Bryant Family Musical Traditions

What a great first month in music class! I have truly enjoyed getting to know each and every student at Bryant and have had a wonderful time making music with such a special group of students. 

One of my favorite things about being at Bryant so far has been teaching in such a diverse school. As a music teacher, I believe in the importance of exposing our students to rich musical cultures from around the world, and what a better way to do this than through the help of our own Bryant community?! That is why I am calling on you! This month, I will be “collecting” children’s songs from Bryant families that represent their musical and cultural traditions (songs can be in any language!) I will then take these songs and teach them in the classroom throughout the year, highlighting where the song came from and celebrating the diversity of our school. 

Here’s how you can help…either email me the song in some form (lyrics and translation or mp3 recording), or contact me and we can set up a time for you to teach the song to me in person (we would only need 5 minutes) before or after school. This will be a fun way for your children to share their musical traditions and I look forward to learning more about our students through the process. I really hope you will consider contributing! Thanks!

Wish List

It's only September and the music room is already full of sneezes and sniffles! If would like to help us stay healthy as the cold and flu season approaches, we would gladly accept donations of the following...

--Tissue Boxes

--Clorox (or other disinfectant) wipes

--Hand Sanitizer

Thank you!!!

--Ms. Ritter

First Week Fun!

Since school started, there has been a lot of learning going on in the music room! Here are some of the things that students have been doing in each grade. I probably won't get this detailed most of the time about what we are learning, but I just thought I'd share some of the fun things we have been doing during the first week of school . . .

KINGERGARTEN: Since school began, I have enjoyed hearing what beautiful voices our Kindergarteners have. So far in music class, we have done some finger chants and sang "Open Shut Them" and "Where is Thumbkin?" As I guessed, many students already knew these songs and were very excited to sing them with everyone! We also were introduced to my friend Kiki the Koala who talked to us about our different kinds of voices and did some silly rhythmic chants with us. We also got to hear a story about a little birdie that Ms. Ritter met, and even see his picture. We then sang his song with sign language all by ourselves. We have had fun singing some action songs where students get to follow what the leader is doing, and explore keeping the beat in different places on their bodies. Lastly, we got to take our Ms. Ritter's new scarves and move with them around the room.

FIRST GRADE: First grade music has gotten off to a great start! So far, first graders have learned a fun echo hello song where we got to sing hello with many different emotions and voices. We also sang a song called "Are You Happy" where we were able to catch my yarn ball and sing our answers on the resting tone (we especially like the yarn ball!) We then got to do a silly popcorn chant ("my feet love the rhythm of the popcorn") where we were able to keep the big beat in different places of our bodies. Ms. Ritter then turned us into popcorn kernels and we were given a chance to be popped and jump up and sing our names! This week, we learned some silly songs and chants about fish and were able to dance as well. Over all, first grade music has been a blast and I look forward to what the year will bring.

SECOND GRADE: I have really enjoyed teaching our second graders here at Bryant (especially since I get to see them 4 days a week!) Since school has started, we have learned a lot. Here are some of the things we have done. . .

• Learned a song from Ghana called "Kye Kye Kule" 
• Done some "jazzercise" body warm-ups to get our muscles loose
• Learned about and played glockenspiels
• Done some body percussion echoes ("stay 4 beats behind me. . .")
• Learned about how a djembe is played and the song "Salaam Aleikum"
• Done rhythmic echoes with rhythm sticks
• Felt the macrobeat and chanted with our stretchy band ("Engine Engine #9")
• Learned about how our voices produce sound (what our vocal chords do, how sound travels in waves and is made up of vibrations. . . )
• Done some vocal exploration exercises and learned about the difference between our head and chest voice. 
• Had some fun with bean bags!

Music Behavior Stars

My first week and a half at Bryant have been great! I have loved getting to know each and every student and we have had a lot of fun making music together in the music room.

On the first music class, all students were welcomed into the newly decorated music room. I loved hearing all of the "oohs!" and "ahs" as students entered the room and saw all of the new things. Some of their favorite new things were the keyboard center (that will be used on special "Music Centers" days), the boomwhacker wall, and the Birthday Gong! They also were given a special spot around the outside of the rug so that I can learn their names more quickly.

First and Second graders started their "Music Behavior Stars" chart as well. Every music class, students have the chance to earn up to 6 stars for following our music class rules. Every day, I add up their stars and once they reach a certain number, they earn a choice day in music class. A choice day could be...music centers, music games day, instrument of your choice day, music movie day. Students earn stars for....

1. Entering the music room quietly and ready to learn
2. Being respectful of the teacher, students and materials
3. Raising their hand
4. Participating to the best of their ability
5. Lining up and going into the halls quietly
***If everyone in the entire class follows these rules the whole time, they can then earn a bonus star!***

So far, students have been doing a great job with these rules and stars. They help for us to create a safe, positive environment where we are free to have fun and make music!

Curriculum Night

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the music table and said hi last night at curriculum night! It was great to get to meet some parents, and I look forward to many more conversations about music and your child in the future.

If you have not done so already, be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our music room blog by putting in your email address in the top right corner of this page. You will then get an email message every time I update this blog. I often add pictures, messages, and videos about what we are doing in class, as well as fun music websites for students to visit.

Looking forward to a great year in music class!

Music Room Makeover!

Here are some pictures of the newly decorated music room. Looking forward to welcoming 380 bright and eager faces to do some music making this year :)