Kindergarten: Instrument Hoop Conducting!

Kindergarten students have been learning to play a variety of Non-Pitched Percussion instruments. Today we played "Hoop Conducting" to reinforce playing technique. This activity also allowed kinders to begin learning how to follow the cues of a conductor.

Each student was given an instrument (either Rhythm Sticks to TAP, Jingle Bells to SHAKE, or Sand Blocks to SCRAPE). One of each instrument was also placed inside a hula hoop in the middle of the carpet. The conductor would let each instrument know when to play by standing in the hoop with the matching instrument. Some conductors were tricky by standing in two hoops, or by using their hands to have all three instruments play at the same time! Great job Kinders!

Reading Rhythms

The Grade 1/2/3 students are also reviewing how to read, speak, play and notate three rhythms in various patterns (Quarter note - "Ta", two Eighth notes - "Ti-Ti", and a Quarter rest - "Shh").
We played the "Squishy Toss" game to help us practice reading these rhythms! Each student threw one of our fabulous squishies at the Smartboard which was covered in colourful circles. The circle that was hit would take them to a page with a four-beat rhythm pattern on it, and we would speak it as a class while the student pointed with the pointer. We have some excellent rhythm readers in our school!

Little Miss Muffet

Students in grades 1/2/3 have been working on a fun activity using the old nursery rhyme "Little Miss Muffet". First we learned the song, and then analyzed the music. Here are some of the things we learned:

• The music staff has four spaces, counted from the bottom to the top.
• The music staff has five lines, counted from the bottom to the top.
• If a note is written higher on the music staff it has a higher sound, and if it is lower on the music staff it has a lower sound.

Then we circled the notes on the first space, second space, and third line in three different colours. The next time we sang the song, we patted our knees for the lowest notes, our shoulders for the middle notes, and our heads for the higher notes. Later we will label these notes with Mi, So and La.

Next we played a game to go with our song. One student walked around the circle with our spider friend as we sang the song. Whoever the spider landed on at the end of the song had to jump up, run around the circle, and be back to his/her spot before we finished the phrase "Go faster, go faster, I know you can run! Go faster, go faster, your time has begun! 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." Easy right? Not so much! With every round we started at one less number for the countdown! The spider carrier also got the chance to accompany the song with a solid bordun on the xylophone. A solid bordun is when you play two notes (Do and So) at the same time to the beat. We had a great time!

Welcome Back!

School has been in session for almost two weeks now - it's so hard to believe!

The Grade 1/2/3 classes have been busy learning about Beethoven through his Fifth Symphony! Ask your child to tell you about the "Allowishes and the Royal Bananas" story that goes with it! We wrapped up this unit by watching the video "Beethoven Lives Upstairs".

Students in Grades 4 & 5 jumped right into playing the pitched percussion instruments and learned a traditional spiritual called "Chatter With the Angels". Videos will follow once all of the student media forms have been turned in! Grade 4/5 classes have also been hearing a little bit about my summer in Siberia, and viewing photos of the trip! If you would like to catch up on the adventure too, feel free to visit my personal blog: http://asiberiansummer.blogspot.ca/

Kindergarten students have been introduced to four different musical instruments so far - the rhythm sticks, the bells, the tambourines, and the sand blocks. They have also been learning about the different ways to play instruments (shake, tap, scrape), and demonstrated this during our "Hoop Conducting" activity. (Photos to follow when media forms are in!). Kinders are also learning to improvise using their singing voices with the help of our favourite puppet, Sally Singer!

Volunteer Tea

On June 6 we celebrated our volunteers by hosting the Volunteer Tea. It was a lovely afternoon of music, coffee, tea and treats, with impeccable service from several of our grade 3 students!

Kindergartens entertained the volunteers with the song "Special Volunteers":

Buchanan's Outreach Choir Visits Oakview Place

On June 5th our Grade 4/5 Outreach Choir visited the residents at Extendicare Oakview Place. It was a wonderful morning! There was singing, visiting, laughing and a good time had by all! Check out the video of our visit below!

This journey has been an excellent learning experience for our students! Take a look at our journey and what we have learned:

The Big Idea:

How can we reach out to members of our community through music? 

Students responded to this question, and most of them suggested singing at a local nursing home.

I sent emails to all of the homes in our area, and received responses from two homes that were interested in partnering with us. Because one of our other classrooms in the school was already partnering with one of these two homes, we chose to partner with Oakview Place. 

In preparation for this project, students had several learning activities:

1. 1)  They worked with their classroom teachers to write letters to residents, telling them about themselves as well as asking questions about the residents and their music preferences. 
    
2. 2)  The choir watched several videos on the effects of music on elderly people from the documentary “Alive Inside: Music and Memory” (http://goo.gl/BaFhP). Through these videos, students learned about alzheimer’s disease, and the amazing effects music had on the memories of patients. They saw how music that was familiar to and loved by the residents brought back memories, emotions and enjoyment to these patients, and wanted to do the same for Oakview residents. 
    
3. 3)  As a group, we read the responses from the residents at Oakview Place, and singled out the music they requested for us to sing for them. We began practicing the following, as requested:

• Waltzing Matilda

• Jesus Loves Me

• Kumbaya

• You Are My Sunshine

• Toora Loora (An Irish Lullaby)

4. 4)  Students also noted that they would like to share one of the other songs we had been working on called “Chanda Mama (A Lullaby from India). 
5.  
6. 5)  Due to unforeseen circumstances, we needed to remove Jesus Loves Me & Kumbaya from our repertoire
   
   6) We also added "Born To Make Music", "In This House Tonight" and "Hard Times Come Again No More"
7.  

8. Music Curriculum Connections

9. Several outcomes from the Manitoba Music Curriculum were met through this project:
    
10. Students will:
    • demonstrate appreciation of music as a means of experiencing and exploring our own and others' lives (e.g., feelings, beliefs, stories, events, cultures)
    • demonstrate appreciation of music as a means of experiencing the world and understanding the perspectives of others
    • demonstrate understanding of the multiple roles and purposes of music in society (e.g., for enjoyment, persuasion, social commentary, mood creation, spiritual experience, dancing)
    • perform, listen to, describe, and compare music representative of different times, places, social groups and cultures (include: music from past and present and from global, Canadian, and Manitoban cutlures)
    • respect and acknowledge that individuals may have different interpretations and preferences regarding musical works and experiences
    • respect and value a wide range of music and music-making experiences
    • demonstrate understanding of ways in which music reflects and influences the identity of individuals and groups
    • demonstrate awareness of the meanings and/or purposes (e.g., for relaxing, working, dancing, celebrating) of music encountered in own performance and listening experiences
    • demonstrate awareness of general characteristics of music within groups (e.g., cultural, social, historical, contexts)
    • identify, share, and talk about examples of music experienced at home, at school, and in the community
     
11. Overall this was a fantastic experience for students. Following our performance, we received a card from Oakview Place:
     
    
12.  

Buchanan Boys Present: Don't Bully Me

Four of our kindergarten students were featured in The Metro today! Click here check out the article!

Along with one of Buchanan's Educational Assistants, Gill Tyrell, the boys wrote and recorded their own song called "Don't Bully Me". Check out The Buchanan Boys' music video debut!