"Obwisana" Rock Passing Game

Here is a video of Ms. Puente's 2nd graders playing an African stone passing game called "Obwisana" today. This activity helps us to build community and work together so that we can all pass our rocks (or beanbags!) to the same steady beat. We made up our own variation on the game that is kind of like hot potato. Before we start singing, I whisper a color to one student and whoever ends up with that color at the end of the song is out. The students who are out then get to go and play some traditional African instruments that I have to accompany the song. We have a lot of fun playing this game and working on our musical skills at the same time!

Why sing? (and "Cuckoo" Mrs. Klein's Kindergarten)

Have you ever heard someone describe themselves as a terrible singer, or known someone who is quick to say "I can't sing" whenever an activity involves singing? This can be the truth for many people and is maybe even the truth for you. While people often think of singing as a gift or talent, it is actually a skill that most everyone can attain, build upon, and practice. 

One my main goals for our Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade students at Bryant is to not only foster a love for music, but to also give them the skills and confidence to not shy away from singing and to be able to participate in all kinds of musical activities when they leave our school. Singing can have amazing effects on our health and well-being, releasing endorphins to improve our mood while improving physical control over our bodies like breath, articulation, and posture. It is also a great way to feel a sense of community, which is why I wrote our Bryant School Song, so that students can feel that sense of singing along with a large group. 

In all of the grades, we work on vocal exploration, trying out the many different variations of our voices. We expand our ranges, sing in silly voices, and learn the difference between our head and chest voices among many other things. All of these different exercises help us to become more familiar and comfortable with our own unique voices and in the end, will help us to build that confidence with singing so that later on in life, if someone asks us if we can sing, we can respond in the positive :)

Listen to this recording of Mrs. Klein's Kindergarten class singing a short echo song that works on vocal exploration. Here they are working creating a nice round tone with lots of space inside their mouths. Then we do some sirens to "stretch" our our voices and connect to our head voice. Great job, Mrs. Klein's class!

"Aquarium" Carnival of the Animals: 1st Grade

This week in 1st grade, we started talking about composer Camille Saint-Saen's "Carnival of the Animals." We learned that when Saint-Saen originally wrote the music it was written as a joke for his friends at a music school, but in the end it became one of his most famous works!

At first, we listened to the piece not knowing what it was about. While we were listening, we closed our eyes and tried to picture what the song might be about and then we shared our answers. We had lots of creative answers! Some said that it sounded like a slithering snake, others thought it was about little mice creeping. And some agreed with Saint-Saen and said that it was about fish or water.

The next time we listened to it, we moved our bodies to the music with flowy scarves to act like water. For the shorter notes we flew with our scarves, but at the end of the phrases on the longer notes we waved our scarves in the air like rising bubbles. And at the part where it sounds like trickling water, we found some friends and wiggled our scarves together! We had a lot of fun moving our bodies to "Aquarium" and are looking forward to listening to more of Saint-Saen's "Carnival of the Animals" soon. I wonder which animal we will listen to next?!

Here is a video of an arrangement of "Aquarium." It is especially cool to see the pianists fingers move while he plays.

"Birdie, Birdie" Kindergarten Song

In Kindergarten this week we have been singing a song called "Birdie Birdie." For this song, we have been learning some sign language and can do the signs for bird, where, nest, tree and build. We have also been having a lot of fun by "audiating" certain words in the song. Audiating is when we think or hear the music in our heads and they have been doing a great job with this concept. They have even did it so well that they made me fall out of my chair! :)

 Here is a recording of Mrs. Peterson's Kindergarteners singing today. Great job, Mrs. Peterson's class and all of the kindergartners!

"Birdie birdie, where is your nest? Birdie birdie, where is your nest? Birdie birdie, where is your nest? In the tree that I like best!

I built my nest in a hollow tree. I built my nest in a hollow tree. I built my nest in a hollow tree. And all the birdies follow me!"

Kindergartners: Do you remember what kind of bird this is? What color are their eggs?

Curriculum Night and Bryant Song

It was great seeing so many familiar faces tonight at curriculum night and I really enjoyed getting to meet many of you for the first time! I hope to continue the many conversations we had about your child and music and want you to know that my door is always open. I love sharing what we are working on in the music room and I am so glad to hear that your children do too.

This blog is used to share updates about what we are learning in class, as well as to act as a bridge between home and school. I will often post short videos that we may see in class, songs that we may be working on, along with games and activities for the students to play. By subscribing to the blog, you should receive an email update every time I post something new. Often times, these updates will be for the students as well, so it would be wonderful if you shared it with them.

Thanks again to everybody who stopped by my table tonight! I really do enjoy getting to talk with you and look forward to seeing you again soon!

