Our awesome kindergarten friends singing at kindergarten registration!
http://www.youtube.com/embed/0GsKUo0W2oc"
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Chorus rehearsal
Our chorus program is quickly approaching! Our two after school rehearsals will be held on Monday, April 23rd and Monday, April 30th. Please make sure to be at Point O'View by 4:30 to pick up your child.
The program will be held on Tuesday, May 8th at 7PM.
The program will be held on Tuesday, May 8th at 7PM.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
POV Talent Show
Last Friday we had our talent show at Point O'View. I am so proud of all the kids who performed. Here are a few shots of the show. Please excuse the bad picture quality- my phone battery was dying and the flash wouldn't go off:) If you happen to have a picture of your child or children that you would like on the blog, send it to ergriffi@vbschools.com and I will make it happen!
Friday, March 23, 2012
All City Chorus
I am so proud of our 6 fifth graders who represented POV in the All-City Chorus event tonight! They did such an amazing job!
Friday, March 9, 2012
Progress Report/Report Card Grades
I have received several parent phone calls concerning progress report and report card grades, so I would like to address my grading system.
Content grades are averaged automatically by my electronic gradebook, and the only options are Outstanding, Satisfactory, Needs Improvement, and Unsatisfactory. As long as your child has an O or an S, they are doing great! Ns are given only for students who refuse to participate or for those 4th and 5th graders who do not purchase a recorder and therefore cannot participate.
Behavior grades are not averaged in the gradebook. I give each child a behavior grade weekly of an O, S, or N. When progress reports are received, I give only an S if a child is behaving well or an N if they are having difficulties. If a child has an N on their progress report, it is just a warning to the child and their parents that he or she needs to improve their behavior before report cards come around a few weeks later. For report cards I will give each child an O, S, or N based on the weekly grades they have been given.
My content and behavior grading scales are listed on the righthand side of the blog as separate pages. Please feel free to look at them. I am always available to talk about your child's grades and discuss how we can improve them. Please contact me at ergriffi@vbschools.com if you are concerned about what is happening in the music classroom.
Thank you! Have a great weekend!
Content grades are averaged automatically by my electronic gradebook, and the only options are Outstanding, Satisfactory, Needs Improvement, and Unsatisfactory. As long as your child has an O or an S, they are doing great! Ns are given only for students who refuse to participate or for those 4th and 5th graders who do not purchase a recorder and therefore cannot participate.
Behavior grades are not averaged in the gradebook. I give each child a behavior grade weekly of an O, S, or N. When progress reports are received, I give only an S if a child is behaving well or an N if they are having difficulties. If a child has an N on their progress report, it is just a warning to the child and their parents that he or she needs to improve their behavior before report cards come around a few weeks later. For report cards I will give each child an O, S, or N based on the weekly grades they have been given.
My content and behavior grading scales are listed on the righthand side of the blog as separate pages. Please feel free to look at them. I am always available to talk about your child's grades and discuss how we can improve them. Please contact me at ergriffi@vbschools.com if you are concerned about what is happening in the music classroom.
Thank you! Have a great weekend!
Friday, February 17, 2012
Valentine's Day
The week of Valentine's Day is one of my favorite weeks to be a music teacher! We do so many fun activities about love, hearts, and friendship.
Kindergarten learned two very important words this week: beat and rhythm. We learned that a steady beat stays the same while rhythm changes constantly and corresponds to the number of syllables in a word. We used big and little hearts to show the difference between beats and rhythms on the board. Here we are doing a dance where we clap the rhythm of numbers and then spin around with our partners.
First graders had an exciting time learning where to place so and mi on their very own staff. Each student was given a staff and dots and had to "write" the melody I sang. They did a really great job! We then learned a cute, simple Valentine's Day song and a silly poem.
The second graders had a real treat this week. We pulled out the Active Expression devices to take a quiz. These are little remote controls that allow students to answer questions on their own by choosing a multiple choice answer on their device. We also learned a very fun Valentine dance where we focused on being partners with everyone in our classroom, not just those people we consider our best friends. This is such a valuable lesson for all students- we must be able to work with everyone!
