3rd Grade Music News
December 2019/ January 2020
Congratulations to the third graders for putting on a beautiful concert! This month, we have working in groups to compose our own melodies on xylophones about our favorite "sweet treats." We experimented by playing them all at the same time to experience harmony.
November, 2019
This month, we enjoyed learning about the Beatles and practicing "Yellow Submarine" and "Jingle Bell Rock" for our December Concert. We also created and rehearsed choreography to go with all of our concert songs. Students generated a checklist of performance criteria and enjoyed taking turns assessing the class. We are looking forward to our performance on December 19th at 8:45 AM. :) Additionally, to keep our rhythm reading skills fresh, we played a variety of PrometheanBoard games, such as "Pokemon Rhythms," "Foot Ball Rhythms," and "Find the Buried Treasure."
Congratulations to the third graders for putting on a beautiful concert! This month, we have working in groups to compose our own melodies on xylophones about our favorite "sweet treats." We experimented by playing them all at the same time to experience harmony.
November, 2019
This month, we enjoyed learning about the Beatles and practicing "Yellow Submarine" and "Jingle Bell Rock" for our December Concert. We also created and rehearsed choreography to go with all of our concert songs. Students generated a checklist of performance criteria and enjoyed taking turns assessing the class. We are looking forward to our performance on December 19th at 8:45 AM. :) Additionally, to keep our rhythm reading skills fresh, we played a variety of PrometheanBoard games, such as "Pokemon Rhythms," "Foot Ball Rhythms," and "Find the Buried Treasure."
October, 2019
This month, we enjoyed practicing “The Purple People Eater” song for the Halloween Parade. We also started learning music for our December Concert, “Rock and Roll Forever.” We had a blast singing “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Surfin’ USA,” and “Rock and Roll is Here to Stay,” learning about Elvis Presley, and trying out some of his dance moves. We also loved trying out the ukuleles by learning how to hold and strum the instrument, playing along with the song, “Rollin’ on the River,” and accompanying ourselves while we sang “Best Day of My Life.”
September 2019
We read the book, All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold. We composed melodies to go with one of the verses in the book. Students played their melodies in front of the class on xylophones and were supportive audience members.
This month, we enjoyed practicing “The Purple People Eater” song for the Halloween Parade. We also started learning music for our December Concert, “Rock and Roll Forever.” We had a blast singing “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Surfin’ USA,” and “Rock and Roll is Here to Stay,” learning about Elvis Presley, and trying out some of his dance moves. We also loved trying out the ukuleles by learning how to hold and strum the instrument, playing along with the song, “Rollin’ on the River,” and accompanying ourselves while we sang “Best Day of My Life.”
September 2019
We read the book, All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold. We composed melodies to go with one of the verses in the book. Students played their melodies in front of the class on xylophones and were supportive audience members.
March and April, 2019
Simi Yadech- We enjoyed creating partner dances to this Israeli song (see youtube link above).
Recorders- We played a lot of songs using the notes B, A, and G, such as "Merrily We Roll Along," "Hot Cross Buns," and "Gently Sleep."
We also improvised our own melodies to the rhythm of the words "I like to make up my own recorder song." We had a blast playing them along with the song, "Oye Como Va" by Santana.
Jazz Songs- We created choreography to go with songs, "Sir Duke," which we will perform at our end of year concert. We also practiced "Blue Skies," "What a Wonderful World," and "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got that Swing."
Simi Yadech- We enjoyed creating partner dances to this Israeli song (see youtube link above).
Recorders- We played a lot of songs using the notes B, A, and G, such as "Merrily We Roll Along," "Hot Cross Buns," and "Gently Sleep."
We also improvised our own melodies to the rhythm of the words "I like to make up my own recorder song." We had a blast playing them along with the song, "Oye Como Va" by Santana.
Jazz Songs- We created choreography to go with songs, "Sir Duke," which we will perform at our end of year concert. We also practiced "Blue Skies," "What a Wonderful World," and "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got that Swing."
