It's December In Our Town

It's December in our town...

A wonderful place to be...

It's December in our town...

Excitement, look and see

(From Roger Emerson's December In Our Town)

December at Porters Point is a time to explore observances and holidays that take place during the month and seek out musical opportunities to learn.  We do not celebrate holidays at our school, but we do look for cultural examples from all over the world to broaden our understanding of music.

Porters Point has a long standing tradition of holding a whole school Sing-Along in December.  This is viewed as an "assembly" as opposed to a concert.  Students and faculty gather in the multipurpose room and raise their voices in song, sometimes unaccompanied (a cappella), sometimes with pre-recordings, and sometimes adding instruments to the experience.

In the song, “African Noel”, students explore the tubano drums, always connecting to the beat. All students had a turn to play the drums during music class. At our sing-along, there were 12 tubanos and one student from each class played during this song.

Students sang songs about Christmas, Chanukah, Las Posadas, winter, and Kwanzaa.  

SECOND GRADERS AND RHYTHM

By Second Grade, students begin to really understand basic rhythm concepts.  We got a lot of mileage out of the "Create A Rhythm" activity done at the beginning of the year.  First of all, every student contributed to it.  We have used it for reading rhythms.  We have selected a line and created an ostinato out of it. Students did some writing, too.  At first we used stick notation and then we changed that into actual quarter notes and eighth notes by adding the noteheads:

This is all part of music literacy.  But that is only a small part of what we do in Music Class.  Students always begin with a song, dance, or play party.  We then can incorporate instruments to accompany the songs.  Here is slideshow of some of our activities we have done this fall:

MELODIC EXPLORATION IN KINDERGARTEN MUSIC

Kindergarten students cannot wait to play instruments in Music Class.  Preparation for making music together takes time as students really need to listen to each other for that to happen.  It's amazing how motivated students become when they see the instruments out in the room!  Students have explored playing mallet instruments:  metallophones and xylophones.  They start with mallet technique using one hand, then both hands. Wrists must be relaxed!  Students discover just how hard (and soft) to play the bars.  The concept of high and low is easy on these instruments because the bars are different sizes.  To play an ascending line, they start at the "bottom" playing the bigger bars and work their way "up" to the smaller bars.  

Students also played Melody Bells.  At first students were asked to just look at the bells and tell what they noticed about them. They made predictions about what they might sound like when played.  While playing, students learned to start and stop and take turns.  We also discussed that instruments can be LOUD!!!  We all need to take care of ourselves to not hurt our ears.  I told students I sometimes wear earplugs when I go to concerts to protect my ears from extremely loud music.  And I can still hear the music!

In addition to melodic instruments, students have used rhythm sticks, triangles and shakers.  We recently made some "Pumpkin Stew" in music class -- of course, we just pretended to make stew as our music class is only 40 minutes!  

Pumpkin stew!  Pumpkin stew!  

What shall we put in the pumpkin stew?

Put it in the pot and stir it alot, 

and then we'll have some pumpkin stew!

Students played a triangle on the word "pumpkin" and then we added the playing of fruit and vegetable shakers on the question mark and followed up with putting them into the big pot, complete with a stir xylophone.

Check out a short video to see what students have been up to in Music Class this fall:

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS IN FIRST GRADE

There is no question that the single most important wish of students in the music room is to play instruments!  Once steady beat is established, students are ready to combine that with rhythm patterns.  Students learn that playing instruments with others does not always mean playing all the time.  In fact, different instruments can be playing different things at the same time!  We learn to speak the rhythms, clap the rhythms, and finally play them on instruments.  Students learn basic notation for reading rhythms.  The instruments we play are called rhythm percussion instruments.  The below video shows students over several weeks of using these instruments.  Enjoy!

Steady Beat Is So Important

The first month of school we focus on connecting to the steady beat.  Actually, we do not stop focusing on steady beat after a month -- it is a constant and continual focus!  

In kindergarten, students use body percussion to connect to the beat.  "Body percussion" means clapping hands, patting legs, snapping fingers (always a challenge), and stomping feet.  We find other ways to connect to the beat, too, like nodding our heads, blinking our eyes, and swaying from side to side.  Keeping the beat does not always mean making a sound!  

In first grade, students also connect to the beat, first with body percussion, and then with instruments such as hand drums, rhythm sticks, woodblocks, and cymbals.  They find it a challenge to keep a steady beat on an instrument while speaking or singing at the same time, but it is worth giving it a try!  I often ask them to rub their belly and pat their head to get the idea here.  "That's easy" they always say...

In second grade we began the year with a task to "Create a Rhythm".  I set up a piece of paper with 20 boxes, and every student needed to fill in one box with a one-beat notation, either a "ta" (quarter note), "ti-ti" (pair of eighth notes), or "rest" (we use the letter "z" to indicate a rest).  Students could choose any box that did not already have a notation in it.  At the end we got our composition.  Here is an example of "Create a Rhythm" from a second grade class:

      

I then took this paper, copied it and cut it up into strips.  We use these 4-beat strips as a pattern to play either using body percussion or play on percussion instruments.  Oh, and we are playing the pattern while singing a song!  So the only thing that connects all this together is STEADY BEAT!!!!

