"La Volta" - Score

Here's the sheet music to accompany the video posted earlier. See if you can "sight read" the second part.

Recorder Ensemble -- "La Volta"

Hi Recorder Ensemble players -- here is a video for the final piece we will be doing for the Renaissance Faire. Sorry to be getting it up so late. Fortunately it is a very easy piece. I'll be posting the music separately.

Fifth Grade Culmination - "Come So Far (Got So Far To Go)"

Hi Fifth Graders -- as promised here are the lyrics and a recording of our culmination song "Come So Far," from the musical "Hairspray." Give it a listen!

Renaissance Faire Prep Underway

The last couple of weeks I've been working with the first graders and third graders on the Renaissance Faire dance performances. The Faire, which coincides each year with the open house and the art show will be held on Tuesday, April 12. Check with your child's teacher for details.

First grade will be singing "Greensleeves" and performing a dance with ribbons. Third Graders helped choreograph their own dance to accompany "Ungaresca," a Hungarian folk song as performed by the recently formed Wonderland Choir and Recorder Ensemble. There will be several other performances as well. Should be a lot of fun!

Recorder Ensemble -- "Tourdion" Part B

Hey recorder ensemble -- here is the second part of Tourdion. It's a challenging piece, for fortunately we have a few weeks to learn it.

Walk-a-thon a huge success

Thursday morning was cold and wet, but that didn't stop the kids and teachers and quite a few parents from turning the Walk-a-thon into a huge success. The proceeds from this event help to pay my salary and well as for the salaries of Coach Evan, Mrs. Mutchnick and the T.A.'s. so I am very grateful for all the kids hard work. We also managed to get a little music in with both 4th and 5th grade classes creating their own lyrics for the cowboy ballad, "Streets of Laredo."

Hole at the Bottom of the Sea

This week we're finishing up our American music unit. We started with Kinder doing "The Color Song" -- a cumulative song that allows the students to transfer the rhythm of the melody to a variety of percussion instruments. First Grade began working the use of music to help tell stories, beginning with the fable "The Tortoise and the Hare."

Second Graders learned a cumulative song as well -- "Hole in the Bottom of the Sea" -- and the chant "Oliver Twist." These pictures show students performing "Oliver Twist" as a three part movement canon. The focus here is on the connections that kids make between hand movements and the text they learning, an associative learning process they can hopefully apply in other subject areas.

American Folk Music and Dance

For the last couple of weeks we've continued our focus on American music and folk dancing in all grade levels. I have also been finding difficult to dance and take pictures at the same time. Hence the less frequent posts.

Dancing and movement are central to music, of course, and an equal part of our folk history. In addition, however, teaching dance along with music helps students learn and retain more information and perform the music better. This doesn't seem like it should, but it, probably because of the way the dancing provides associations and a context for getting the music. It is also makes class really fun!