Music Corner: November 13, 2015
Posted on 11/13/2015
By Shelley Irvin-Kent, Music Teacher
Kindergarten Families
I hope you’ve seen your child’s latest “Ask Me” sheet with songs This Little Bear and Cobbler, Cobbler. Do ask your child to sing these for you - we’ve been working hard to master them in music class! While most kindergarten students know the concepts “loud” and “soft,” understanding them in the context of music class, singing, and listening examples can be quite different. Students just officially learned loud and soft in music class. We worked on loud and soft while singing Hush Little Minnie, Charlie Over the Ocean, and Star Light, Star Bright.
First Grade Families
I hope you’ve seen your child’s first “Ask Me” sheet with songs Bee, Bee, Bumblebee and Lucy Locket. Not only can your child sing these songs independently, s/he can tap the steady heartbeats at the same time. Ask your child to sing and tap the heartbeats to practice what s/he is learning in music. In first grade, we’ve been preparing to learn rhythms. First, we learned about long and short sounds, then one and two sounds on a heartbeat. Finally, students have learned the official names for one sound on a heartbeat (quarter note; we call it “ta” when reading) and two sounds on a heartbeat (eighth notes; we call it “ta-di” when reading). First graders can now read four-beat, eight-beat and even longer rhythm patterns while tapping their rhythm fingers.
Second Grade Families
Second graders have known how to sing and read solfa notes so and mi since first grade. For the last few months, we’ve been preparing to learn our new note that is a step higher than so. Finally, second graders have learned LA! Ask your child to sing a song for you that has our new, higher note, in it: Bounce High, Bobby Shaftoe, or Apple Tree!