. As the year continues they will learn about the other instrument families and how they work!
Third graders have FINALLY learned how to read notes on the treble staff. This is a HUGE part of the 3rd grade music and they are really terrific at decoding the different notes. As the year continues we will practice this skill by learning to play some songs on the xylophones!
Fourth graders spent the winter months learning about Acoustics, the science of sound! The learned lots of vocabulary terms including frequency, amplitude and timbre. The can tell you about sound moving at different rates through different mediums and could tell you about a specific sound just by looking at a sound wave. They have become beginner acoustical scientists!
Fifth grade has had probably the best time so far this winter. Ms. Ross, our student teacher from Duquesne University, created an entire UKULELE unit for our students. Whitehall Elementary was fortunate to receive a grant from the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA District 1) and was able to purchase a set of 10 ukuleles for our students to use in class. Ms. Ross taught them about the ukulele itself and then taught them several chords. The kids have become proficient at performing these chords and switching back and forth between two of them to accompany a song from earlier in the year, Mango Walk. It has been wonderful to see the excitement this new instrument and unit of study has brought to our 5th grade music classes!
Lastly, as I mentioned, we were fortunate to have Ms. Madison Ross, a senior in the Music Education program at Duquesne University, complete her elementary general music student teaching experience with us. Her final day is actually today, February, but we will welcome her classmate, Ms. Sierra Hermann on Monday as she will also complete her elementary general music student teaching experience with us. We wish Ms. Ross all the best as she starts her second (and final) placement and know she will do well! We can't wait to welcome Ms. Hermann to the BW Music family!
Our kindergarten students have been focusing high and low sounds which is a little trickier than it sounds! Soon they will meet their first notes on Solfa Street, So & Mi! So exciting! It seems to be their absolute most favorite activity is playing ANY type of instrument!
Second graders at WES have been busy composing and arranging rhythms including the HALF NOTE! To wrap up this rotation they will create their own compositions using the xylophones and them perform them for the class if they choose to do so! So fun! They've also started learning about the instruments of the orchestra beginning with the PERCUSSION family. As the year continues they will learn about the other instrument families and how they work!
Third graders have FINALLY learned how to read notes on the treble staff. This is a HUGE part of the 3rd grade music and they are really terrific at decoding the different notes. As the year continues we will practice this skill by learning to play some songs on the xylophones!
Fourth graders spent the winter months learning about Acoustics, the science of sound! The learned lots of vocabulary terms including frequency, amplitude and timbre. The can tell you about sound moving at different rates through different mediums and could tell you about a specific sound just by looking at a sound wave. They have become beginner acoustical scientists!
Fifth grade has had probably the best time so far this winter. Ms. Ross, our student teacher from Duquesne University, created an entire UKULELE unit for our students. Whitehall Elementary was fortunate to receive a grant from the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA District 1) and was able to purchase a set of 10 ukuleles for our students to use in class. Ms. Ross taught them about the ukulele itself and then taught them several chords. The kids have become proficient at performing these chords and switching back and forth between two of them to accompany a song from earlier in the year, Mango Walk. It has been wonderful to see the excitement this new instrument and unit of study has brought to our 5th grade music classes!
Lastly, as I mentioned, we were fortunate to have Ms. Madison Ross, a senior in the Music Education program at Duquesne University, complete her elementary general music student teaching experience with us. Her final day is actually today, February, but we will welcome her classmate, Ms. Sierra Hermann on Monday as she will also complete her elementary general music student teaching experience with us. We wish Ms. Ross all the best as she starts her second (and final) placement and know she will do well! We can't wait to welcome Ms. Hermann to the BW Music family!
