5 Little Jack-O-Lanterns

Here is a recording of Mrs. Klein's Kindergarten class singing "5 Little Jack-O-Lanterns." Great job, Mrs. Klein's class!

"I'm a jack-o-lantern with a great big grin. 

I'm a jack-o-lantern with a candle in. 

5 little jack-o-lanterns sitting on a gate. 

The first one said 'oh my, it's getting late!' 

The second one said 'let's have some fun!' 

The third one said 'let's run, let's run!' 

The fourth one said 'let's dance, let's prance!' 

The fifth one said 'now is our chance...' 

Then whoosh went the wind and out went the lights,

And five jack-o-lanterns rolled out of sight."

Many Mumbling Mice

Here is a recording of Mrs. Toon's 1st Grade class singing the song "Many Mumbling Mice." Listen as we practice singing our "M" words in Minor tonality. It's quite the tongue twister, but they are doing a great job! I am very proud music teacher :) Great job, Mrs. Toon's class!

"Many mumbling mice, are making merry music in the moonlight--Mighty nice."

Shake Dem Halloween Bones!

One of our favorite songs in music class the past week has been "Shake Dem Halloween Bones." It's based of a children's book that we put music to and it is all about a fun Halloween party where different storybook characters show up. Listen and see what characters you recognize!

Here is a recording of Mr. Brines' 1st grade class singing along. They were so excited to be recorded (and a few of them wanted to make sure their voices were heard :))  Listen and you'll know what I mean!

Marionettes, Mountains and Music...oh my!

Hi everyone! Here are two of the songs that we listened to in 2nd grade music class this week. 

First, listen to "Funeral March of the Marionette" by Charles Gounod. The beginning is a little different than what you know, but at 39 seconds in you will begin to recognize the music. See if you can pretend to be a marionette marching to the music. Maybe someone at home will do it with you!

Then listen to "The Hall of the Mountain King." Do you remember the "hand jive" we did in class? And what two things did Edvard Grieg, the composer, do to the theme to make it more interesting? What did he change from the beginning to the end? See if you can tell the story and teach the "hand jive" to someone at home!

Music Rollercoaster

ZKO Rollercoaster // GREAT EMOTIONS from virtual republic on Vimeo.

Check out this AWESOME video! It turns Ferdinand Ries' 2nd Symphony into a rollercoaster. Watch and listen to how the ups and downs of the rollercoaster match perfectly with the music. I could just watch this over and over again. How cool!

Go Get 'Em Tigers!

All of our singing and chanting for the Tigers must have been good luck, because Detroit swept the Yankees and are headed to the World Series! I'm sure they are thankful to the great students of Bryant for cheering and sending positive thoughts! Way to go, Tigers!


"We're all behind our baseball team
Go Get 'Em Tigers
World Series bound and pickin' up steam
Go Get 'Em Tigers

There'll be joy in Tigertown
We'll sing you songs
When the Bengals bring the pennant
Home where it belongs

We're all behind our baseball team
Go Get 'Em
Detroit Tigers
Go Get 'Em Tigers!"

Kindergarten and First Grade Songs

Here are some of our favorite songs we have been singing in Kindergarten and First Grade music the past couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy singing them at home! In the songs "Birdie, Birdie" and "Underneath the Spreading Apple Tree," Kindergartners have been learning to "audiate." While audiation is much more complex, the simple explanation that I tell the kids is that it is "singing and thinking music in your head." In these songs, students are asked to "audiate" certain words. Have fun!

1st Grade Music Centers

This week in music class, 1st graders earned enough behavior stars to have a special Music Centers day. They did a great job at their centers and were very responsible music makers. Each student got a chance to participate at each center. The 4 centers were...

• Music Library Center: We read through music books. 
• Note Drawing Center: We practiced drawing music notes and symbols.
• Keyboard Center: We explored on the keyboards.
• Puppet Center: We got to use finger puppets and sing with Ms. Ritter!

1st graders, what was your favorite music center?

My Community

In 2nd grade Social Studies, students have been learning about communities. In our humanities class we learned a song by Joe Reilly called "My Community." Click on the button below to listen to the song and sing along!

"My community is where I live, work and play. 

My community cares what I think, do and say. 

My community is not too big and not too small. 

My community has enough room for us all. 

My community teaches me how to be a part of something,

Bigger than me. Community!"

Michigan Football and Music

Check it out! These guys are great examples of working hard and following your dreams. They are two Michigan football players who are also musicians. When they are not in practice or on the football field, they are busy doing something else that they love--MUSIC! How cool! GO BLUE!

Music Blog Scavenger Hunt

Welcome, Scavenger Hunters! I'm glad you came to check out the blog and try to earn a prize. 

Here's how you do it... 

