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~Musical
Notations~ ~School Year 2007-2008~ * Each of the following newsletters has gone home with all MBS students, as part of the Unified Arts Newsletter. Fall 2007 Autumn greetings from the Music room and Miss Clark! The music classes at MBS are based on things children naturally like to do: sing, chant rhymes, clap, dance, play instruments, and keep a beat. This teaching style is called the Orff-Schulwerk approach, and it is a way to learn and teach music. The students learn by hearing and making music first, then reading and writing it later. Singing, playing, improvisation, listening, dancing and body percussion are just a few of the musical events that your student will be experiencing each quarter in music at MBS. Malletts Bay School is also very fortunate to have a large instrumentarium of pitched mallet instruments called Orff instruments. These special melody instruments are played often by the students, and include metalaphones, xylophones and glockenspiels. Each instrument provides a good and successful sound immediately, and are played together as in a small orchestra. Their use helps the students to become not just sensitive players and listeners, but considerate participants in the music classroom. The Third grades have been learning many songs throughout the quarter such as Pop Goes the Weasel, Do, Re, Mi, Everyone Says Good Morning/Afternoon, and Five Little Pumpkins. You may have also heard the Spanish song, Los Pollitos, which is about little baby chicks where the students actually made chicken sounds on instruments that Miss Clark handmade herself! J The Fourth graders are delving into the recorder for the first time, and learning all the techniques for proper playing. Songs like This Land is Your Land, Simple Gifts and Hoe Ana, a traditional Tahitian song complete with ocean drums and canoes were all learned this quarter in music. The Fifth grade classes have been singing a variety of patriotic songs, playing the recorder and drums while reading/playing rhythms up on the board. They have also been learning a concentric circle dance called the Heel Toe Polka, and a fun rhythmic body percussion song from Jamaica called Four White Horses. ~Miss Sheila Clark
Winter 2007 Winter greetings from the Music room and Miss Clark! MBS students are preparing for an exciting musical residency in April with the group Jeh Kulu from Burlington. The residency will focus on African songs and drumming in music classes, while in P.E. students will be learning African dances. Hands Around the World is our school-wide theme for the year, and during second quarter music classes, students have been learning a wide variety of songs, dances games, and activities from around the world, which will prepare them for our upcoming residency! The Third grades have been learning many songs throughout the quarter such as Pop Goes the Weasel, Do, Re, Mi, Everyone Says Good Morning/Afternoon, and It’s a Small World. You may have also heard the Spanish song, Los Pollitos, which is about little baby chicks where the students actually made chicken sounds on instruments that Miss Clark handmade herself! J The Fourth graders are delving into the recorder for the first time, and learning all the techniques for proper playing. Songs like This Land is Your Land, Simple Gifts, and the Japanese folk song Sakura, which was learned in both English and Japanese! The Fourth graders also learned a traditional Tahitian song called Hoe Ana, which we performed with ocean drums, colorful fishes, wind chimes, scarves and canoes during music class! The Fifth grade classes have been singing a variety of patriotic songs, playing the recorder and drums while reading and playing the corresponding rhythms on the board. They’ve also been learning a concentric circle contra-dance called the Heel Toe Polka, and a rhythmic body percussion song from Jamaica called Four White Horses. We’ve also been bringing a storybook called 17 Kings and 42 Elephants to life in class with drums, recorders, rain sticks, wind chimes, Orff instruments and wood blocks, and tambourines to tell the story of the many diverse animals living in the jungle. The Fifth grade chorus and band concert is coming up on Wednesday, January 30th, at 6:30 p.m. in the MBS gymnasium. I hope to see you there! ~Miss Sheila Clark
