What Have We Done This Week!! - Grade 1/2

 This is a big one so I am going to do separate posts for it.

The grade 1/2's have been working on composition.  They are taking their knowledge of notes, rhythm and beat and turning them into their own song.  This week we practiced writing notes, creating and reading our own rhythms.  We then put the notes on the 5 line staff and I played everyones song on the piano.  We have some amazing composers in grade 1/2!  We also had a special performance on the piano by Lauren. Here are a bunch of pictures from the classes I have seen so far this week.  

Thank You

 A huge THANK YOU to everyone who sent in pictures of their students special place.  It was the perfect amount of pictures and really cool to see what all the students chose.  You can see the Peace Assembly by clicking the link in the email Mr. Strand sent today or by visiting the Eric Harvie School Youtube. 

What Did We Do This Week?

 Every class is involved in this upcoming Peace Assembly.  This week we recorded individual speakers as well as every classes part in the song, Treat People With Kindness. It was nice to hear everyone's voices and get up and moving. 

Kindergarten

- we worked on the terms rhythm (the way the words go) and beat

-we reviewed ta and ti-ti and introduced a quarter rest and half note and worked out how to read them

-we sang solo and tried to match pitch

-we listened to different timbre of voice and tried to guess who was singing

Grade 1/2 

- we learned about Mozart and listened to Balletmusik while playing a beat game

- created our own ways to keep the beat

- talked about ostinatos (in our case a 4 beat rhythm that repeats over and over) and composed a short song

- looked at the form of a song (Into, middle, End) 

- Played a variety of unpitched percussion instruments to our new song

Grade 3/4 

 - we reviewed the string and percussion family

- introduced the woodwind and the brass family

- learned about composer Benjamin Britten

- Listened to The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra and watched a short movie made to this piece of classical music

Music On A Monday

 Thank you for all of your pictures of places that you feel at peace!  They are really lovely to see.  

This week I'd like to share a Short Video featuring the music of Benjamin Britten's: The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra, Op. 34.  

Enjoy!

Where Do You Feel Good?

Eric Harvie's next Peace Assembly is about feeling peaceful within ourselves.  We have been talking about finding a place where we feel good.  I am hoping to get a few pictures to add to our Peace Assembly.  Please note that if you send a picture it will be in the video attached to our school Youtube page.  What I am looking for: your child in a place that makes them feel good, feel at peace. It does not have to be a recent picture, it can be one from the past.  If you would like to participate, please email your photo to Jennele Coulson at jabaine@cbe.ab.ca. 

 

Thank you!

Jennele Coulson

What Did We Do This Week?

 If you are wondering what your student did this week.. here it is!

Kindergarten

- Learned the chorus to Treat People with Kindness

- Practiced high and low notes

- Played singing and drama games preparing the notes so and mi

- We played a variety of instrument, practicing rhythm and beat and switching between the two

- We learned about penguins and practiced hopping on one foot!

Grade 1/2 

- We learned the first verse if Treat People with Kindness 

- We sang in French and learned the name for some body parts in French.  We discussed how Canada is a bilingual Country and that the primary language of Quebec is French

- We practiced pitch moving from high to low as we pretended to be icicles

- We practiced reading rhythms, putting in bar lines for 2/4 time signature 

- We sang solo (all by ourselves!!!)

Grade 3/4 

- We learned the verse of Treat People with Kindness

- Played a super fun game called Bippity Bippity Bop

- We talked about the music of the First Nations, in particular the Blackfoot. We looked at a variety of instruments and talked about what they would have been made of in the past

- A few students rose to the challenge of deciding if a piano is a string instrument or a percussion instrument.  They had a chance today to defend their position before finding out it is a percussion instrument (when you push a key it moves a hammer up to hit a string and that is what produces the sound - the action of hitting puts it in the percussion family) Well done to everyone who did the research!

What is Inner Peace?

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in online learning for music.  I am so proud of how respectful and engaged the students were and thank you parents for all the work behind the scenes you did.  I know if was not easy.  

This week all of the classes have been asked to think about what it means to have peace of self, inner peace.  During our first Peace Assembly way back in October we talked about the ripple effect and that peace starts within us and then ripples outward.  This next Peace Assembly that we are preparing for is all about how peace starts within us.  Each grade has been asked what peace looks like within us, how do we find peace within us and where is a place that makes us feel good.  These are not easy questions to answer. 

That leads us to our Peace song that we have been learning. It is called Treat People With Kindness by Harry Styles.  If you would like to practice this at home, here is the link to the lyric video. Please be aware that this link will take you to YouTube.  We will be slightly changing the lyrics in the bridge so that it is more relevant to us at school.  The song talks about finding a place to feel good within ourselves so that we can reach out and then treat others with kindness.