A New School Year!!!

Greetings everyone, and welcome to a new school year!  I am very excited to be back in the classroom. I am looking forward to a musically creative year. My hope is that all students will discover they are already music-makers -- now let's see what we can do with that!!!  

Front Garden at Porters Point School

Summer Is Here!!

I have not posted for quite some time, and now it is summer vacation.  I am doing something different this summer -- I'm going to Salzburg, Austria to study music at the Carl Orff Institut!  My classes are all related to teaching music to children, and I just cannot wait to begin!  I look forward to sharing my experiences with you in the Fall...

Happy Summer!!

Carl Orff Institut Salzburg

Essex Children's Choir

I received this great announcement from Connie Price, Founding Director of the Essex Children’s Choir announcing their upcoming performance on Sunday, June 8th, 2014 at 4:30 pm. This performance will be held in the McCarthy Arts Center at Saint Michael’s College.  I am thrilled for my students to have this opportunity to experience such a high quality vocal ensemble!!

ECC Tree Poster 2014 uploaded by MarthaMutz

Aiken Drum

Do you know the song "Aiken Drum"?  Usually he is made from food ingredients, but today, we "made" him from musical instruments we have in our Music classroom!  Mrs. Plunkett's First Graders help make this version, including the following:

"There was a man lived in the moon, lived in the moon, lived in the moon.
There was a man lived in the moon, and his name was Aiken Drum...

And his head was made of a hand drum, a hand drum, a hand drum...

And his body was made of a washboard...

And his arms were made of maracas...

And his legs were made of jingle sticks...

And his eyes were made of finger cymbals...

And his nose was made of a triangle...

And his mouth was made of sleigh bells...

And his hair was made of rhythm sticks...

AND HIS NAME WAS AIKEN DRUM!!!

Piano Lesson for Two PTO Raffle Winners

This picture collage generated with Smilebox

"HATS!" Musical Performances THIS WEEK!!!

Porters Point School will perform "HATS!" this Wednesday, April 9 and Thursday, April 10, 6:30 pm in the Colchester High School Theater.  Please check out this link for last minute details:

Parent Notice #3

Hope to see you all at Colchester High School!!!

All Done With After-School Rehearsals!

Both casts have now had their last after-school rehearsals for our whole school musical "HATS!" by John Jacobson and John Higgins.  Students have only three more days to come into the music room during lunch recess, say their lines and leave:  Friday (4/4/14), Monday (4/7/14), and Tuesday (4/8/14).  Then I will be packing up all the stuff and going to Colchester High School to get ready for the dress rehearsals.  We had such fun at our after school rehearsals.  The below video is just a highlight:


 

"HATS!" Is Off To A Good Start!

UNCLE SAM IS WHO I AM

The first after school practices for our whole school musical "HATS!" were held Wednesday and Thursday this week.  Both casts are off to a good start!  There are 32 speaking parts for each night, meaning 64 students total!  Many students came to the practice already knowing their lines.  The goals for this first practice are:  1) meet the other cast members; 2) discover when the speaking parts occur in the script; 3) learn which microphone to go to, and in what order to stand; and 4) speak "two-fingers away" from the microphone -- can we hear you?  Other goals are to sing the songs, although most of that work happens during music class.  This is the time to work out the speaking parts. 

Students are invited to come into the music room any day from now until the performances during lunch recess and just say their lines into the microphones and then leave.  I do not want them to miss recess!!  But the more comfortable they are with saying their lines the better.  Students need to memorize their lines and learn to project their voices so they may be heard.  I love this part of the process!!  

After-School Rehearsals start Wednesday and Thursday

On Wednesday, March 26, 2014, there will be an after-school rehearsal from 2:45 - 4:00 pm for the Wednesday, April 9 Cast of our musical "HATS!"  In order for these 32 students to stay after school, Ms. Mutz must receive a permission slip from their parents.

On Thursday, March 27, 2014, there will be another after-school rehearsal from 2:45-4:00 pm, and this time it is for the Thursday, April 10 Cast of our musical "HATS!"  Again, in order for these 32 students to stay after school, Ms. Mutz must receive a permission slip from their parents.

In several cases, students already attend the A.C.E. after school program.  Ms. Mutz contacted the A.C.E. counselors and they are aware of both of these rehearsals.  Once our rehearsals are over, Ms. Mutz will send those students back to the A.C.E. program.  

