Fall & Winter
November in the Music Classroom:
Students in Kindergarten - 2nd Grade have been growing their rhythmic skills, concepts of a steady beat and collaboration, using call and response, singing, dancing and reciting familiar rhymes.
Students used a listening map of symbols depicting, Camille Saint-Saens', "Danse Macabre" to comprehend the story that the orchestra was sharing. Transitioning from the concept of story through sound by adding lyrics/words, students explored song within the genre of Musical Theatre. Students watched a day in the life of "Genie", from Disney's musical production of "Aladdin" and while listening to music from Disney's Broadway production of "The Lion King", students roared and roamed the classroom as jungle animals!
During the second half of November students explored
freedom through song story found in Jazz. Students learned about Duke Ellington and the story behind
the lyrics in
Duke Ellington's, "Take The A Train". Students listened to various jazz standards and then began to experiment with silly words or sounds that could be used in
scat singing. Students made rhythmic sounds similar to the trumpet and trombone for instance, that imitated the sound of a train horn or simply sang creative, complimentary instrumental sounds of their own. Students used Ellington's, "Blue Skies" to discover how the melody highlights lyrics to share important parts of the story.
3rd and 4th graders dove deep into the expressivity of rhythm and dance as we finished our unit on "Bomba". Students created some phenomenal musical moments playing and dancing as an ensemble.
Students in the older Elementary grades also explored Duke Ellington and his use of expressivity through jazz. Students explored the freedom of scat singing and learned about Ellington's role as a musical leader during the development of the Big Band era and the connections that this genre had to the civil rights movement.
December in the Music Classroom:
Students in Kindergarten - 2nd Grade learned new winter songs and rhymes that strengthened their concept of rhythm and internalization of a steady beat. Students have begun to recite simple 4/4 and 2/4 rhythms using call and response methods. Students are beginning to read rhythms independently as well!
Students have been singing and using movements to depict the meaning of the Spiritual, "This Little Light Of Mine". We have explored how this song fits into many cultural celebrations and traditions in December, including Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas and even the Winter Solstice. Students have shared and connected the themes of music, food, family, light and kindness as unifying threads through each of the celebrations.
All students listened to and watched the New York City Ballet's production of "The Nutcracker", reflecting on expressive qualities such as instrumentation, dynamics (loud/soft), tempo (speed) and articulation (separate/staccato vs. smooth/legato) in the music that help depict the story within the music.
3rd and 4th grade students have also explored the many cultural celebrations and traditions in December, including Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas and the Winter Solstice. Students have also done some amazing work creating Music History Composer Timelines using Google Slides. Students created a slide for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as they listen to and watch the New York City ballet's production of "The Nutcracker". Students will add Duke Ellington and Classical era composer Joseph Boulogne to their timelines as well.
I hope you all had a restful and joyous break! 🎵
Please reach out to me anytime by email, lmarino@cvsdvt.org.
December in the Music Classroom: 
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