May – June Music Notes

            Can you believe it is May already?  Where did this year go?  We have been so busy this past year working on all the various musical concepts in all the grades.  These last five weeks will be spent reviewing the concepts we have learned and expanding on them a little.  In keeping with my theme for this year, we will choose one rule of St. Benedict to focus on and sing a hymn based on that rule at the beginning of each class.

            Here’s what’s happening in each grade.

Grades Five and Six:  We have been working on the progression of music through history.  We have discussed Early music, the Renaissance, and are just finishing the Baroque period.  I will continue to the classical period and discuss one or two of the great composers from that era.  In addition, we will be singing many Americana songs which depict the work ethic of our nation as well as several ballads which recount historical events.  We have learned the Virginia Reel and the students really loved the dance.  I will try to do a little more with dance in the last few weeks once the auditorium is available.

Grades Three and Four:  Our main focus this year has been on reading music and applying it to an instrument, the recorder.  The students are sounding pretty good, although a few students have some catching up to do.  Ask one of your fourth graders to play Wayfaring Stranger for you. It is so beautiful.  In addition to the recorders, we have also been doing the Virginia Reel.  The Third grade was actually the first grade to put the whole dance together and they had great fun with it.  We will continue to do some movement activities in the next few weeks.  We will also continue singing a variety of songs to help their vocal development.  I will be creating a Jeopardy game which touches on all the concepts and have the students test their knowledge on the questions.  This is always a fun activity for them.

Grade Two:  Grade Two has been working hard all year on identifying the notes on the staff.  We play some games to reinforce their knowledge and to be sure all the students are getting the concepts.  I will continue with this in the next few weeks as well as reinforcing note values.  This class loves to dance!  They really enjoyed the Virginia Reel and were able to complete all the steps.  Initially, I thought I would only get through a few steps but they proved me wrong.  I have also been teaching them some songs which reinforce the concept of the scale and will continue to do this. 

Kindergarten and Grade One:  We have been doing a lot of singing and dancing and will continue to do so.  The children were able to learn the first few steps of the Virginia Reel well and we managed to see how the remaining steps worked.  They also enjoyed this activity.  I have been trying to reinforce the concept of the scale, and high and low pitches, through various action songs which incorporate the body scale.  I will continue to use the Action songs in the next few weeks since the students seem to grasp the concepts more quickly when they are connected to motion.  The students are creating their own lyrics to certain songs which helps them be more engaged in the activity.

Play:  Our play is in the final few weeks of rehearsal.  Our first performance(dress rehearsal) will be on May 19^th for the Godparent group.  Our main performance will be on Wednesday, May 28^th at 6:30 PM in the auditorium.  If your student is in the play, please be sure he/she attends all the remaining rehearsals as we still have a ways to go before it is ready.  I hope all the St. Benedict families will come out to support our students in their performance.  They have been working hard to get ready.

Please check out the Healthy Kids addition to the website.  It has a lot of helpful information included.

            I hope you all have a healthy and happy summer.  I’m sure it will arrive one of these days.

 Mrs. Fedor