Fourth graders had a quick discussion about our field trip last week. We went to the symphony and talked about the different songs we heard and instruments we saw. The children really enjoyed themselves and I am so glad this is an opportunity we can offer to the students each year. Many of them may not see a live symphony orchestra again, so I am glad to give them this experience. After our discussion, we danced to "Love Will Keep us Together." The first part of each section is a following game. Each group must follow their leader until the refrain begins. We also created a song about exercising in rondo form. Ask your student what that means- hopefully they can explain it quite well!
Fifth graders were challenged greatly this week! We have been talking about mixed and unusual meters, where we take music that has groups of 2 beats and 3 beats and combine them. This week our song was "All You Need is Love" by The Beatles. We played a lummi stick game with the song. This class is in the midst of learning the moves, so the performance has not been perfected yet! It is really difficult to move to a song that has groupings of 7 beats, and they are doing a great job. I am also posting a video of an activity we did last week with drums and barred instruments.
Kindergarten learned two very important words this week: beat and rhythm. We learned that a steady beat stays the same while rhythm changes constantly and corresponds to the number of syllables in a word. We used big and little hearts to show the difference between beats and rhythms on the board. Here we are doing a dance where we clap the rhythm of numbers and then spin around with our partners.
First graders had an exciting time learning where to place so and mi on their very own staff. Each student was given a staff and dots and had to "write" the melody I sang. They did a really great job! We then learned a cute, simple Valentine's Day song and a silly poem.
In third grade this week, the students learned a new note: low la. We learned that this is the pitch that is the resting tone for songs in a minor key. The students will practice singing, reading, and notating this pitch over the next few weeks. We also sang a Valentine song using our new rhythm, ti-ka-ti-ka. Third graders are also working on movement improvisation, so we took a few moments to practice making our bodies into the shapes of letters and random shapes. We will continue to work on this for several weeks as well. Here is one of the third grade classes dancing to "Love Will Keep us Together."
Fourth graders had a quick discussion about our field trip last week. We went to the symphony and talked about the different songs we heard and instruments we saw. The children really enjoyed themselves and I am so glad this is an opportunity we can offer to the students each year. Many of them may not see a live symphony orchestra again, so I am glad to give them this experience. After our discussion, we danced to "Love Will Keep us Together." The first part of each section is a following game. Each group must follow their leader until the refrain begins. We also created a song about exercising in rondo form. Ask your student what that means- hopefully they can explain it quite well!
Fifth graders were challenged greatly this week! We have been talking about mixed and unusual meters, where we take music that has groups of 2 beats and 3 beats and combine them. This week our song was "All You Need is Love" by The Beatles. We played a lummi stick game with the song. This class is in the midst of learning the moves, so the performance has not been perfected yet! It is really difficult to move to a song that has groupings of 7 beats, and they are doing a great job. I am also posting a video of an activity we did last week with drums and barred instruments.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
January Fun
I apologize (again) for the lack of updates... keeping a weekly blog with videos and pictures is harder than I thought it would be! Since Point O'View has had so many new kids come in since September, I am working to make sure the newer students have media releases before I can post videos and pictures that might include them.
A few of you have been asking about kindergarten spinning time. I first encountered this activity when I was student teaching in Franklin, TN. The kindergarten students met for one hour every day for SMART time. The first 15 minutes of this time was spent as a whole group. We would begin by spinning and stopping in 15 second increments. I found that this was a great way to get students up and moving. Every music day we spin for 3-5 minutes while listening to classical music. Not only does it encourage exercise, it also introduces them to different types of music and forces them to listen for directions while music is playing. Here is a small clip of one of the classes during their spin time. I let the kids spin at their own rate. Sometimes we are tired and spin more slowly, while other times we are more excited and spin more quickly. When we stop, the kids are encouraged to put their hands on their knees and close their eyes so we can regain our balance and having time to just listen.
