Alash

HSES was incredibly fortunate to host the Alash Ensemble recently for a performance at our school. They are currently on tour in North America and were performing at the university nearby, UGA. I discussed the group's country of origin, the Republic of Tuva, and their unique style of performing called throat singing. They were fabulous and the students were so fascinated! I heard from many parents that throat singing was the topic of conversation at their dinner table that night including some demonstrations. ;)

Here are a few pictures of their performance a some video clips of the group you can check out. Their website also has some wonderful information if you'd like to learn more about them: http://alashensemble.com/

Pipe Cleaner Rhythms!

First grade classes have been learning all about basic rhythms in music. I was inspired by Tracy King's "Pipe Cleaner Notation" post and decided to try it myself! It was a great way for the students to learn how to create the note shapes as well as practice rhythm patterns. They enjoyed the tactile experience. :)

The President's Own!

Our school was incredibly honored to host "The President's Own" US Marine Band Woodwind Quintet! They were giving a concert nearby at UGA and were able to stop by our school to do a performance for our students. It was an incredible experience for all of us!

Photography Credit: Charley Clinkenbeard

The Mitten

One of my absolute favorite lessons each year goes along with the children's book, The Mitten, by Jan Brett.

I got this idea from my mentor teacher years ago and have adapted it and tweaked it over the years. I use it as a way to culminate the major units that my first graders have been studying throughout the year - rhythm patterns and basic mallet skills. It is also a great way to ease them into preparing for their Spring Musical.

First, I read the story to the students and we discuss the various characters in the book. For each character, we learn a rhythm pattern and I have the students practice playing the rhythms on various percussion instruments.

Then, I teach the students a song that goes with the book. We add a simple bordun and an octave glockenspiel part at the end of each phrase.

Finally, we add some actors! I choose students to represent each character and they follow the narration of the book. I created some masks that I printed from Jan Brett's website, laminated them, and added some elastic bands.

I used a cheap white sheet and cut it into the shape of a mitten for the actors to sit on top of during their performance.

After the students have practiced all of the parts, we put together a performance that we show to their classroom teacher. As the story is read, one student plays the rhythm pattern on the percussion instrument while that character "gets into" the mitten. When the bear sneezes in the story, the actors toss the mitten up into the air and pretend to fall into the snow while the percussionists play all together. We begin and end the performance with our mitten song accompanied by the mallet instruments.

 

If you have larger classes, you can add actors for Nicki and his grandmother, Baba. You can also double instrument parts and even add sound effects on the sneeze part (think: crank, vibraslap, slapstick, etc.) This activity makes a great "informance" piece at PTO meetings or other school events.

The students LOVE it and it is definitely a crowd-pleaser for teachers, too. Fun and learning - that's how we roll at HSES! :)

The Snowy Day... on the Mallets!

I love the book, The Snowy Day, and so do my students! First graders have been experimenting with various sounds they can make with the mallet instruments. I thought this activity would be a perfect way to give them experience on the instruments as well as allow them some creative expression.

First, we read the story and talked about all of the things Peter did in the snow. Then, I had the students partner up and I assigned each of them an action from the story...

The students then worked with their partner to create a sound effect that could represent that action in the story. It was so neat to see the ideas they came up with!

After each group shared their ideas, I re-read the story and had the groups add their sound effect at the appropriate point in the story.

An extension idea could be having half of the class play the sound effects and the other half act out the story. Maybe we'll try that next! :)

Oh Opposites!

First graders at HSES have been working on a musical opposites unit! They have learned about loud/soft (quiet), fast/slow, high/low, and long/short. They have had so much fun doing various games and activities to help them identify these changes in music. Here are a few pictures of our fun...

After hearing a fast/slow story about a school bus, students move their buses fast and slow to the music.

After learning about fast and slow music, students participate in a quick check assessment.

Learning about loud and soft -  boys pretend to be grizzly bears hibernating

... and wake up when the song gets loud!

And then the girls get to be the grizzly bears!

So. Much. Fun! :)

Using scarves as paintbrushes - painting long and short sounds

Using sticks to play "violins" when they hear long sounds...

... and playing "drums" for short sounds.

Pretending scarves are taffy - stretching them out to long sounds.