February 2019
We have been doing a lot of great work learning songs that use the notes B and A on the recorder.
We have been doing a lot of great work learning songs that use the notes B and A on the recorder.
January 2019
We started playing the recorders this month. We learned how to play the note, B. Since we learned that people started playing the recorder hundreds of years ago, we performed a 16th Century Dance, which we accompanied with our recorders and tambourines.
We also sang a song called The Dream of Martin Luther King. Here are the lyrics:
Once there was a gentle man who talked about the promised land.
He reached out and took the troubles of his people in his strong hands.
He had a dream that everybody got to hear the bells of freedom ring.
Now the people shout and sing about the dream of Martin Luther King,
Sing about the dream of Martin Luther King.
Oh, the dream.
The dream of Martin Luther King.
Oh, the dream.
The dream of Martin Luther King.
Sing about the dream of Martin Luther King.
He was a man who knew peace.
He found a faith in belief
He preached that violence was wrong
He knew the fight would be long.
Oh the dream,
The dream of Martin Luther King.
Oh, the dream.
The dream of Martin Luther King.
Sing about the dream of Martin Luther King.
We started playing the recorders this month. We learned how to play the note, B. Since we learned that people started playing the recorder hundreds of years ago, we performed a 16th Century Dance, which we accompanied with our recorders and tambourines.
We also sang a song called The Dream of Martin Luther King. Here are the lyrics:
Once there was a gentle man who talked about the promised land.
He reached out and took the troubles of his people in his strong hands.
He had a dream that everybody got to hear the bells of freedom ring.
Now the people shout and sing about the dream of Martin Luther King,
Sing about the dream of Martin Luther King.
Oh, the dream.
The dream of Martin Luther King.
Oh, the dream.
The dream of Martin Luther King.
Sing about the dream of Martin Luther King.
He was a man who knew peace.
He found a faith in belief
He preached that violence was wrong
He knew the fight would be long.
Oh the dream,
The dream of Martin Luther King.
Oh, the dream.
The dream of Martin Luther King.
Sing about the dream of Martin Luther King.
November, 2018
New Song, Sir Duke:
We started practicing the song, Sir Duke, by Stevie Wonder. We recognized the names of some of the jazz musicians he pays tribute to in the song, such as Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington.
Music Literacy:
We practiced identifying the names of the notes on the staff with a flashcard game, "Quiz-Quiz-Trade."
Instruments:
We identified the pitches the songs, "Jingle Bells" and "Twinkle Twinkle." With partners, we practiced playing these songs on xylophones.
New Song, Sir Duke:
We started practicing the song, Sir Duke, by Stevie Wonder. We recognized the names of some of the jazz musicians he pays tribute to in the song, such as Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington.
Music Literacy:
We practiced identifying the names of the notes on the staff with a flashcard game, "Quiz-Quiz-Trade."
Instruments:
We identified the pitches the songs, "Jingle Bells" and "Twinkle Twinkle." With partners, we practiced playing these songs on xylophones.
October, 2018
We are learning about jazz music to get ready for the first of three concerts presented at our school by Jazz at Lincoln Center on Nov. 13th.
This month, we learned about two big ideas in jazz- Swing and Improvisaton.
We sang "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got that Swing" and improvised with our voices and on xylophones to the song, "Boom Chicka Boom" (see the youtube video above).
We also read the book, If I Only Had a Horn , about Louis Armstrong's childhood and practiced scat singing with the song, "Mamalama."
We are learning about jazz music to get ready for the first of three concerts presented at our school by Jazz at Lincoln Center on Nov. 13th.
This month, we learned about two big ideas in jazz- Swing and Improvisaton.
We sang "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got that Swing" and improvised with our voices and on xylophones to the song, "Boom Chicka Boom" (see the youtube video above).
