Fun Music for March/April 2012
Here are some fun music to listen to. Enjoy! :)
Count On Me By Bruno Mars
Henry Mancini's Greatest Hits
The Rainbow Connection from The Muppet Movie by Paul Williams
Footloose by Kenny Loggins
Here are some fun music to listen to. Enjoy! :)
Count On Me By Bruno Mars
Henry Mancini's Greatest Hits
The Rainbow Connection from The Muppet Movie by Paul Williams
Footloose by Kenny Loggins
Here are some fun books to check out that go along with some things we learned in Lower School Music during March and April. Happy Reading! :)
The Bruno Mars Quiz Book by Chris Cowlin
How to Play Air Guitar: All the Great Moves from Your Guitar Heroes by Ian West/Steve Gladdis
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say
Buying Mittens by Nankichi Niimi
Here are some fun sites to visit that go along with things learned in the Lower Music Classroom during March and April. Have fun :)
Spring is in the air and this school year is quickly passing us by. Music classes have continued with lots of fun things to bring in a new season. One of our exciting things in the spring is preparing for our Festival Day Performance. The students have been working hard on learning their songs for this upcoming performance. The program includes fun songs to pump up the kids energy for a day full of fun times on our Athens Academy Campus. They will perform the following songs: I've Got Music; Count On Me (dedicated to our friend Kajal Patel); Footloose; and Dynamite. The students are looking forward to this program as well as the day. Hope you can come and be a part.
We kicked off March talking about what makes a SUPERSTAR. We then learned a song entitled "Superstar" and the students learned exactly what does make a SUPERSTAR. This song tied together our Superstar Playlist that we have been doing all year. This lead us into our Superstar Playlist for March/April which was a song entitled "Count On Me" by Bruno Mars. Bruno Mars was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on October 8, 1985. He came from a very musical family and listened to many different kinds of music growing up. He used a ukulele which is typically associated with Hawaii, although it was based on a Portuguese instrument. We discussed the difference between a ukulele and a guitar. Do you know the difference?
We then took a trip to Japan through our Musical Planet series. We talked about where Japan is located, some of the things related to their culture and of course the music from Japan. We learned about some of the instruments you would find used in Japanese music such as a three stringed lute known as the shamisen, the taiko drums, a bamboo flute called the shakuhachi and/or a thirteen-stringed instrument known as the koto. The students learned that modern Japan has adopted some ideas from America, like baseball and Disneyland. We then learned a Japanese folk song that taught us how to speak some Japanese words: Ohayo, Oyasumi, Genki deska and of course Sayonara. The song was entitled "Sayonara with a Smile.
We then played a music detective game. It was the case of the missing instruments. This introduced us to what a detective is and how he can use clues to solve mysteries. The students then learned about a great composer by the name of Henry Mancini who was a master at writing interesting melodies that were easy to remember. We listened to a piece he wrote for a detective show that ran on TV from 1958-1961 entitled The Peter Gunn Show which became known for its Theme Song known as "The Peter Gunn Theme". We also listened to "The Baby Elephant Walk" and "The Pink Panther Theme" which he also wrote. The students followed a listening map to The Peter Gunn Theme and used their detective skills to figure out what instruments Henry Mancini used in this special piece.
The students then learned about a very special composer by the name of Paul Williams. We read an article about him and listened to an interview with him. We then learned the famous song from The Muppet Movie entitled "The Rainbow Connection". We even watched the video of the famous Kermit the Frog performing this memorable piece. We also sang along to the song which was in our magazine.
We concluded our magazine with performing and dancing to a cool song entitled "Air Guitar". Of course it wouldn't be complete without letting the students actual perform with their Air Guitars .... they had a blast being rock stars.
We continue to learn new concepts each week in music as well as review what we have been learning throughout the school year. We reinforce those concepts through playing music games as well as playing musical instruments. Music class would not be complete without doing some dancing to some fun music as well.
Be sure to come back for our last entry for this school year next month to see how we complete another school year in Lower School Music Classroom. Till next month....keep on singing! :)
Hip Hop Speaks to Children by Nikki Giovanni
The Young Persons Guide to Opera by Anita Ganeri
Sing Me A Story; The Metropolitan Opera's Book of Opera Stories for Children by Jan Rosenberg
Behind the Curtain by Robert Levine
Bravo! Brava! A Night at the Opera: Behind the Scenes with Composers, Cast and Crew by Shahrukh
Husain
Be A Friend: The Story of African American Music in Song, words and pictures by Leotha Stanley
Hip Hop for Kids by School House Hop
Hip Hop for Kids (Dance)
MeeWee: Hip Hop for Kids
Jump On It - Sugar Hill Gang
Dark Hope - Renee Fleming
Suite de Symphonies by Jean-Joseph Mouret
Dynamite (the song) by Taio Cruz
I'm Gonna Sit At The Welcome Table - African American Spiritual
The World's Very Best Opera for Kids in English by Allan Monk
The Classical Child at the Opera by Anastasi Mavrides
Pavarotti's Opera Made Easy - My Favorite Operas for Children by Robert Massard