--Ms. Kelly Ritter

And for those of you who are hearing your students sing the Bryant song at home, but may not be sure exactly what they are singing (this is often the case for Kindergartners!), here is a recording of one of our second grade classes singing the song last year. I've also put the lyrics below so that you can sing along!

Chorus:

B-R-Y (clap clap) A-N-T (clap clap)

Bryant is the place to be!

B-R-Y (clap clap) A-N-T (clap clap)

I love Bryant School! (Rawr!)

Verse:

We're safe, respectful and responsible,

Each and every day.

We are kind to everyone,

When we work and play.

As Bryant Tigers, we do our best,

And learn in different ways.

We celebrate diversity, 

And that is why we say...oh!

Free Children's Concert! Joe Reilly 10/6/13

This week in music class, the 2nd graders have been talking about community in humanities and we listened to a song by singer, songwriter, Joe Reilly. I just wanted to give you the heads up about the free children's concert that Joe will be putting on in October. Here is the info!

Free Children’s Concert!

WHO:                     Joe Reilly is a singer, songwriter who lives in the Ann Arbor community. He has produced numerous children’s albums with an emphasis on learning and caring for our environment and world. Joe is an engaging singer and person and is sure to put on an educational and engaging show!

WHEN:            Sunday, October 6^th, 2013

WHERE:                 Matthaei Botanical Gardens

1800 N. Dixboro Rd., Ann Arbor

Bring the whole family!

For more info, visit Joe's website at...

www.joereilly.org

This week in music class...

Well, we survived the heat and were able to complete another great week of learning, singing and playing in the music room!

KINDERGARTEN:
In Kindergarten, we learned about our different kinds of voices (whisper, shouting, speaking and singing) and got to meet our friend Kiki the Koala. We also practiced singing our Bryant School song while Ms. Ritter played the guitar. For our second class, we started with our hello song and then each got a chance to play on our new gathering drum before going to our music spots on the rug. Once we were there we got to sing some fun songs and chants while moving with colorful scarves.

1ST GRADE:
In 1st grade, we got to choose our music spots and learned our new Welcome song. We practiced our body awareness by flowing with different parts of our bodies (one of the silliest ones was trying to flow with our noses!) We also sang an echo song called "Hello There" where we got to echo and sing with different emotions (happy, sad, angry, shy, excited, etc.) Then we talked about same and different patterns while doing our popcorn chant and got to play a fun popcorn game. We even played a game where we switched between beat and flow when Ms. Ritter hit the triangle while we were moving around the room.

2ND GRADE:
In 2nd grade, we started out the week watching a short video of children in South Africa playing the game "Kye Kye Kule" that we learned last week. We then learned a silly echo song called "Mama Lama Cuma Lama" and got to do a fun dance with a partner.  For humanities, we made connections with patterns in math by working on some rhythms by reading a pattern of numbers and dots. We had a lot of fun with this challenge and liked to pretend that we were robots reading codes! We also spent humanities time learning about our vocal cords and how our voices produce sound. We started out talking about our head voice and our chest voice and feeling where the vibrations are when we use both types of voices. We then learned about the all of the body parts that work together for us to speak and sing. We even got to see a video of real vocal cords in action!

"Hello Everybody, Yes Indeed!"

We have had a great first week back and I have been so impressed with all of our students at Bryant that I wanted to share with you a cute recording from today. This is of Mrs. Joseph's Kindergartners singing their new hello song called "Hello Everybody!" This was from their second day of music class, and I just cannot get enough of these sweet little voices. Enjoy!

First Day Back

What a great first day back! I only saw a few Kindergarten and 2nd grade classes, but I was blown away with how safe, respectful and responsible all of our students were. The two Kindergarten classes that I had to day were Mrs. Miller's and Mrs. Joseph's class and they were both fabulous during their first music class. 

 In Kindergarten music, we came in and learned our hello song and sang it with the guitar. Then we practiced our Bryant School Song that they heard during the assembly earlier in the day and they did a great job with the "Roar!" We then sang some songs that many of them recognized--"Open Shut Them" (in English AND Spanish!), and "Where is Thumbkin?" We even got to play a fun follow the leader song game where we got to be a little silly! 

 In 2nd grade music, we came in and learned a Call and Response song in Swahili called "Jambo!" Then we learned a children's song from Ghana called "Kye Kye Kule" and got to do a fun dance. We ended our class listening to Ms. Ritter's djembe and singing a song called "Salaam Aleikum!" 

If the rest of the year goes anything like today did, we are in for a great year. I am looking forward  to seeing the rest of our students this week in music class!