Spring 2008 Happy spring from the music room! J We are just finishing up our two week drumming residency with African artist-in-residence, Jeh Kulu. All the students at Malletts Bay are getting the opportunity to learn African drumming rhythms and African culture. Your student’s hands may be a little bit tired, but we are all having wonderful time learning and playing together! This two week cultural experience is in preparation for our Hands Around the World celebration concerts on April 7th & 8th at MBS, where we hope to see all of you very soon! The first part of the third quarter in music, students have been learning a variety of multi-cultural songs, dances and games from around the world in music to go along with the Hands Around the World theme. Songs such as Sakura, a Japanese folk song about cherry blossoms in the spring, and Danny Boy, a beautiful Irish song that we sang around St. Patrick’s Day were both learned. Students also actively participated in some Irish dances like The Chimes of Dunkirk, and an Irish drum dance complete with large hand drums! The fifth graders also learned a fun, athletic dance called the Troika, which is from Russia. While all third, fourth, and fifth graders learned a catchy song called What Can One Little Person Do? that fit perfectly into Black History month in February. It’s been an exciting and busy time for the Unified Arts team at MBS! We’ve just finished our successful two week drumming and dance residency with artists-in-residence, Jeh Kulu. Hands Around the World, has been our school-wide theme, and our students have been learning a variety of cultural experiences in Unified Arts classes all school year. These cultural celebrations were a wonderful way to showcase all of our student’s wonderful talents! The Unified Arts team would like to thank Mrs. Janet Hinnis, who has worked tirelessly creating the beautiful art displays that were showcased around the school for the Hands Around the World celebrations. ~Miss Sheila Clark Summer 2008 In the fourth quarter of music, students have been learning a variety of multi-cultural songs, dances and games from around the world to go along with the MBS Hands Around the World theme. Songs such as Sakura, a Japanese folk song about cherry blossoms in the spring, and Danny Boy, a beautiful Irish song that we sang around St. Patrick’s Day were both learned. Students also actively participated in some Irish dances like The Chimes of Dunkirk, and an Irish drum dance complete with large hand drums! The fifth graders also learned a fun, and athletic dance called the Troika, which is from Russia. The entire MBS community learned a catchy song called What Can One Little Person Do? which fit perfectly into Black History month, and had a very positive and important message to learn and sing about. Recently, the classroom talent show has been happening in all music classes for the last 2 weeks. Students have been showcasing a wide variety of musical skills and talents during our time together, and I have been truly impressed by everyone who has participated! Have a great summer! ~Miss Sheila Clark ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~School Year 2006-2007~ * Each of the following newsletters has gone home with all MBS students, as part of the Unified Arts Newsletter. Quarter 1 - Fall 2006 Autumn greetings from the Music room and Miss Clark! The music classes at MBS are based on things children naturally like to do: sing, chant rhymes, clap, dance, play instruments, and keep a beat. This teaching style is called the Orff-Schulwerk approach, and it is a way to teach and learn music. The students learn by hearing and making music first, then reading and writing it later. Singing, playing, improvisation, listening, dancing and body percussion are just a few of the musical events that your student will be experiencing each quarter in music. Malletts Bay School is also very fortunate to have a large instrumentarium of pitched mallet instruments called Orff instruments. These special melody instruments are played often by the students, and include metalaphones, xylophones and glockenspiels. Each instrument provides a good and successful sound immediately, and are played together as in a small orchestra. Their use helps the students to become not just sensitive players and listeners, but considerate participants in the music classroom. This quarter in music each of the grade levels have learned the proper techniques for playing both the Orff and percussion instruments in the classroom. We’ve spent much time learning these techniques by creating musical improvisations (making up your own music) on these instruments. This has been not only a learning experience for the students, but a fun and creative way to do so! Third grades have been learning many song/dances that you may have heard at home. Songs such as, Pop Goes the Weasel, and Oh Johnny Oh! are just two examples that have been learned this quarter. Each song is accompanied by a partner dance that requires not only concentration, but rhythmic counting accuracy, and musical listening. Fourth graders are delving into the recorder for the first time, and learning the techniques for proper playing. We’ve also been concentrating very hard on learning rhythms and being able to count/clap them out-loud. Fifth grade classes have been singing a variety of patriotic, and folk songs, and have also been introduced to basic contra-dancing. Names like “Chimes of Dunkirk, Alabama Gal, and the Heel Toe Polka” should all be familiar to your students, so go ahead and ask them to show you just one, or maybe even all three! Miss Sheila Clark, MBS Music Teacher ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quarter 2 - Winter 2007 The music