Second graders have been learning many new pitches on the Music Lane scale. We now know the 5 notes of the pentatonic scale, which are do, re, mi, so, and la. We have been dancing and singing and learning all about the different ways songs can be formed. So far we have learned about the forms A, AB, ABC, and ABA.
Third graders just learned a new pitch, too! We learned that "high do" sounds the same as "low do," just at a different octave. Here is one class singing a song using the pitches we know.
A few of you have been asking about kindergarten spinning time. I first encountered this activity when I was student teaching in Franklin, TN. The kindergarten students met for one hour every day for SMART time. The first 15 minutes of this time was spent as a whole group. We would begin by spinning and stopping in 15 second increments. I found that this was a great way to get students up and moving. Every music day we spin for 3-5 minutes while listening to classical music. Not only does it encourage exercise, it also introduces them to different types of music and forces them to listen for directions while music is playing. Here is a small clip of one of the classes during their spin time. I let the kids spin at their own rate. Sometimes we are tired and spin more slowly, while other times we are more excited and spin more quickly. When we stop, the kids are encouraged to put their hands on their knees and close their eyes so we can regain our balance and having time to just listen.
Since I last posted, the first graders learned about the so and mi family that live on Music Lane. They are now singing songs using these pitches. If you ask them, they should be able to tell you that the so family is higher and the mi family is lower. Hopefully they can even sing them for you!
Second graders have been learning many new pitches on the Music Lane scale. We now know the 5 notes of the pentatonic scale, which are do, re, mi, so, and la. We have been dancing and singing and learning all about the different ways songs can be formed. So far we have learned about the forms A, AB, ABC, and ABA.
Third graders just learned a new pitch, too! We learned that "high do" sounds the same as "low do," just at a different octave. Here is one class singing a song using the pitches we know.
Fourth graders are continuing to practice our recorders. We are learning another new note this week, low D. This is the note right under the treble clef staff. It is a difficult note to play. I have encouraged the students to take their recorders home and practice when possible. If your child watches TV, they could practice just during the commercials of one 30 minute show. This would give them 5-10 minutes of great practice time, split up into increments that would not be stressful or overwhelming for them. If this is too much for other family members' ears to take, the front porch is a great place to practice:)
Fifth graders have been singing, dancing, and playing instruments. We been practicing movement improvisation for the last few weeks. This means the students are creating their own ways to move without me giving them many limitations. This video is an example of one type of movement improvisation. The students were given a scarf and asked to get into groups. I then gave the scarves a characteristic and had the students pass them to one another, showing that characteristic. It is pretty funny to watch! The kids did a great job with this.
Economics Rap
The third graders have been talking about economics in their classrooms. Miss Johnson, our Gifted Resource Teacher, told me that two boys made up their own rap about economics. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! We have some super talented kids here!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Brand New Year!
Welcome back! We have had such a great first week back in school! The topic this week for most of the grade levels deals with new beginnings and what we did over Winter break. The kids are doing a great job getting back into the swing of things.
In kindergarten, we practiced using our singing voices to share what we did during our vacation. Some of the students shared a gift they received, a place they went, or an activity they did. We used our high and low voices and I assessed their accuracy of imitating high and low. We then read a book called The Snowy Day and the students pantomimed the story. One of my goals in my music classroom is to provide a safe place for improvisation and creativity. Watch these students in Mrs. Meltzer's class as they act out the story.
First graders explored triple meter this week, though they have not heard that label yet. We learned a poem about the holidays being over. The students had to show me a steady beat on their legs and in their hands as we spoke. This is challenging for some students, as they have to think of both words and movements at the same time. We then used words from our poem to create a word chain on the board. The first graders will be assessed soon on their accuracy of rhythm reading. We took our word chain and notated it rhythmically. We also had fun on instruments this week. We learned about the pitches so and mi and practiced playing a steady beat to a song using those pitches. Here is Mrs. Pfeiffer's class playing a chord bordun, which means they are playing two notes at the same time underneath the song.
