Carnival of the Animals

Next week, our K and 1st graders will be studying Camille Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals!" We will be reading a story, listening to a clip from each piece about the animals, and making an animal mask of our favorite animal! Check out this awesome video from "Fantasia 2000!"

Classical Destinations

Our 2nd and 3rd graders will be taking a virtual field trip for the next few weeks using a program called "Classical Destinations." This program is a great way to connect back to what we learned during "Around the World at HES." This week we visited Austria and learned about the music of Mozart and Strauss. Here's who we will be visiting over the next few weeks:

March 24th - Germany
April 7th - Italy
April 14th - Russia

4th and 5th grade writing piece

This week, the 4th and 5th grade students began their BIG writing piece for music. Our 4th and 5th graders will be writing a feature article on a composer, musician, or dancer. This will be what we work on in class over the next few weeks. Parents, we're trying to make this an in-class assignment, but IF your student doesn't complete in class, they WILL have to do it at home. Ask your student who they are writing about!! Anything they can bring in as another source would be great! Here's a list of people we're researching:

• Duke Ellington
• Jennifer Lopez
• Alvin Ailey
• Franz Schubert
• Antonio Vivaldi
• Johann Sebastian Bach
• Li Cunxin
• The Beatles
• Ludwig Beethoven
• Franz Haydn
• Johannes Brahms
• Aaron Copland
• Marian Anderson
• Pytor Tchaikovsky
• Katherine Lee Bates
• John Phillip Sousa
• Williams Shakespeare
• Charles Ives
• Ella Fitzgerald
• Robert Schumann
• Wolfgang Mozart
• George Gershwin
• George Handel

Please e-mail me if you need me for information on who your child is researching!

Riverdance

This week in music, as a continuation of our continent study, we are taking a closer look at Riverdance, the Irish step dancing sensation. We are connecting what we learn by watching this amazing performance, with what we already know about Appalachian culture. Since Appalachia was settled by the English, Irish, and Scottish people, the culture there relfects those countries. Did you know that clogging is an Appalachian dance that was a combination of Irish step dance and the Cherokee stomp dance? Check out a video of the Riverdance performance!

We're on a mission!!!

Over the past two weeks, the specials team has devoted their class time to "Around the World at HES." We've visited all seven continents, taken a look at the 5 world oceans, and visited specific countries to learn more about their climate and culture. We learned that Antarctica is actually the world's largest desert because of their lack of rainfall and that two continents share the country Russia - Europe and Asia. We also took a closer look at map skills - working on the compass rose, latitude and longitude, Prime Meridian, hemispheres, and the Equator. Each day, our students wrote information in their travel journal so that they would have a study guide. Last Friday, we assessed their learning and we were EXTREMELY pleased with the result! The following students earned a perfect score on the assessment:

Bo Shelton (2nd)
Madeline Taylor (2nd)
Will Thomas Murphy (2nd)
Hunter Brooks (2nd)
Emma Bunch (3rd)
Brendan Wilson (3rd)
Emma Alvey (3rd)
Cameron Emmert (3rd)
Louis Darst (4th)
Eaden Fowler (4th)
Keyan Shahmohammadi (4th)
Griffin Reid (4th)
Caleb West (4th)
Caroline Watkins (5th)
Lauren Campbell (5th)
Carson  Jessie (5th)
Cole Stephens (5th)
Tad Shelton (5th)
Jamarri Mack (5th)
Abby Meadows (5th)
Erica Lynn (5th)
Grace Lauer (5th)
Leigha Reed (5th)
Jackson Russell (5th)
Ariel Schmidt (5th)
Trenton Shipp (5th)
Lana Westmoreland (5th)
Allison Hogue (5th)
Grant Tittle (5th)
Stratton Kiser (5th)

Our surprise visit!

 

We were incrdibly LUCKY to have Matt Shepherd and Gabe Feese come to Highland and bring the entire section of string instruments for our students to try out!

John Williams and the Olympic Games

This month, our composer of the month is MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE - John Williams! He is our February composer of the month because of his work on pieces dedicated to the Olympic games. In fact, he composed the music that we hear every night when the Oplympic broadcast with Bob Costas begins on NBC. Listen to Olympic Fanfare and Theme on top of this post by clicking on the rings!

The Percussion Family

This week, our students have learned about the Percussion family. This family is one of the most diverse in the whole orchestra. We have taken a look at many different Percussion instruments and grouped them into two groups - pitched and non-pitched. Pitched instruments can play multiple notes while non-pitched can only make sounds. For example, the xylophone is a pitched Percussion instrument and the cymbals are a non-pitched instrument.

The String Family

Violin

Viola

Cello

String Bass

 

Last week, our students have studied the string family. They learned that string instruments can be grouped into two categories - orchestra strings and non-orchestra strings. The pictures above are of the 4 main orchestra instruments. The kindergarten and 1st grade students got a big surprise when Gabe Feese and Matt Shepherd stopped by from Music is Me. They brought LOTS of string instruments with them and some of our students even got to play them. I will post pictures in another post, so keep your eyes out for those!  

The Woodwinds

The woodwind family is one of the more difficult to remember! This week, our HES students have had an opportunity to take a closer look at the flute and clarinet. The family is grouped into two different subgroups called "flutes" and "reeds." The flute group has consists of instruments like the flute, recorder, and piccolo. The reed group consists of the saxophone, clarinet, oboe, and bassoon. Take a look at their pictures below:

Bassoon

 

Clarinet

 

Oboe

 



 Saxophone

 Flute