Here's What We're Up to in Music Class

Kindergarteners are learning to sing the first verses of "America" and "America, the Beautiful". We're also singing "This Land is Your Land" and learning "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "Over the River and Through the Wood". Yesterday we played the steady beat on big conga drums while we sang "The Earth is Our Mother". And this year's kindergartners are standing so still and quiet for our national anthem--I'm very impressed!

First-Graders are learning the difference between steady beat and rhythm. Several times we've used quarter notes to mark the steady beats of a song or rhyme, then re-written beats which have two sounds (using eighth notes) or which are silent (using a rest). They're also reviewing the same patriotic songs I listed above for kindergarteners.

Second-Graders have also been reviewing those songs. We also heard and discussed the circumstances in which our national anthem was written, because in second grade I teach the children to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner". So now they understand what they are singing, and we're working on singing all the melismas correctly.

Third-Graders are beginning to work on the music for their Folk Tales program in December. Each class has a different tale, and therefore different music. I like to teach all the singing and instrumental parts to everyone, because (a) fitting the parts together is good practice to develop music skills, and (b) the more familiar everyone is with what everyone else is doing, the better the show will go.

Fourth-Graders have been introduced to gamelan orchestra music from the island of Bali. I've isolated a section of the music in which the parts are very clear, and we are working to re-create that music with our classroom Orff instruments. They've also been singing "Washington, My Home", "Roll On, Columbia", and "This Pretty Planet".