Impromptu "Ghost of John"

"Ghost of John" is one of the students' favorite Halloween song.  Last year they had a great lesson on form and movement that I picked off of  "Music is Elementary". So this year, we were just singing it as a warm-up, fun activity for my 5th grade class when all of the sudden I decided to play the cannon version and review what a cannon was.  Well they nailed it.  Okay...let's put some movement to it..says my Orff training...bingo..I handed out the scarves and we picked four different movement.  It looked so good I decided to video....well then the students wanted to add throwing the scarves, and sitting and standing.  It truly came together in five minutes time.  Great job Mrs. Johnson's group!  Not bad for an impromptu "Ghost of John" lesson.  Music can be fun.

O-H-I-O

If you know me, I am a big Ohio State fan.  I am from Ohio and I did graduate from there.  So on "school team day"  naturally I am going to support the Buckeyes!  Well this year, I went one step further.  During kindergarten class, you have to love these guys, they followed my impromptu cheer.  Our song had a big Oh! at the end so why not turn it into O-H-I-O.  So much fun!  Ms. Rosage's group did an excellent job cheering for those Buckeyes!    

October Rhythm Fun for Mrs. Manchester's 1st Graders

First graders have been working with their "Beat Buddies" and reading rhythms.  This is a SMART Board activity where the students match the rhythm of the pictures and then say and play the rhythms.  They did an outstanding job on this October activity in music class.  

Mrs. Clark's Fourth Grade "Canoe Song"

All fourth grade students have been working hard to put this Orffestration of the Canoe Song together.  It started with learning the song and doing some movement activities and then putting in the bass xylophone and metalophones, We added the alto and soprano metalophones and hand drum part.  Finally, we added the soprano and alto xylophones with the sixteenth notes.  Nice job everyone.   We hope you enjoy our classroom concert!

Teacher's Take Classes Too

https://onslow.rev.vbrick.com/#/videos/7c51a7bb-de02-469f-b81f-f17d0723039a

Do you ever wonder where teachers come up with all their lessons and ideas?  Well, it happens during Professional Development time.  The elementary music teachers were very lucky to have UNCW professor, Dan Johnson, come to Onslow County and present lessons on creativity.   Some of the ideas and activities he shared will be so easy and helpful to add to our lessons.  Be looking for some of these activities in classes that will be posted in the future.  Another highlight was the time to work with our ASCD mentor/mentee program and talk about programs and choir.  What a productive afternoon.

Open House 2nd Grade and 3rd Grade music room activities

Second grade classes have been working on a song called "Make a Friend"  Each week they have been adding instruments to accompany their songs.  They have been playing bass xylophones and bass metalophones,  alto and soprano glockenspiels, and the hand drums.  The second video is a second grader practicing her Xhosa language conversation.  The students learned how to say, " Hello,  My name is _____"  They continued with " I am fine, thank-you, and how are you?"

Third Grade classes have been working on an Orff arrangement of "John Kanaka"   They have put together five parts that include the bass metalophone and xylophone, Alto and soprano glockenspiels, alto and soprano xylophones, the hand drums and triangles along with their singing.

Open House Kindergarten and 1st Grade

Since open house was this past week, I tried to get a number of videos recorded to share with parents as they came into to music room.  I wanted them to see and hear what was going on in their child's music class.  I created a number of QR codes and had them displayed in my class.  Well, now that I have these videos, I might as well share them on my blog as well.  Enjoy the work the students have been doing for the first three and a half weeks of school.  The videos include 1st Grade singing "Different Beat"  They are practicing keeping a steady beat and moving to different styles of  music.

Kindergarten  class is singing "O ma washi", a song from Japan and playing finger cymbals to the steady beat.  Kindergarten classes have also been learning about their four voices, speak, whisper, sing, and shout.  This is a SMART board activity to help them identify these voices.  1st Grade has also been singing "Bounce High" and adding Orff bells and solfege hand signs.