The second grade classrooms learned the same poem that the first graders did, but with a twist. Instead of keeping just one steady beat, they had to show me two different types of steady beats. First we spoke the poem while patting a quarter note steady beat, then we spoke the poem while patting a half note steady beat. Ask your children how a quarter note and a half note are different. We learned a song called "Taxi, Taxi." This song contains 3 pitches: so, la, and mi. We have been practicing writing these pitches on a 3 line staff. This skill will also be assessed in the coming weeks. The students also began learning "The Noble Duke of York," to which we will add a dance next week.
In third grade, the students learned a fiction song about 3 monkeys. This song will be used in the coming weeks to reinforce the sounds of the pitches do, re, mi, so, do'. In this song, one of the monkeys is said to be smoking a corncob pipe. We took this important opportunity to discuss fact vs. fiction and had an important discussion on the dangers of smoking. You would be so proud of your kids and the reasons they gave that smoking is bad for your body. We also practiced the skill of mirroring. This is the first time they have mirrored one another rather than mirroring the teacher. Take a look at their creative movements!
In kindergarten, we practiced using our singing voices to share what we did during our vacation. Some of the students shared a gift they received, a place they went, or an activity they did. We used our high and low voices and I assessed their accuracy of imitating high and low. We then read a book called The Snowy Day and the students pantomimed the story. One of my goals in my music classroom is to provide a safe place for improvisation and creativity. Watch these students in Mrs. Meltzer's class as they act out the story.
First graders explored triple meter this week, though they have not heard that label yet. We learned a poem about the holidays being over. The students had to show me a steady beat on their legs and in their hands as we spoke. This is challenging for some students, as they have to think of both words and movements at the same time. We then used words from our poem to create a word chain on the board. The first graders will be assessed soon on their accuracy of rhythm reading. We took our word chain and notated it rhythmically. We also had fun on instruments this week. We learned about the pitches so and mi and practiced playing a steady beat to a song using those pitches. Here is Mrs. Pfeiffer's class playing a chord bordun, which means they are playing two notes at the same time underneath the song.
The second grade classrooms learned the same poem that the first graders did, but with a twist. Instead of keeping just one steady beat, they had to show me two different types of steady beats. First we spoke the poem while patting a quarter note steady beat, then we spoke the poem while patting a half note steady beat. Ask your children how a quarter note and a half note are different. We learned a song called "Taxi, Taxi." This song contains 3 pitches: so, la, and mi. We have been practicing writing these pitches on a 3 line staff. This skill will also be assessed in the coming weeks. The students also began learning "The Noble Duke of York," to which we will add a dance next week.
In third grade, the students learned a fiction song about 3 monkeys. This song will be used in the coming weeks to reinforce the sounds of the pitches do, re, mi, so, do'. In this song, one of the monkeys is said to be smoking a corncob pipe. We took this important opportunity to discuss fact vs. fiction and had an important discussion on the dangers of smoking. You would be so proud of your kids and the reasons they gave that smoking is bad for your body. We also practiced the skill of mirroring. This is the first time they have mirrored one another rather than mirroring the teacher. Take a look at their creative movements!
The fourth graders began with a dance this week. We danced with partners to "Pattycake Switch." This folk dance is very challenging, but the kids did an amazing job. We defined the term "do-si-do" and learned how to do this movement with our partners. We also learned about concentric circles, where one partner was in the outside circle and the other was in the outside circle. After our dance, we learned a simple song called "Chipper Chopper Joe." We used a chart on the promethean board to color code different lines in the song. Each student was given an instrument and asked to play only on their color. This was quite a challenge to some, but is a great lesson in tracking as we continue learning to read music. The video for this is on my school computer and I will upload it on Monday :)
Fifth graders delved into the exciting world of mixed meter! Most of the music we hear on the radio is in either duple or triple meter. We practiced "Chick, Chick, Chatterman" in duple and triple. We then combined the two- we combined a line of triple meter (3 beats) with a line of duple meter (2 beats) and came up with mixed meter (5 beats). Ask your student to show you the movements we added to our song. We will keep practicing this- it feels very unnatural to move to music in mixed meter! Fifth graders will be assessed next week on the 4 major instrument groups. We reviewed these groups and the instruments in each.
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