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2nd Grade Ear Training!

2nd-grade-music-video

Recently we’ve been working on ear training and trying to recognize pitches and scales. In this activity, students with bells are the “instruments” and the other students must help to organize them according to pitch.  Here are our second graders organizing themselves into an ascending major scale! (Plus a small celebration afterwards).

 

Songs for Zimriyah 2016!

Here is a playlist of the songs for Zimriyah this year in case students and families want to practice at home!

 

All School: Shiru Shir, Shir Hachodashim, Rabbi Akiva, Nerot Shel Ahava, Mishe, Echad Mi Yode’a, Yom Huledet

Grades Pre-K, K, 1, 2: Basukkah shelanu, Shana Tova, Hashkediya Porachat, Letsan Katan

Grades 3,4,5:  Bashana haba-a, Sukkat Shalom, Ki Tavou,

Alumni song: Yesh Li Chag

Jingle Project! (Video)

During the last few weeks in music class students have been working in groups to create their own products or stores and write corresponding jingles. Later, we used the products and jingles to create whole commercials! Students came up with so many creative and interesting jingles and commercials!

Here is an example of one of them:

Want to see more JCDSRI Jingles? Check out our Youtube playlist here!

Pre-K in Music!

Lately our Pre K students have been exploring and learning about a lot of different music and instruments. Last week, we learned about the orchestra and all of the different musicians and instruments that are used in it. We watched a video of an orchestra performing and talked about how all the musicians follow the conductor, which helps them to perform as a group. Later we practiced playing as a group and following a conductor using some hand drums!

Library Fun!

Special thanks go to parent Rachel Venditto for creating such wonderful pennants for our school library! Not only are they beautiful, but they convey, in both English and Hebrew, what I hope students experience in the library. I want them to discover, read, think, imagine, and dream here. I see the library as a portal to self-directed learning and creativity. This is why every moLibrary Pennantsnth we study a country, a science topic, a cultural topic, and library skills. The library also provides an array of learning materials, including ipads, books, and Montessori-inspired activities that are tailored to every class. In this spirit, this week was a “country” week. We learned a bit about Cuba. For example, for grades Pre-K through 1, we read the book “The Drum Dream Girl,” by Margarita Engle. This beautifully-illustrated story is about a young girl who loves to drum, but is told by her father that “only boys” play the drums. In time, the father relents and allows her to study drumming with a teacher. Later, she is permitted to play publicly in her sisters’ band, and she is a great success. The tale is based on the true story of a Chinese-African-Cuban girl, Millo Castro Zaldarriaga. She broke Cuba’s traditional taboo against female drummers when she played in an “all-girl dance band” during the 1930s. She went on to become a world-famous musician, and later played with some of the American jazz greats of the era. The story led to some interesting discussions among the students about gender and equity. Later, the students identified Cuba on a world map, listened to some Cuban music while reading, colored pages of Cuban parrots, constructed letters of the alphabet out of colorful pipe cleaners, and solved “Pirate Math” problems. The kids, of course, also had time for browsing books to check out. It was a fun week in the library!

Inspired Performances by First Grade!

After watching an inspiring clip of Blue Man Group performing using PVC pipe, first grade students were given the chance to create their own performances using a cardboard tube.

The rules were:

  1. We will work in pairs.
  2. We can’t practice beforehand, only discuss with our partner what we’d like to do.
  3. Once we are in front of the class, we are the performers and the other students are the audience!

This project allowed students to use some of the musical terms and rhythms mentioned in class in an effective way.  It also taught us how to convey our musical ideas with words. After the performances, the performers and audience members reflected on their triumphs and successes, and how we might approach an activity like this in the future.