classes at Malletts Bay School are based on things students naturally like to do: sing, chant rhymes, clap, dance, play instruments, and keep a steady beat. This teaching style is called the Orff-Schulwerk approach, and it is a way to teach and learn music. The students learn by hearing and making music first, then reading and writing it later. Singing, playing, creative improvisation, listening, dancing and body percussion are just a few of the musical events that your student will be experiencing each quarter in music class. Pitched mallet instruments called Orff instruments are used often in the music room. These special melody instruments include metalaphones, xylophones and glockenspiels, and each provides a good and successful sound immediately. Played together as in a small orchestra, their use helps the students to become not just sensitive players and listeners, but considerate participants in the music classroom. This quarter in music each of the grade level has learned the proper techniques for playing both the Orff and percussion instruments in the classroom. We’ve spent much time learning these techniques by creating musical improvisations (making up your own music) on these instruments. This has been not only a learning experience for all of the students, but a fun and creative way to do so! The third graders have been learning many song/dances that you may have heard at home. Songs such as, “Pop Goes the Weasel”, and “Oh Johnny Oh!” are just two examples that have been learned this quarter. Each song is accompanied by a partner dance that requires not only concentration, but rhythmic counting accuracy, and good musical listening. “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean”, and “Puff the Magic Dragon” and “Sing a Song of Sixpence” are just a few of the other songs learned that parents might be hearing throughout their homes as well. The Fourth graders have been learning a variety of patriotic songs, and have also been doing a few simple contra-dances such as, “The Sweets of May” and “Chimes of Dunkirk.” They’ve also been delving into the recorder for the first time, and learning the techniques for proper playing. We’ve also been concentrating very hard on learning rhythms and rhythm names and being able to count/clap them out-loud. Fifth grade classes have been singing a variety of folk, and patriotic songs, and have been introduced to contra-dancing. Dance names like “Alabama Gal”, and the “Heel Toe Polka” should be familiar to your students. We’ve also spent the last few weeks learning various instrument parts to accompany a musical storybook called 17 Kings and 42 Elephants. This was a great activity where students played in many different parts of a large musical ensemble. The instrument parts learned included recorders, drums, Orff instruments, wind chimes, rain sticks, tambourines, and a wood block part all being played simultaneously as the rhythmic story was being spoken out loud. Each of these instrument parts coincided with the variety of animals walking in the jungle, and seemed to be a really big hit for all the classes participating! ~Miss Sheila Clark-MBS Music Teacher ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quarter 3 - Spring 2007 The third quarter has been an extremely busy, but exciting time in the MBS music room! Our time was spent learning and practicing each of the songs, instrument parts, and dances that were performed at the MBS Winter Concert in February. The Third grade classes performed the songs, “It’s a Small Word,” “Sing a Song of Sixpence,” which included Orff instruments, and movements, “The Nutcracker Suite,” which incorporated dancing with many colorful scarves, and a song called “Oh Johnny Oh!” which was a concentric circle dance with accompanying instrument parts. The Fourth graders also performed on the same evening. Songs such as, “This Land is Your Land,” “Down the River,” “Let There be Peace on Earth,” and “Alpha Four” which was a body percussion piece with many Orff and percussion instruments were performed on that evening. The following evening was a full Fifth grade performance. The Fifth grade chorus, band, and music classes were all represented in the concert. There were a variety of winter and patriotic songs, a body percussion piece, Orff instrument parts, a full drumming piece, band instruments, and percussion instruments being played throughout. Both concerts were a great success and all the students involved did an excellent job! I would also like to thank all of the parents who volunteered with the reception preparation and take-down, your help was greatly appreciated! Just a reminder that the MBS Spring concerts will be held on Wednesday, May 16, & Thursday, May 17th at 6:30 p.m. in the MBS gymnasium. Please also take a look on the MBS Music website, (www.mallettsbay.k12.vt.us) under the Unified Arts and Music headings to see pictures of the concerts and learn more about what we do in music class. ~Miss Sheila Clark - MBS Music Teacher
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