Week 4

This week in music, we continued the marathon of individual assessments, along with our Mary Poppins sing-a-long.

Thank you to everyone who came to see the music room on Curriculum Night! It was great to see so many people excited about music this year. If you were not able to make it to Curriculum Night, or you still have questions about music, please feel free to e-mail Ms. Katie at school.

Next week, Choir starts! Choir this year will be only from October through December, and other ensembles will happen later in the year. If your child is interested in joining choir, please return the letter that was sent home on Wednesday (if you need an extra, more are available at the front of the school, with PTSA handouts and other communications). Choir will be on Wednesday mornings at 8:30, and I look forward to seeing many happy faces!

Week 3

Ms. Katie is doing in-class assessments of all students this week. This is in keeping with the all-school focus on using student data to drive and guide instruction. In this beginning of the year assessment, each student is asked to sing a short song of their choosing, to clap the rhythm of an unknown song, and to sight-read the melody of the same song. Please note that the results of this assessment will not affect your student's music grade. This assessment period is intended to help Ms. Katie plan the curriculum for the rest of the year. While the students are pulled out to be assessed individually, the rest of the class is watching (and singing along with) the musical Mary Poppins.

This week at Monday morning assembly, the school sang the John Stanford International School chant. The returning students were great leaders, and the new students are excited to learn it.

Curriculum night is next Wednesday at 6:30 pm. Please stop by Room 320 with any questions you have about music this year, or to sign up to help out with performances or in class.

Week 2

Students in grades 3, 4, and 5 need a 2-pocket folder for Music. This folder may have any decoration desired, or it may be blank or a solid color. Brackets or 3-pronged folders are fine, as long as they also have pockets. These folders will be used throughout the year to hold in-class work, songsheets, and instrumental music.

Week 1

It's been a great first week! Every class came to music once this week, and started in right away. The 5th graders helped teach Ms. Katie the JSIS song, and the 3rd graders showed their prowess at singing on "Tue, Tue." Most classes also learned "Ahlan Wa Sahlan," a greeting song from Lebanon, which will be featured at the Monday morning assembly next week.