Pekin Elementary Music Department
By Kay Evans
January 12, 2010
Pekin Elementary Music Department
K – 2 Music, Mrs. Evans
Singing, playing instruments, movement games, steady beat, listening skills and learning notes are all part of the K – 2 elementary music curriculum.
Kindergarten students have been learning to sing echo songs such as “Hello, There!” and “Sing a Little Song.” Our action songs have included “Copycat,” “I’m Tall, I’m Small,” which teaches high and low sounds, “Clap, Wiggle, and Stomp,” “Doing the Penguin,” “Johnny Mister Brown” and “Jim Along, Josie.”
We have worked on high and low sounds with “Three Little Pigs,” and “Higglety, Pigglety, Pop!” Fast and slow tempos were listened to in the example of “Little Train of Caipira.” “Voice Choices” was the song of choice to learn sing, speak, whisper, and shout. The “Grizzly Bear” song was used to teach the dynamics of loud and soft. We are just beginning to learn the game song of “Who Has the Penny?”
In the 1st grade music classes, the following concepts have been taught: loud and soft, steady beat, rhythm, high and low, melodies that move up and down, ways to use our voice, and fast and slow.
Our favorite songs have been: “Run, Molly, Run,” “Down By the Bay,” “Mashed Potatoes,” “The Little Green Frog,” “ Phoebe,” “Sing, Speak, Whisper, Shout!” and “Nana, Thread the Needle.”
The 2nd grade songbook begins with “Heigh Ho” from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” We spent several class periods watching the movie and learning the three main songs. We have worked on steady beat and rhythm, reviewed quarter notes, eighth notes, and learned a quarter rest and can clap them in various combinations.
“Lone Star Trail” was one of the favorite songs in our book. We learned a lot of vocabulary words, high and low pitches, and a nonsense refrain. Learning the solfege signs for the pitches of so, mi, and la helped us to learn “Lucy Locket,” and “Pizza, Pizza, Daddy-O.”
We did a fun steady beat activity with rhythm sticks to “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore.” “My Father’s House” was our song example which taught that melodies can move up, down, or repeat.
“Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow”, seems to be the appropriate theme for the Pekin Music Department.
The K-2 music curriculum has continued with its emphasis on rhythm skills, singing on pitch, playing instruments, movement games, listening skills, and learning notes and musical terms.
Our Kindergarten students learned to sing and move to many songs that were teaching high and low sounds. We reviewed the following nursery thymes in song: “Jack and Jill”, “Humpty Dumpty”, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”
Much of our time in December was spent singing holiday songs. We also watched a short video of “Jingle Bells” to help with vocabulary.
First Grade music students were engaged in a unit on expression with tempos of fast and slow. We learned a game called “Bee, Bee, Bumblebee”, which emphasized steady beat and was a favorite with the students. Reading long and short rhythm patterns came next with “Rain, Rain, Go Away.” Our next unit was on form in music using call and response songs such as: “Shortnin’ Bread”, “Great Big Stars”, “Lady, Lady”, and “The Wind Blew East.” A unit on Melody was begun in December and we learned the solfege signs when we sang “Charlie Over the Water”, and “Hey, Hey, Look At Me”. We sang and played along with some Christmas songs before the Christmas break.
In second grade music class we learned a lot of new songs. “Riddle, Riddle, Riddle, Ree” was taught with actions to match the words. ”Miss Mary Mack” was great fun when we added the hand jive and it kept getting faster.
The song “Gypsy In The Moonlight” taught us about the steel drums from Trinidad. “Four In A Boat” was a folk song from Appalachia that had a great beat to it.
Our next big unit was learning to read short and long rhythm patterns and also incorporated a quarter rest.
The combination of rhythm and jazz was learned in “Way Down Yonder In The Schoolyard” and “Good Mornin’, Blues”.
Just before the Christmas break we spent a couple of class periods singing every winter and Christmas song we could remember.
