Last modified: September 16, 2024

Jennifer Deforest

Welcome to Music. We are working toward singing in-tune!

In Kindergarten, we have learned many nursery rhymes and songs. We also have learned how to read songs in various ways and to make a music map for a song. The two we have practiced mapping the most are “Come and Follow Me” and  “A-Hunting We Will Go.” We have discussed the fact that birds and flowers reappear in the spring, so now we sing “Fall is Here” and “Spring is Here.” Along with thinking about the weather, we have learned a song called “Windy Weather.” With this song, we have explored different ways of moving our bodies, first as a tree and then as a leaf blowing in the wind.

In First Grade, we have learned songs about trains (“Clickety Clack”), sailors (“When I Was One” and “Johnny Over the Ocean”), and farming (“Oats and Beans and Barley”) among others. We have learned about and mapped songs to show phrases. We are really good at reading rhythms, including rhythms that include quarter rests. We are also getting good at singing the solfege scale and we are starting to figure out how our songs can be sung with these same syllables. We will also be practicing songs for the program coming up on May 9. It’s going to be great!

In both Kindergarten and First Grade, we have practice listening in many different ways. We can listen to a drum and know how to move our feet and our bodies to match with the sound. We listened to a segment from “American in Paris” by George Gershwin and learned that Parisians like to drive very fast so George put the sound of horns honking in his music. We have been listening to and learning about some important figures in jazz, including Louis Armstrong and Lil Hardin. We learned that they were really good at what they did because they were willing to work and practice very hard. Two of the songs we listened to are “What a Wonderful World” and “When the Saints Go Marching In.” We also learned about marching bands and practiced marching and “playing” band instruments at the same time. The instruments we focused on are trombone, piano, trumpet, and clarinet. Most of the things we do in class end up being featured in centers. The students love interacting with centers, where they get to make choices about how they spend their time and review the things they have done in class. Some very impressive things have been happening!

The Sixth Grade Choir and Early Morning Choir combined to put on a fabulous performance at the District Honor Choir Festival on March 27! I was very proud of how hard they worked to learn the piece and their performance went very well. They were also excellent audience members as they listened to the other choirs from around the district. We will continue working on pieces for the 5th/6th Grade Music Night on April 25. The 6th graders will need to arrive at the the school at 6:40 pm and will perform at 7:00 pm. We will need everyone there to make it our best performance possible. Put it on your calendars now!

UPCOMING COMMUNITY CONCERTS

BYU, with the assistance of a Beverly Taylor Sorensen grant, offers FREE family concerts four times each school year. ANY age child is welcome at the concerts. Take your family and enjoy the interactive concert experience. All concerts are held in the DeJong Concert Hall in the Harris Fine Arts Center on BYU campus. They all take place at 11:00 am. Here are the offerings coming up in 2019:

CONCERTS

• March 16 – Percussion Concert
• April 13 – Wind Symphony Concert