We also read the book, If I Only Had a Horn , about Louis Armstrong's childhood and practiced scat singing with the song, "Mamalama."
10/6/18
On November 13th, musicians from Jazz at Lincoln Center will perform a concert at our school. We will start learning about the music they will perform this month. With your student, have fun listening to this spotify playlist of some of the music we might hear:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0bnQCBYTgz8yCLrgAaI1BQ
Here is what we worked on the first month of school:
Partner Activity: We enjoyed working with different partners while we performed the motions to this chant:
Hey there friend/ What do you say?/ It's gonna be a marvelous day/ so shake my hand and boogie on down/jump jump jump and turn around!
Line Notes on the Staff: We are practicing identifying line notes on the treble clef staff. We played a game, "engine engine number nine," where students had to walk down the different lines of a large music staff I taped to the floor. Here are the lyrics:
Engine engine number nine/ Going down the ___ line/If the train should jump the track/ then it's time to move on back.
Singing : We practiced singing the song, "I Love the Mountains" in a round. We also reviewed the song, "Scarin' Alive" for the Halloween parade.
Instruments: We had fun accompanying the song "Sea Lion" with percussion instruments and glockenspiels. Here are the lyrics:
Hey, hey, hey, (sea lion)
won't you be mine? (sea lion)
You don't do nothing (sea lion)
but wax and shine (sea lion)
Old rabbit hip (sea lion)
Old rabbit hop (sea lion)
Old rabbit bit (sea lion)
the carrot top (sea lion)
Another song we enjoyed accompanying was "She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain." We did this to review quarter note and eighth note rhythms.
5/21/18
Here is what we have been up to in April and May:
Jazz at Lincoln Center Partnership: On May 9th, students watched the third and final concert presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center's Educational Outreach program. We got ready for the concert by learning about Nina Simone and John Coltrane, two artists whose music was featured at the concert. The third graders listened Simone's song "I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free" and made some really thoughtful observations about patterns they noticed in the lyrics' structure, such as the rhyme scheme and the form, in addition to the meaning behind the words. It was great to see them making connections with what they had learned about studying poetry in their classroom. We also compared John Coltrane's recording of "My Favorite Things" to the original version from The Sound of Music.
"Gotta Be Jazz" Concert: On May 31st, at 8:45-9:30 AM, the second and third grades will perform a concert in the gym. The theme of the third grade concert is "Gotta Be Jazz." We have been polishing up our concert songs by creating checklists of things we will need to remember while performing and assessing ourselves on each item on the list, such as memorizing the lyrics.
Recorder: We are getting more comfortable playing songs with the notes, B, A, G, and E. We had fun practicing the song "Skin and Bones" with recorder playing, accompaniment on thunder tubes and foot tambourines, and dramatization.
3/13/18
We are playing songs with B, A, and G on the recorder. Students received their own recorders to keep at home. These are yours to keep and will not need to be brought back and forth, since they have a separate school recorder! I will send home sheet music, periodically.
2/22/18
Here are some highlights from February!
Movement: With partners, we explored creative movement, using a large hand drum as a prop. One partner holds the drum in a statue pose, while the other partner improvises on the drum for 8 beats. We will integrate this into one of our recorder songs.
Recorder: We are playing the notes, B and A . We enjoyed playing the song, Stony Creek with piano accompaniment.
Singing: We are practicing the songs, "On the Sunny Side of the Street" and "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got that Swing."
Here is what we have been up to in April and May:
Jazz at Lincoln Center Partnership: On May 9th, students watched the third and final concert presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center's Educational Outreach program. We got ready for the concert by learning about Nina Simone and John Coltrane, two artists whose music was featured at the concert. The third graders listened Simone's song "I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free" and made some really thoughtful observations about patterns they noticed in the lyrics' structure, such as the rhyme scheme and the form, in addition to the meaning behind the words. It was great to see them making connections with what they had learned about studying poetry in their classroom. We also compared John Coltrane's recording of "My Favorite Things" to the original version from The Sound of Music.