3 – 5 Music, Mrs. Hagedon
In 3rd grade music, we started off the year by singing “Hello to All the Children of the World.” We learned how to say Hello in ten different languages! After learning our hello song, we went into reviewing some loud and soft sounds. We sang the song,
“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” and moved to the different levels: soft, medium soft, medium loud and loud.
We worked on steady beat for the African-American Spiritual, “Do Lord.” When we had the steady beat mastered, we added the tone bells as we sang the song. We also had a lot of fun adding the tambourine.
In lower elementary the students learn about the quarter note, quarter rest, and eighth notes. In 3rd grade we learn how to put those notes and rests into 4 beat patterns. While talking about frogs in the song,“Frog in the Mill Pond,” we learned how these patterns fit together. Then we got into groups of 2 and wrote 4 beat patterns and performed them for the class. From there we figured out the rhythm of our name and learned how to write, clap, and count our name using quarter notes, eighth notes and half notes.
After learning our name rhythms, we discussed cats, and learned a song called, “Ding, Dong, Diggidiggidong.” This song uses sixteenth notes, so we learned how to put sixteenth notes with the other notes we know to make 4 beat patterns.
In 3rd and 4th grade, we learned about the history of “The Star Spangled Banner.” On September 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the poem beginning, “O say can you see by the dawn’s early light…..” In 1931, Congress declared “The Star Spangled Banner” as our official U.S. National Anthem. Along with learning the background of our National Anthem, we talked about etiquette. What do you do when the National Anthem is being played or sung? Ask a 3rd or 4th grader, they can tell you.
In 4th grade, we started off the year with a Liberian Welcome Song – “Funwa Alafia.” Along with learning the song, we were able to find Liberia in Africa on the map along the Ivory Coast. After getting acquainted, we got up and moving with “Turn the Beat Around,” and discussed dynamics (louds and softs) with “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.” We also enjoyed putting sign language with “Put a Little Love…”
We found two songs in our book, “Soldier, Soldier” and “Lazy John” that are very similar. We compared them and found rhythms in our songs using notes we learned earlier. Also, we learned what the musical terms D.C. al fine, ritardando, and accelerando mean, and found examples in our songs.
In 5th grade, we sang “Funwa Alafia” also. Then we went straight into our instrument unit. We learned the four families of instrument; String, Woodwind, Brass, and Percussion. We looked at posters, saw videos, put together a puzzle of the orchestra, and saw demonstrations of instruments. We had a packet of information to read about the different families, took notes, and did worksheets to learn more about the instruments. After all that learning, then we took a test. Whew!!
The most fun we have had this year so far in 3 – 5 music, is we performed at the Elementary Christmas Concert in December. The concert started off on December 17th, with the 5th grade band. Then the 3rd grade took over and sang, “A Silly Holiday Song.” A couple of the jokes in that song were: What do you get if you cross a snowman and a shark? Frost bite!! Why is Blitzen always wet? Because he’s a “rain” deer!!
The 3rd graders loved to rap in “Hip Hop Reindeer.” We had some students sledding in “My Red Sled,” and everyone’s favorite was “A Nice, Nice Christmas.”
The 4th graders started off with “Pinata” and went on to sing “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” for their second song. Their singing abilities were challenged with that song. We had to work on breath control and the cut-off on the ends of theirs words. It was a challenging song for 4th graders, and they did an excellent job with it. “The Little Snowflake” came next, and they finished off with their favorite, “There’s Someone in the Chimney.”
The 5th graders got, “In the Spirit,” with their first song. It was a lively swing tune they really liked. Going on, they sang “Rules for Christmas,” and “North Pole, North Pole.” “North Pole” was a take-off on Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.” We even “tried” to do the Chorus Line kick at the end for the big finish. The kids had a lot of fun with it. Our last song, “Christmas in Any Language,” had 16 different languages in it saying “Merry Christmas.”
The finale for the whole concert, was bringing out all of the 3, 4, 5 students and singing “Deck the Halls,” and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” We had a great time, and if you were there I am sure you did too!!