Have someone at home help you answer the 5 questions below and bring me the answers. All of the answers are found here on the blog! If you bring me back your completed paper, you get a prize! Happy Hunting! 

1. "Music is a _____________." (**HINT: Ice cream...**) 

2. Name 3 ways we learn music...(**HINT: It's on the left side...) 

3. On the post called "2nd Grade Rhythm Reading," click on the box that says "Let's Read Music!" Go through the steps and practice your rhythm reading. At the very end, you will see a cartoon of Ms. Ritter. 

What is Ms. Ritter's cartoon holding? __________________ 

4. Ask your parents if they want to fill in their email address in the top right corner and "Subscribe" to our blog. If they don't want to, don't worry about it, but if they do, they will get an email update whenever something new is added to the blog (and I try to add fun things for you to do often!) 

5. Name on fun, new thing that you found on the blog.

________________________________ 

 Have fun!

Haydn's "Surprise Symphony"

 Hi 2nd graders! Click on on the box above to hear Franz Joseph Haydn's "Surprise Symphony!" Do you remember what the "surprise" was? What a funny musical joke Haydn was telling! 

Do you remember what the listening map looked like? If you go to this website, you can see the listening map and even print out your own.
http://www.makingmusicfun.net/htm/f_printit_free_printable_worksheets/surprise_symphony_listening_map.htm

Remember: When reading a map, we always need a KEY to know what each symbol means. Do you remember what the KEY looked like to our listening map in class?

2nd Grade Rhythm Reading

Hi, 2nd graders! Here is a way for you to practice your rhythm reading at home. Click on the picture below and follow the directions.

1. Look at the rhythm pattern.

2. Read the pattern using rhythm syllables (Du and Du De).

3. Click on the next slide to hear the answer 

***To hear the answers, make sure the sound is turned up on your computer***

How many patterns can you read correctly?

To see a larger version of this Voice Thread, click here...

Duple Meter: Level 1

Music Centers

Two weeks ago, 2nd graders earned enough behavior stars to get to have a special Music Centers day. During our centers day, there were 4 different centers set up throughout the room and everyone got to spend time at each center. The 4 centers were...

• Keyboard Center: we got to wear headphones and play and make up songs on our class keyboards. This was, by far, the favorite center. 
• Music Library Center: we got to read stories and books about music. "Jazz Fly," "Pete the Cat" and "Music Teacher from the Black Lagoon" were definite favorites.
• Glockenspiel Center: we got to play glockenspiels and try and figure out how to play different songs by following along with song sheets.
• Music Game Center: we got to play musical "Go Fish" with different notes, and played a music memory game.

Overall, it was a really fun day. Already looking forward to our next music centers day!

Fun Songs

Here are a couple more fun songs to get you moving and grooving at home. Enjoy!

Tootie Ta!

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Here is one of our favorite songs to do at the end of Kindergarten and 1st grade music. Super silly and super fun! They love it so much that I even hear them singing it on the playground and in the lunch line. Enjoy!

CHS Storytellers Visit

This past Thursday, 1st graders in Mr. Brines' and Ms. Garvin's class had a special visit by three students from Community High School who came to tell them some African stories. For the presentation, Mr. Brines' and Ms. Garvin's class came together in the music room to watch the show. The three girls from CHS did a great job at involving the students, and the kids loved how they acted out their stories. At the end, they got to ask questions about the stories and talk about what they learned from them. Their favorite of the two stories was "Black Snake and the Eggs."

After the storytellers finished telling their stories, we even had time for a full music class (with 45 1st graders!) where we sang some fun songs with Ms. Ritter.

Thanks to CHS for coming out and making it a special day for our students!

Brahms and Baseball: Eat 'em up, Tigers!

Today in 2nd grade music class (and some 1st grade classes) we celebrated the Detroit Tigers making it to the post season, and Miguel Cabrera's amazing Triple Crown victory!

First, we listened to Brahms' "Hungarian Dances No. 5" as Ms. Ritter acted out the story. The students' job was to figure out what story was being acted out, and they got it right away--a baseball game! Then, we talked about the form of the piece and how we can write out the form just like a musical map to follow along with the music and actions (2nd graders are learning about maps in Social Studies :)) Lastly, we got to act it out ourselves!

Here is the form of the piece (our musical road map...)

AABBCDAB coda

A=Stretch, B=Up at bat, C=Home Run! D=Slow Motion Replay Coda=Take a bow!

STUDENTS: Play the recording of "Hungarian Dances No. 5" and see if you can act out the baseball story again. Be sure to follow the map above to know what comes next! See if you can teach it or show it to someone at home!

To finish our baseball themed lesson, we also sang "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" and sang the "Eat 'em up, Tigers!" Chant and had a blast. What a fun day!