Parent Teacher Conferences and Updates to What's Happening!

Hello!!

We have been so busy at The Wheatlands in the last few weeks that I haven't gotten a chance to update you all on what we have been working on or let you know about Parent Teacher Conferences.

Report Card Hint:
First, however is a hint about the report cards.  We are aware of a glitch in the system and if you can't see your child's music grade, please make sure you go to Marking Period 1 (MP1).  Apparently the system was defaulting to the wrong quarter, which is why some of you couldn't see your child's grade!

Parent/Teacher Conferences:
I am certainly available if you have any questions about what we do in music class here at The Wheatlands during Parent/Teacher Conferences.  I will be available the following hours to talk to you:

Wednesday:   7:30-8:15 A.M.
                      3:45-5:30 P.M.
Thursday:      7:30-8:30 A.M.
                      2:00-5:00 P.M. and 6:00-7:30 P.M.
Friday:          8:30 A.M. - 2:00 P.M.

What Are We Working On?:
Here's a bit about what we are working on in music class for each grade level...

1st Grade: VETERAN'S DAY!!!!  We are so excited to present our 11th Annual Veteran's Day performance next Tuesday at 9:30 and 2:00 in the gym at The Wheatlands.

2nd Grade: Right now we are learning a bunch of things in 2nd grade about the String and Percussion families of instruments.  We are also working in centers about lines and spaces on the staff, Solfeg, reviewing rhythms, AND learning about skips and steps on the staff.

3rd Grade: We are about to be embarking on a look at the Woodwind family, and we are finishing up learning about the spaces on the staff.  We are also looking at the symbols that make up written music as well.

4th Grade: We have mastered our space notes on the staff, have been reviewing the Brass and Woodwind Families, and are currently playing some improvisations on the xylophones and glockenspiels.

5th Grade: MUSICAL!!!!  As all the 5th grade parents should know, we are working on our 5th grade musical, Snow Biz! right now and having an absolute blast getting to know it!


So there is music at The Wheatlands.  I'm sure that I'll see some of you this week sometime, so have a lovely first week of November!

Man, We Have Fun in First Grade!!

In first grade we have been singing away... getting ready for our Veteran's Day performances and also working on other musical concepts.  The first graders have mastered the concept of echoing in music, and now we are looking at something called "Call and Response".  "Call and Response" is a form of music where one person or a group sings one thing and the other person or group sings a response to what they are singing!  You can tell that Mrs. Mann's class had a lot of fun with this...

Listen to a recording of Mrs. Mann's Class and one of Mrs. Ross' Classing singing our song called "Lemonade" by clicking on the links below.  The boys were singing the Call and the girls were singing the Response!

Mrs. Mann's Class
Mrs. Ross' Class

Mozart... The Awesome Dead Dude...

You see, when I made my beginning of the year video for the kids about rules and tattling and things that were new this year... I made a mistake.  Well, not a mistake per se, but I referred to Mozart as an awesome dead dude... and that is how we know him at The Wheatlands.  However, the statement is factual: he is an awesome composer, he is dead (for over 200 years now), and he's a dude.  We've been learning so much more about him though!

This handsome guy's full name is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and we have learned that he was born in 1756.  We also found out that he wrote over 600 different pieces.  That is CRAZY considering he died at age 35.  Several students have also been finding Mozart facts online and by checking books out at the LRC, which is awesome.  We learned from one student that Mozart started composing when he was just 5 years old!

We have also listened to a few of Mozart's most famous works, "Dies Irae" from his Requiem Mass, "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik", and the "Queen of the Night" aria from his opera The Magic Flute.  It has been amazing seeing the kids get into learning about this amazing composer.  Every two months, we will be switching to a different composer or famous musical artist, so stay tuned to what we are learning!  Next month begins our glimpse into the awesome Jazz artist, Louis Armstrong.

Learning How to Play an Instrument is Hard Work!!!

.... but we are having soooooo much fun doing it in 3rd grade!!

I'm trying to emphasize really learning about reading music from the staff for our kids at The Wheatlands.  One of the ways that we can do that is by learning some parts of the staff, and just using those notes to work on our xylophones and glockenspiels.  3rd grade was working hard trying to figure out how to play different examples on the board after we reviewed the letter names of the spaces on the staff today!  Check out how much fun we were having trying to learn how to read music:

That mallet is in mid strike as these boys are working on figuring out the example!

Clearly.... we have too much fun in music class!

5th Grade Ostinato Fun!

In fifth grade, we are getting back to things by creating rhythmic ostinatos!!  The basic idea is that it is a repeating rhythm, and with these guys, they had to create it and layer it one on top of another.  I've included a link to some that are already done, and be on the look out for the rest of 5th grade to be coming your way soon!!

The Crazies
The Loco Animals

Hard at Work Coming Up With Ideas

Writing Out Rhythms

Onto the 2nd Week!!!

Oh man!!  I can't believe that we are already starting our second week of school!  Last week flew by and we did lots of different things.  On our first day at school we had an all-school assembly to talk about "The Wheatlands Way" and really focused on leading the pack and excellence being a habit here at school.

Mr. Gerard Making Sure We Understand The Wheatlands Way!

During the first week in music class we do a few things.  On the first day, I always like to play a game of some sort and ask the kids their favorite thing they did that summer.  It is always fun when they get to share things like that with me!

On the second day that week, each class got to watch the Miss Rains expectations video.  To save my voice I made a video with a tour around the music room and my recorded voice to remind kids about the expectations in music class.  There were even guest appearances in the video by a few Wheatlands celebs like Mr. Gerard to model what not to do with problems like finding trash on the floor or having a broken pencil.  They helped us learn how to be a problem solver and not a problem maker!  Overall, it's looking like it is going to be a great start to the year in music!!!

Watching the Tour of the Music Room!

Our video also includes a song about Not Tattling!!

FIRST POST OF THE 2014-2015 SCHOOL YEAR!!!!

Welcome Back Wolves!!

I am super excited for another year of music to start up at The Wheatlands!!  Can you tell??

I have a confession to make... Sunday night, I will be a mess... an absolute mess... I won't be able to sleep, I won't be able to think straight, and it's all because I'm SO EXCITED!!  I love starting out a new school year and love getting to meet new wolves!  Several of you, I met at sneak peek, and I look forward to having you in class.

That first week back is one of my favorites, getting to see old faces of kids that I've known since first grade, being back in my favorite place in the world, and getting to share my love of music with all these little crazies!  First grade may be my favorite this first week because it is siblings of families I've had for years and new students who haven't experienced the craziness of Miss Rains.  I love the smiles on all of their faces when I ask them what they did this summer and they get to tell me about trips to grandparents,  walking around Disney World, and my favorite... sleeping in.

Please check back as the year goes on for more information about what we are doing in music class and about the curriculum here at TW.  I am currently working on transferring all of the curriculum data from my site on the old Oswego page, so the goal is to have all the curriculum information on here for you before Curriculum Night in case you are curious about anything!  As always, please let me know if you have any questions, and please let me know if you want to come in and help in any way and you are musically inclined!

Get ready to LEAD THE PACK... because Excellence at TW... is habit!