3RD QUARTER NEWSLETTER
Last Song Home.mp3
KINDERGARTEN During the third marking period,
kindergarten students will be studying duration of notes. The terms
"long" and "short" will be used to describe notes that are played and
heard in a variety of listening and performance opportunities.
FIRST GRADE First graders will use word rhythms with standard notation (quarter and eighth notes) as we make the transition to rhythm terms that are used in grades two through five. Students will also identify the quarter note and the quarter rest. In addition, we will focus on the concept of pitch (high and low). An assessment on patterns of high and low pitches and an assessment of reading the quarter note (tah) and quarter rest (huh) will be administered during this marking period.
SECOND GRADE Second graders will learn how to identify and read half rests. Students are responsible for using rhythm terms with the quarter note (tah), quarter rest (huh), half note (tah-ah), half rest (huh, huh), and eighth notes (tah-tee). An assessment of reading rhythms will be administered during the second half of the marking period. In addition, we will be focusing on patterns of sections of music (musical FORM). AB, ABA, and ABACA (rondo) forms will be covered throughout the marking period. Icons and movements will be utilized to reinforce the aural patterns heard in class.
THIRD GRADE Third graders will learn how to distinguish between major and minor chords and keys. An aural assessment of major and minor chords and key will be administered during the first half of the marking period. Students will also conclude their tone color unit with folk and orchestral instruments by discriminating the different tone colors of the violin, cello, and string bass, as well as the acoustic guitar, banjo, harmonica, and hammered dulcimer. An aural instrument identification test will occur during the second half of the marking period. Pitches G, A, and B will be read and performed on the recorders.
FOURTH GRADE Fourth graders will learn how to read one eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes (tah tee-kee) and two sixteenth notes followed by an eighth note (tah-kuh tee). Students will conclude their tone color unit with band instruments. An aural instrument identification test will occur during the second half of the marking period. In addition, students will be exposed to the sight and sound of instruments from a variety of cultures. Pitches G, A, B, C, and low E will be read and performed on recorders.
FIFTH GRADE Fifth graders will learn how to read various rhythms in 6/8 meter which includes the dotted quarter note, three beamed eighth notes, quarter note followed by an eighth note, dotted half note, and dotted quarter rest. An assessment of reading rhythms will be administered during the first half of the marking period. Students will also conclude their tone color unit on world instruments which include steel drum, pan pipe, conga drum, gong, tabla, sitar, erhu, shofar, mbira, and guitar. An aural instrument identification test will occur during the second half of the marking period. An extended unit in which students identify soprano, alto, tenor, and bass voice parts as a solo and in two-part combinations will be covered during the last part of this marking period. Pitches G, A, B, C, high D, and low E will be read and performed on recorders.
One final reminder: ALL THIRD, FOURTH, AND FIFTH GRADE STUDENTS NEED TO BRING THEIR RECORDERS TO EVERY MUSIC CLASS