"Gotta Be Jazz" Concert: On May 31st, at 8:45-9:30 AM, the second and third grades will perform a concert in the gym. The theme of the third grade concert is "Gotta Be Jazz." We have been polishing up our concert songs by creating checklists of things we will need to remember while performing and assessing ourselves on each item on the list, such as memorizing the lyrics.
Recorder: We are getting more comfortable playing songs with the notes, B, A, G, and E. We had fun practicing the song "Skin and Bones" with recorder playing, accompaniment on thunder tubes and foot tambourines, and dramatization.
3/13/18
We are playing songs with B, A, and G on the recorder. Students received their own recorders to keep at home. These are yours to keep and will not need to be brought back and forth, since they have a separate school recorder! I will send home sheet music, periodically.
2/22/18
Here are some highlights from February!
Movement: With partners, we explored creative movement, using a large hand drum as a prop. One partner holds the drum in a statue pose, while the other partner improvises on the drum for 8 beats. We will integrate this into one of our recorder songs.
Recorder: We are playing the notes, B and A . We enjoyed playing the song, Stony Creek with piano accompaniment.
Singing: We are practicing the songs, "On the Sunny Side of the Street" and "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got that Swing."
1/30/18
Here are some highlights from January!
Music Literacy:
We reviewed the names of notes on the treble clef staff through a movement game, “Engine Engine #9.” I taped lines on the floor, representing the music staff. Students improvised different ways of walking down the lines/spaces corresponding to the notes I sang about in the song. It was lots of fun!
Recorders:
We are learning how to play the recorder. Students will receive their own recorder to keep at home in March.
Jazz for Young People Curriculum:
On January 31st, musicians for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Educational Outreach Program will perform a concert at our school. We learned about Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald and compared different performances of some of the songs we will hear at the concert, such as “On the Sunny Side of the Street” and “Take the A Train.”
Here are some highlights from January!
Music Literacy:
We reviewed the names of notes on the treble clef staff through a movement game, “Engine Engine #9.” I taped lines on the floor, representing the music staff. Students improvised different ways of walking down the lines/spaces corresponding to the notes I sang about in the song. It was lots of fun!
Recorders:
We are learning how to play the recorder. Students will receive their own recorder to keep at home in March.
Jazz for Young People Curriculum:
On January 31st, musicians for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Educational Outreach Program will perform a concert at our school. We learned about Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald and compared different performances of some of the songs we will hear at the concert, such as “On the Sunny Side of the Street” and “Take the A Train.”
12/8/17
This month, we have been working on reading pitches on the treble clef staff. We use the sentence "Elvis' Guitar Broke Down Friday" to remember the names of the line notes and "FACE in the SPACE" to remember the space notes. We enjoyed playing short fragments of songs, such as the scale at the end of "Where is John?" on the glockenspiels to reinforce these notes.
This month, we have been working on reading pitches on the treble clef staff. We use the sentence "Elvis' Guitar Broke Down Friday" to remember the names of the line notes and "FACE in the SPACE" to remember the space notes. We enjoyed playing short fragments of songs, such as the scale at the end of "Where is John?" on the glockenspiels to reinforce these notes.
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On November 8th, musicians from Jazz at Lincoln Center's Educational Outreach program will perform the first of three jazz concerts at Peck Slip to students in grades 3-5. We are getting ready to be educated audience members. Two important ideas in jazz that we discussed are Swing at The Blues.
