This Week in Music Class-March 10

March 10, 2014 By

Happy Monday Everyone!!! I hope everyone is up bright and early today… The only good thing about losing that hour of sleep is that it’s a sure sign that spring is finally on its way!!! March is Music in Our Schools Month, and while I was surfing around the web this past week I found this clip. It’s Jimmy Fallon, Idina Menzel, and The Roots singing “Let it Go” from Frozen using classroom music instruments!!! Awesome in so many ways 🙂 I especially love the triangle and the multicolored glockenspiel!!! Check this out:

How much fun was that???!! In other music happenings… In class this week we’re talking about our next composers, and learning our first piano song that has chords… Plus continuing to get those pesky bass clef notes!! Busy, busy week!! For extra credit this week, fill out the form below and tell me what your favorite classroom music instrument is 🙂

Mrs. Kelley

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This Week in Music Class – February 3

February 3, 2014 By

We’re having so much fun getting to know the pianos in class!! This week we’re tackling the C major scale, with both hands (separately at first, then we’ll put them together). We’re also learning about our first composers of the term.  Each grade learns about different composers throughout the semester. There are PowerPoint presentations on the computers that I’ve created. Students view the presentations which include a video of music written by the composer, and then fill out an online worksheet answering questions about the composer and what they heard. Students can use the PowerPoint and look up the answers as they complete the worksheet, so it’s a great way to boost their grades while listening to great music and learning about influential Western composers.

Remember, if you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. School email is the easiest and quickest way. julie.kelley@wpsk12.com

Check out this video on playing the C scale on the piano, it’s not super exciting, but you can see how we go about playing the scale.

Mrs. Kelley

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This Week in Music Class-January 27

January 27, 2014 By

Whew! We’re very quickly getting into the routines of class. This week we’re learning more about notes on the treble clef, we’re starting our music “Word of the Day” where we take the day’s word and spell it with music notes. We’re also learning how to navigate the programs available to us on the computers and looking at the notes on the pianos. What a lot of work we’re doing this week!!

I wanted to point out a feature of the class website.  Over on the right side, you’ll see a snippet of the music we’re listening to at the beginning and end of every class.  I try to pick something that students may not have heard before, and it goes beyond the usual Mozart’s and Beethoven’s that we learn about during class time. The music at the beginning and end of class is to expose students to new or different music.  If you click on the top “Listen to This” menu, you’ll find more information about the music we’re listening to each week.

Don’t forget, students need to have a folder, something to write with, and headphones for class.

Check out this cool video about how to read music 🙂


*Extra credit this month is to bring a box of tissues or bottle of hand sanitizer 🙂

Mrs. Kelley

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Welcome to Music Class – January 20

January 20, 2014 By

photoWow!! I cannot believe that we are starting Semester 2. A sad goodbye to my Semester 1 classes, and a warm welcome to all my new students!!

We don’t have a semester 2 open house, but I do have my Open House Information PowerPoint available for everyone to view. Please CLICK HERE to see the PowerPoint presentation with the basic class overview information that I presented in the fall, and as always, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions you have.

Students are required to bring 4 things to class.

  • A positive attitude… We will be doing new and different things, how you approach new and different things definitely affects how successful you are.
  • A PENCIL. All work should be completed in class and in pencil.
  • Headphones. They don’t need to be fancy or expensive, the dollar store ones work fine, but imagine a room with 12 electronic pianos all playing at once, and you’ll understand why we need headphones in class!
  • A Folder. The folder MUST be something that can be left here in class. All student work is done in class and students will have many reference sheets to help them. Folders will live here in the room and be available for students when they need them.

Extra Credit: This month’s extra credit is to bring in a box of tissues or bottle of hand sanitizer :) With nearly 250 students each semester, we go through a lot of tissues :)

Mrs. Kelley

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This Week in Music Class – January 13

January 13, 2014 By

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It’s hard to believe that we are almost finished with semester 1!! Seems like just yesterday we were trading in our shorts and flip-flops for backpacks and packed lunches, but here we are in January with our snow shovels and hats/mittens!! This is our last week in music class for this group of students, so we’re finishing up on the guitars, and tying up loose ends for the end of the semester. I hope everyone has a wonderful end of year, and hope the second semester is as great as the first!!

This week’s Middle School Word of the Week is Hypothesis. HERE is a very brief article titled “An Evolutionary Hypotheses for Why Humans Are Musical”

 

 

Filed Under: Guitar, Music Class, This Week In Music Class Tagged With: , , , ,