Halloween Festivities!

Hello all! We've been really busy in music class learning all about music in our classroom!

Here's some things that we've been doing in our classroom!

This is our first week where we really experimented with creating our own accompaniment with music! Since it's Halloween season, I've always loved teaching the kids "The Ghost of John" and they really loved learning it! They had a great time creating their own spooky accompaniment and singing the song too! Their teachers were so impressed! Great job, 2nd-5th grade!

 I extended this song into an round activity. The students really did a good job on a hard musical task like singing a 3-part round on their first day of learning what a round was! I wanted to include Orff instruments to really make it sound great, but we ran out of time having fun because the kids wanted that 3rd-part challenge!Great job, 3rd-5th graders!!!

 

In K-1st grade we got to go outside and do a fun singing game called, "Witch, Witch!" Oh the kids LOVED it! It became a great assessment tool for me because it allowed each kid sing by themselves as the witch/wizard (they didn't even realize they were being assessed because they were just enjoying the game of tag!) They had a really great time learning the song and the game!

I also extended this activity for K-1st graders to start talking about different contrasts in music, focusing on high/low sounds for this particular week. Since the song is a solid 'Sol-Mi' defined melody, I created small witches on broomsticks to let the students visually and aurally see the notes they were singing. The line (and notes/witches) above obviously indicates that it is higher pitch than the line (and notes/witches) below it. They really did a fantastic job and were really smart at listening and finding out which notes were higher and lower! It's also nice to dress up like the witch every now and then! AWESOME job 1st grade!

Even outside of the music room, students are learning and being challenged in music! Our October bulletin board outside the classroom has really challenged the students to keep the learning going by asking them to read the different rhythms on the board! It is a great feeling seeing them learn in other places besides the classroom!

We're having fun in music and staying on T.R.A.C.K. here at LTN!

 

 

 



Fruit W(rap) with 2nd Grade!

 

The Fruit W(rap)

 



I'm so proud of Mrs. Claiborne's 2nd grade class! We have started our newest unit on rhythm and how it differs (yet is connected) to beat! They were tasked to create a rap that involved composing their own rhythms and using fruits to be the subject of their rap! They had to make sure that the syllables of their words fit into the rhythms that they created! Wow! What a great job, guys!

Classroom Set-Up!

Hi Parents!

 

I just wanted to invite you through a virtual tour of the music room at Love T. Nolan Elementary!

Uh, oh! Looks like we have a low battery on our iPod! We use the other door to enter the classroom!

 

The entrance to the music room! Looks like our iPod is ready to jam!

 

 Here is the classroom seating area where most of the exciting musical experiences will be!

 

I bet you're asking, "What is NOISE?"

 

"Noise" is a classroom management tool we use in order to keep our voices down during classroom instructional time. Each class begins with NOISE. When they get too loud, a letter gets taken away in a backwards fashion (ex. the first letter to be taken away is 'E'). This means that each class has three chances (letters 'E,S, and I') before the only letters remaining are "NO" meaning, no more talking for the duration of the class.

 

Our Related Arts Board and piano area

 

Can you guess what famous piece of art is mimicked on this board?

 

It's none other than a musical variation on

"Starry Night"

by Vincent Van Gogh!

Welcome BACH to School!!!

 

J.S. Bach is a very famous composer! We'll talk about him in class!

 

Our Musical Acronym!

 

WOW! Who knew music involves all of these core classes?!

 

Look at that instrument cabinet and those

soprano, alto, and bass metallophones!!!

Our classroom behavior charts!

 

In music class, we always want to show our SWAG! In order to move our classroom clip to have ROCKIN' BEHAVIOR, we MUST have all of Mr. Hall's Top 5 checked off by the end of class! If we don't, we stay the same. If we've had a bad day in music, we move down! Hope that doesn't happen too often!!! 

The Mr. Hall Passes

 What's a Wonder Wall?

 

In case there is a question that can't be answered for whatever reason by the end of class, students will place their questions on the Wonder Wall and we'll get to them next class!

 I spot a fermata.

 

A fermata in music means "to hold." If a student is being disruptive or just needs to gain self-control, the student will be asked to sit at the fermata station to compose themselves in an appropriate manner.

Hey! That clothesline has letters on it!

 

Each line and space of the musical staff has a letter that goes with it. This tells us what note to play! The LINES of the staff are called: E, G, B, D, and F! (Every Good Boy Does Fine).

The SPACES of the staff are called: F, A, C, and E, or "FACE!"

 We put a spotlight on our Georgia Performance Standards!

Our pencil cans.

The '#' sign in music means sharp!

The 'b' sign in music means flat!

 

We will grab our sharpened pencils from the '#' can and place our flattened or used pencils in the 'b' can!

 

Our Board for Music History and Culture!

 

Our composer of the month is J.S. Bach! I wonder why?!

 

Every time we sing a new song from a different country we'll pin it on our world map!

 

Our board for student work outside the classroom!

We can't wait to put stuff on there!

 

Our board for why we teach music!

 

Music is a science.

It is mathematical.

It is physical education.

It is a foreign language.

Most importantly, it is ART!

 

 

Other classroom pictures:

 

Can't wait to teach your students in this AWESOME room!

 

Sincerely,

Mr. Hall