Swing is the basic rhythmic attitude of jazz--"the groove that makes it move." We listened to "It Don't Mean a Thing if it 'Ain't Got that Swing" by Duke Ellington. We enjoyed listening to a recording of Ella Fitzgerald performing it with scat singing. Then, students worked in groups to perform the rhythms from the poem, “Boom Chicka Boom” on percussion instruments of their choice. The rhythm of these words match the swing rhythms a jazz drummer might play. (Activity taken from Now’s the Time: Teaching Jazz to All Ages by Doug Goodkin)
I said boom chick a rocka chick a rocka chick a boom (hi hat)
I said boom chick a rocka chick a rocka chick a boom (bass drum)
Next, we learned about The Blues. We listened to "The Backwater Blues" by Bessie Smith, and discovered its AAB lyric form--very common in blues music. We had fun creating our own blues lyrics in AAB form. Here is an example created by third graders:
A: Oh, it gives me the blues when Beckham gets hurt.
A: Oh, it gives me the blues when Beckham gets hurt.
B: I hope he does not trip and fall into the dirt.
I'm looking forward to the concert next week!
10/1/17
Here are the skills we worked on in the month of September:
Rhythm:
We reviewed rhythm patterns with quarter notes, paired eighth notes, and quarter rests. We practiced critical thinking by playing "Rhythm Detective," an error detection game using these notes.
Folk Dancing:
We learned a new song, "Tideo," and had fun performing a dance to go with the song. Here are the lyrics:
Pass one window, Tideo
Pass two windows, Tideo
Pass three windows, Tideo
Jingle at the window, Tideo
Jinglin', Jinglin', Jinglin, Joe
Jingle at the window, Tideo.
Ensemble Playing:
We had so much fun playing the rhythms of the highlighted words from "Tideo" on percussion instruments, such as triangles, cowbells, finger cymbals, rhythm sticks, tubanos, and maracas. The students rose to the challenge of performing together as an ensemble. They reflected that this activity was similar to playing in a band because they had to listen carefully to make sure they only played on their turn. The third graders also worked in small groups to create their own arrangements of "Tideo," playing the highlighted words on instruments of their choice. They performed their arrangements for the class.
Swing is the basic rhythmic attitude of jazz--"the groove that makes it move." We listened to "It Don't Mean a Thing if it 'Ain't Got that Swing" by Duke Ellington. We enjoyed listening to a recording of Ella Fitzgerald performing it with scat singing. Then, students worked in groups to perform the rhythms from the poem, “Boom Chicka Boom” on percussion instruments of their choice. The rhythm of these words match the swing rhythms a jazz drummer might play. (Activity taken from Now’s the Time: Teaching Jazz to All Ages by Doug Goodkin)
I said boom chick a rocka chick a rocka chick a boom (hi hat)
I said boom chick a rocka chick a rocka chick a boom (bass drum)
Next, we learned about The Blues. We listened to "The Backwater Blues" by Bessie Smith, and discovered its AAB lyric form--very common in blues music. We had fun creating our own blues lyrics in AAB form. Here is an example created by third graders:
A: Oh, it gives me the blues when Beckham gets hurt.
A: Oh, it gives me the blues when Beckham gets hurt.
B: I hope he does not trip and fall into the dirt.
I'm looking forward to the concert next week!
10/1/17
Here are the skills we worked on in the month of September:
Rhythm:
We reviewed rhythm patterns with quarter notes, paired eighth notes, and quarter rests. We practiced critical thinking by playing "Rhythm Detective," an error detection game using these notes.
Folk Dancing:
We learned a new song, "Tideo," and had fun performing a dance to go with the song. Here are the lyrics:
Pass one window, Tideo
Pass two windows, Tideo
Pass three windows, Tideo
Jingle at the window, Tideo
Jinglin', Jinglin', Jinglin, Joe
Jingle at the window, Tideo.
Ensemble Playing:
We had so much fun playing the rhythms of the highlighted words from "Tideo" on percussion instruments, such as triangles, cowbells, finger cymbals, rhythm sticks, tubanos, and maracas. The students rose to the challenge of performing together as an ensemble. They reflected that this activity was similar to playing in a band because they had to listen carefully to make sure they only played on their turn. The third graders also worked in small groups to create their own arrangements of "Tideo," playing the highlighted words on instruments of their choice. They performed their arrangements for the class.