CORRECTION!! REVISED-ParentNotice#2

Friday I sent home a GREEN note (with five hats at the top) to everyone.  Then just today I realized that I listed two classes as performing on incorrect nights.  Yikes!!  I have notified Mrs. Plunkett and Ms. Silverberg and asked that they contact their students' families and give them the corrected note.  You can check out this note here:

REVISED-ParentNotice#2 

In a nutshell, this is the corrected information...

April 9, 2014, 6:30 pm Performing Classes:  Allbee, Donnelly, Trombley, Shepherd, Silverberg, Bissonnette, Hooper

April 10, 2014, 6:30 pm Performing Classes:  Belaski, Randall, Plunkett, Terrien, LaRose, Warren

I was able to keep with my plan to hand out speaking parts for the casts of "HATS!" last Wednesday, March 19.  If there are students who return their unwanted parts, I will reassign those parts to students who expressed interest but were not originally given a part.

Speaking Parts Process

Speaking parts in a musical help to tell a story.  Really, we could just sing the songs and be done!  But turning this into a story gives opportunities for students to explore the world of performance.  In addition to the learning the music, students learn a speaking part, practice it while speaking into a microphone, and then gain the confidence to perform it in front of an audience on a stage.  Some students are quite content with singing in the Stage Chorus and not taking on a speaking part -- this is perfectly okay!  For those students ready for a speaking part, they need to practice their lines and set them to memory.  They need to practice saying the lines out loud, soft, fast, slow, high-pitched voice, low-pitched voice, singing the lines, whispering the lines, and, of course, saying the lines in front of others.

Last Friday, March 14, I scrambled to make up for lost time during our surprise snow days.  I asked teachers if I could double up classes so that I could meet students who missed class Wednesday and Thursday.  Everyone was really understanding and flexible, so I was able to meet with all First Grade and Second Grade students.  This was important so I could have students let me know what speaking parts, if any, they were interested in doing for our musical, "HATS!"

I then take those lists and spend hours trying to make sense of all the choices.  I put together all the names of students who are interested in particular parts, and then names get pulled (as in, "from a hat"). If students showed interest in more than one part, then they had more of a chance to end up with a part. But if they only showed interest in one or two parts, those parts may not have been available.  I do wish there were parts for everyone who showed interest, but that is just not possible in this particular show.

At this writing, part selections are still in the draft phase, but I will try to hand out parts to students on Wednesday, March 19.  If your child is given a part and is happy about it, great!!!  But if they are not, PLEASE have them return the part to me as soon as possible so I can reassign it.  There are many students who expressed interest and will not end up with a part, so if something becomes available, it is important to give as much time to the alternate students as possible.

"HATS!" Has Now Been Introduced To All

As of 2:30 pm today, all Porters Point students have been introduced to the entire story of "HATS!" by John Jacobson and John Higgins.  We are fortunate to have a performing space to use, Colchester High School:

I refer to this drawing all the time so students realize what we are talking about when I say we are performing on a stage.  There is no stage at Porters Point School!  I wish there was!!  I also want students to know that there are two performance nights and they are only performing one of the two nights.  So these pictures show which classes are performing on what night.

I know there are families that have more than one child at our school.  If both children are scheduled to perform the same night, great!  If they are not and this poses a difficulty for you, please contact me and we can work something out so both children perform on the same night.  Please let me know as soon as possible!

The next step begins next week in Music class.  All students will start to learn the songs and movements.  First and Second Grade students will be asked what speaking parts, if any, they would be interested and willing to do.  Then I go through a random process -- literally like names pulled from a hat -- to select students for parts. There are 33 speaking parts, so not every student will have a speaking part.  But keep in mind with two nights of performances, that actually means there will be 66 students who will have the parts!  This process takes me a long time, but I will let students know as soon as parts have been selected.  A note will go home to parents announcing the parts.  Those students will need to attend two after-school practices so we can work out the parts, know when to speak and where to stand.  There will be a permission slip attached to these parts which will have to be signed and returned in order for students to be able to stay after school.  Students will benefit greatly from these practices as they will meet the other students with speaking parts.

Count Basie Orchestra

Last Wednesday night, Colchester High School was a-hoppin' with the Count Basie Orchestra! The Colchester High School Jazz Band also had the opportunity to work with a few of the Orchestra members for an after-school workshop. During the concert, the High School students played one song with those same members! What a great opportunity! I remember when these High School students were 5-8 years old here at Porters Point School and Union Memorial School. What could be better than seeing former students continuing to enjoy music AND explore their own music capabilities?! I am very proud of my former students, indeed!  And what a great concert with the Count Basie Orchestra!!

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Improvising with a Five Note Scale

Today in Music class, Second Graders played with xylophones, glockenspiels and metallophones.  We learned about a five note scale called Pentatonic.  There is a pattern with the set up:  three bars, space, two bars, space, three bars, space, two bars.  Students figured out where the dividing line is between five bars. There is a "B" in this space, and we called that the "Boundary" line or "Boarder" line. This is so two students could improvise or experiment using the instrument at the same time. Check it out!