Warren School Music - Week of 12/12

Music at the Warren School, week of 12/12

Beth's Kindergarten students sing and play "Bobolinka". 

Gina's 2nd graders are improvising a xylophone part to fellow students' rhythm compositions. 

2nd graders are writing their rhythm compositions. 

Whitney's 1st graders are also writing rhythm compositions. 

1st graders are in "rest position" while they wait to accompany their next classmate's composition. 

Katie's 3rd and 4th graders are learning to use solfege hand signals for singing. 

Heidi's 3rd and 4th grade are learning to write music by combining rhythm and pitch. 

Elizabeth's 5th and 6th graders are composing by learning to write down their improvisations. 

Drew's 5th and 6th graders are learning to use the rhythms they know to improvise melodies with the "d minor pentatonic scale", and write them down. 

Music at Waitsfield! 12/5 to 12/9

 It was great fun to work with the students of Waitsfield Elementary school this week! We  read, we sang, we played games, we wrote music, we improvised music, and we performed music. I am looking forward to seeing you again in the New Year! 

Happy is the "Visitor" in the play party called Fine Brick House. 

Mrs. V, of course, gets in on the fun!

1st and 2nd grade made a list of their favorite music activities. Here, Mr. Hubbard's class performs last year's dance, Down the River.

Ms. Beattie's Kindergarten loves to sing and play Apple Tree. 

Mr. Young's 1st and 2nd graders play the "b section" for their classmates' compositions.  

1st and 2nd grade composers, hard at work. 

This week, the 1st and 2nd grade started their unit with a short book about school recess during Winter. 

5th and 6th graders learned winter songs inspired by stories of animals living beneath the snow, while 3rd and 4th graders started this week's unit with a story of penguins who knit to keep warm. 

Our 3rd through 6th graders learned songs in d minor this week. 3rd through 6th improvised using various tone sets in d minor, and started learning to write down their improvisations with standard notation. This approach combines the use of solfege, xylophone, and staff notation with familiar rhythm patterns. 

We use the "takadimi" approach to learning to read and write rhythms. Students read, write, and play many patterns using note and rest values from half to sixteenth. 

Our students start learning the takadimi approach to reading and writing rhythms in kindergarten.  Here, 1st and 2nd graders keep the beat for Button Up! 

1st and 2nd graders, composing! 

Kindergarteners are keeping the beat with the rhyming song Bee, Bee, Bumblebee. 

                                                            Mr. Van's class, composing! 
                                            

3rd through 6th grade students thrive on working together in small groups. It can get a little loud in there, so students are encouraged to use the "stick end" of the xylophone mallets. 

Pathways to composition at Moretown!

1st and 2nd graders are using rhythmic building blocks to help them compose. 

3rd through 6th graders are using "Soundtrap" as one of many approaches to composition available to them. 

Kindergarteners are learning to keep the beat! 

Another shot of 1st and 2nd graders arranging rhythmic building blocks