Kindergarten is reading Linda William's "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything". Stories read with funny voices are great and all but we took it one step further and added sound effects! We've been getting to know some of the different percussion instruments found in the music room and thought this would make the perfect opportunity to play SIX of them! Students added woodblocks, jingle bells, maracas, rhythm sticks, triangles, and frame drums. Talk about fun!
Second grade students met the composer Camille Saint-Saens back in first grade when they explored his "Carnival of the Animals". We've been exploring Mr. Saint-Saen's music a little deeper with a Mystery Song where students drew pictures that represented what they heard in the music. Then, they found out the actual title of the song was "Fossils" and it was FROM the Carnival of the Animals they already knew about! Another famous composition of Saint-Saens' is his Danse Macabre. We found out that it was inspired by a trip to the underground catacombs in Paris, France and he used the help of his friends Henri and Augusta to help figure out exactly how he wanted his music to sound.
Third grade learned the mystery of the Phantom Cat! Its actually the story of the Phantom of the Opera, but the author chose to turn all the characters into cats. I guess he thought its more entertaining that way? I certainly thought so! Students found out that musicals are divided into acts just like stories are divided into chapters. In this adventure, we learn of a Phantom that has been haunting the Paris Opera House and how he loves a singer named Christine. The only problem though is there is ANOTHER man who loves Christine! What happens when you have a beautiful singer trapped between the love of two admirers? You'll have to read to find out!
There were two more books we read, even though they weren't of the "spooky" variety. Check them out below!
Kinder got to meet another of the Music Class Pals with Deborah Diesen's "The Pout Pout Fish". They were introduced to Mr. Fish, but its okay...you can call him by his first name, Nemo. :)
Nemo loves it when he gets to sing the chorus and say "Blub, Blub, Blub". After we read his story students learned how to play Nemo's Game and his song. It was an ocean-ful of fun!
Second graders are familiar with all sorts of instruments but they've never met a didgeridoo before! Nick Page wrote a super fun book titled "Do you do a Didgeridoo?" where a quirky customer searches all over the music store for a mysterious Didgeridoo and brings even quirkier pals along with him for the search! After we read the book, students saw a didgeridoo performance by William Barton with the Youtube Symphony Orchestra. I'd even say some students found a new favorite instrument!
