Writing Activities in Music and more fall fun

Well this was another wonderful week in the world of music.
4th grade did star spangled evaluations activity. We watched several YouTube performances and picked our favorite one to write about.
Here are a few examples of what we did.

This one made me laugh because I am also not really a Lady Gaga fan.  

3rd grade did a composer of the month writing activity called Bach to the Future. . JS Bach is remembered by his music and we wrote what we want to be remembered for.
Here is one of my favorites. This one totally made my heart smile when I read it.

2nd grade also had some composer of the month fun. We listed to Bachs Toccata and Fugue and identified the organ. We then watched a Bachs Brain quaver video on Bach.

1st grade did a fall listening glyph and had a composer of the day. We learned about Vivaldis Four Seasons. We listened to Vivaldis Fall.  Our listening glyph had apples on it.

Kindergarten played instruments with some of our songs: days of the week, open them shut them, and apple tree. We also learned a song called Do You Know the Apple Man and read a book
About Johnny Appleseed.

Next week we will begin with the end in mind and work on Veterans Day songs, because there are lots of fun activities coming up in the month of October.
Next week also begins Halloween fun in the music classroom!!!

First week of fall fun in music

Well this week was the first week of fall, even though it felt like summer with the high temperatures. Not complaining though b/c it was a beautiful week!

We had some fall fun in the music room.

Grades K-2 played a steady beat pass the apple game with the song Apple Tree.  When the students get "out" in this game, they got to play rhythm instruments. We used rhythm sticks, tone blocks, drums, and maracas.  We also used this same song to play the Rotten Apple game.

Grades 1-2 had some more fall fun with the song Apples and Bananas.  What a silly song this one is!

Kindergarten had a lot of fun learning 2 cute action songs called "Two Little Apples" and "Criss-Cross Applesauce".
Kindergarten enjoyed playing rhythm sticks this week with Apple Tree and Open Them Shut Them.

3rd grade did a multicultural lesson with a song called "Egy Uveg Alma", which means "One Jar of Apples" in Hungarian.  We learned to count to 10 in Hungarian.

3rd and 4th grade had a lot of fun with our warmup activity this week.  We used tennis balls to learn whole note, half note, quarter note, and eighth notes.  The music for this activity was "The Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Philip Sousa.

4th grade showed some awesome synergizing skills by working together in groups to put the lyrics of the Star Spangled Banner in order.  Each group was given an envelope that contained the lyrics of our song of the month in it.  They had to put them in order.  The first group done received a tiny award slip for their hard work.

After a wonderful week in music, we ended our week outside for our "double day" Friday. The students got to do centers that involved scoops, balls and Frisbees, and footballs.  It was a beautiful day to end a busy, but successful week.

New School, New Year!

Well, the new school year is off to a great start! I started at a new school this year. I'm now teaching at West Chapmanville Grade School.

So, here are some pictures of my new classroom:

My concept wall- I did add a few extra ones and I love how it turned out. I add the things we are working on each week. Need to get a few extra magnets to help with this section. 

I ended up getting a shelf that a teacher didn't need and it worked out perfectly for our music textbooks. 

My instrument and prop storage closet. I used it to display the ensembles posters. Also, I love the Beethoven that was in my classroom. He is in my composer of the month area and also beside my music library. I love using books in my classroom! 

My composer of the month area and underneath it is my music library. Above the white board is the solfege posters. My music centers fit perfectly in this storage shelf. I also realized that this picture needs updated because I added stuff to the white board- my movement, listening, and a few procedure posters are now on the sides of the white board. 

My husband put my dynamic posters on the hallway door. Above the piano is tempo posters and the notes of the treble clef staff. On the piano are the recorder stands my amazing daddy made for me last year. Hopefully we will get recorders ordered soon and my 4th graders will begin using these. 

The desk beside the piano is used quite frequently by my kindergarten daughter after school. I also plan to add my "rest are" poster to it; just in case we ever need a quiet area. Everyone needs a "quiet" time area: myself included! 

Love how the new paint made my doors look! I added the quaver 5 to one. Above it I thought I should keep the school flag. The closet door has our song of the month posters. I had a students ask me this week if I was going to write birthdays on these. (LOL!)

Hmm....could make some of these for composer of the month birthdays one day. 

My umbrella is a must for the walk from classroom to school! 

The life of a teachers daughter while mommy works. The 2 totes under the window hold music centers and xylophones. 

My child watching movies while mommy works in her classroom before school starts. ohhh the life of a teachers child! 

I made my own white board with white paper. I found a cool DIY smart board on Pinterest that uses a Wii remote and some software. I want to try it, but haven't had a chance yet. The lights are the karaoke machines that came with my classroom. My child loves to play with them! I plan to use them for music fun days: after we work hard, we get to have a karaoke day! 

I added my line up chant under the Quaver 5 poster on my door. 

The year has gotten off to a great start so far. I have enjoyed playing name games and building relationships with all my new students. We played "rickety rackety ree" and "name name whats your name" in my K-2 classes. My 3-4 classes played "jump in jump out" name game. We used my blue fuzzy ball for these. I really enjoyed the 3-4 name game; it was a new one for me. On the "B" section, we had to say "My name is ______ and I like ______". Then the class echoed "His/Her name is ___ and he/she likes _____".  

My K-2 kiddos have learned the 4 ways to use our voice using Quaver. We sang the "whisper, talk, shout, and sing" song. My 2nd graders absolutely loved the 4 voices game. My 1st and 2nd graders have also learned the Bow, Wow, Wow singing game and we played "who stole the cookies from the cookie jar". 

My 3-4 kiddos have completed the first 14 rockin' rhythm raps. We added quarter note, eighth notes, quarter rest, bar line, measure, meter, and repeat sign to our word wall.  They loved using rhythm instruments to play the rhythms.  

Our fun day Friday "double day" has been fun also. We had a super fun day of "noodle tag".  Then with the rain this last Friday, we had to bring it inside and we had a Just Dance, Zumba, Adventure to Fitness day in the gym.  Needless to say, the PE teacher and I were exhausted! Definitely ready for a 3 day weekend. 

Stay tuned for more exciting adventures from Mrs. Carroll's music room with my little Tigers!