Unit two has been well under way in all grade levels and the students are having a great time learning about the different instruments and their families. We have lots of instruments for hands on exploration as well as performing on. Ask your child which instruments they learned about and got to play. This year we were very fortunate to have quite a few high school band members come to Odessa and play for the students and answer questions about the instruments they play and why they chose to play in band.

Kindergarten – Learning and performing on classroom percussion instruments

1st grade – Grouping classroom percussion instruments into pitched (xylophones/metallophones) and un-pitched (maracas, hand drum, triangle, woodblock…)

2nd grade – Grouping un-pitched classroom percussion instruments into sub categories: metals, woods, membranes, and shakers/scrapers.

3rd grade – Identifying and describing common characteristics of instruments that are grouped into five different families (categories) Keyboard, String, Percussion, Brass, and Woodwind.

4th grade – Identifying visually and aurally instruments from the five families (building on last year’s third grade unit).

5th grade – Identifying all common band and orchestra instruments, as well as keyboards aurally. (building on last year’s unit).

Thank you to the students and parents who came out on a weekend day to support our community and remember those who lost their lives on 9/11/01 and the heroes that are still here with us.  Our third, fourth, and fifth graders did an amazing job performing two Patriotic songs for all attendees.  Our students were given a big compliment on not only their beautiful voices but their  stage presence and behavior as well.  You make us proud!! Here are some pictures from the event: 

Third, Fourth and Fifth grade Odessa students have been invited to perform at the 9-11 Memorial Service at Sims Park in New Port Richey on Sunday, September 11th, 2016 at 5:00 p.m.  All students in these grade levels received a letter in their Tuesday Folder on 8/23 explaining the event and are encouraged to participate, even though this is not a mandatory concert. Dress code is nice-casual in Red, White, and/or Blue clothes.  No shorts please. The letter can be downloaded here:Sims Park 091116  and the lyrics can be found here:2016 Sept 11 concert Mp3’s of the songs to practice with can be found here:

Let’s Not Forget

American Every Day

Students are asked to arrive by 4:30 p.m. and to meet their music teacher outside of Peace Hall, behind the performance stage on Sims Lane.  Parents and guests may then leave and take a seat in front of the stage. Students will then enter Peace Hall to line up in height order and warm up their voices and run through their songs. We will bring them around and line them up on the stage to perform.  After the performance we will lead them off the stage and around the back of the stage by Peace Hall where you may pick up your child. If you would like us to bring your child around front to sit with you for the remainder of the service, please let your child know.  At least one music teacher will stay until the end (@6:30 p.m.) to be sure all students have a ride home.

Here is a link to the location of Sims Park:https://www.google.com/maps/dir/”/sims+park+new+port+richey/@28.2513664,-82.722306,155m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m8!4m7!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x88c2903237fc95e7:0x9596f2fee42a1f9b!2m2!1d-82.7217561!2d28.2513843

We look forward to a wonderful presentation!

Kindergarten – speaking, singing, and whispering voices

1st grade – the difference between one singer and a group of singers

2nd grade – the difference between the voices of a child, adult female, and adult male

3rd grade – the difference between unison and two-part harmony. )**Getting ready for 9-11 Performance**

4th grade – identifying and describing the four primary voice types (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass)**Getting ready for 9-11 Performance**

5th grade – identifying the four voice types by ear **Getting ready for 9-11 Performance **

Odessa Elementary’s school choruses will be teaming up with Trinity Elementary, Seven Springs Middle School and JW Mitchell High School’s choruses for a evening of COOL music on Thursday night, January 28th at 7:00 p.m. on the Mitchell football field. Bring your chairs, your blankets and some hot cocoa for a unique concert blending voices of young and old!

Students in grades 2, 3, 4, and 5 have all received a letter this month to take home explaining this year’s spring concert, School House Rock!     Click School House Rock Permission for Concert 2016 for a copy. Please read through this letter and mark the date, Monday, March 14, 2016 on your calendars. This concert will be held at Pasco’s Center for the Performing Arts at River Ridge High school at 7:00 p.m. Students are expected to report to the music rooms behind the stage at 6:30 p.m. We ask that all students performing in this March concert to wear long blue jeans and a brightly colored t-shirt; red, yellow, orange, green, blue, or purple. Sneakers are the acceptable footwear as well!

Here is the lyrics page for grades 4 and 5 Schoolhouse Rock Lyrics 4-5

Here is the lyrics page for grades 2 and 3 Schoolhouse Rock Lyrics 2-3

Upload the DVD order form to purchase your keepsake video created by Affordable Recordables DVD-order-form-Spring 2016

Happy New Year!
Students started a new unit before Winter Break and we had a lot of fun talking about music from different cultures, celebrations, as well as music from America. Below are the learning goals they worked on before vacation. These past two weeks your child has made a journal and we are reviewing the first semester standards and letting them write in key facts to use for studying at the end of the year. Remember, all students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade will be taking final exams in music at the end of the year.

Kindergarten – Identifying and describing sounds in music.

1st grade – The ability to respond to teacher selected musical characteristics in a song or instrumental piece. (We worked most of the quarter on the Winter Concert music they were able to discuss the different characteristics of each of our concert songs!)

2nd grade – Identifying the primary differences between composed music and folk songs.

3rd grade – Discussion on how music in America was influenced by people and events in its history.

4th grade – Describe the various roles and careers of selected musicians. Listen to and discuss music related to Florida’s history as well as music and instruments from other cultures.

5th grade – Identifying the purposes for which music is used within various cultures as well as comparing stylistic and musical features in works originating from different cultures.

Chorus members in the 4th and 5th grade Wildcat Chorus will be performing this week at the Veteran’s Day celebration at school on Wednesday, November 11, 20015. Students are asked to come to school dressed in their chorus uniform of black pants, black socks, and black shoes as well as their blue Odessa Wildcat Chorus polo shirt (tucked in). Prior to the performance we will eat lunch and a bottle of water and snack will be supplied for after their performance. They may bring a spare set of clothes to change into after the celebration. This event is by invitation only and all chorus members who invited a Veteran may eat in the cafe with them prior to their performance. Please contact the music department with nay questions you may have.

The students had a wonderful time learning about and playing on a variety of different instruments in the last unit and we used a variety of ways to measure their success in knowledge!

We have since moved onto a new unit for most of our students. All grades except for fifth grade have been learning about FORM in music. The youngest are using two main senses to see and hear differences and similarities in music. As the students get older, they look for patterns and soon are able to identify the form of a piece of music. Please ask your child what they learned in music class this week or the next and you will be engaged in a stimulating conversation!

Kindergarten – Identifying how melodies and rhythms are the same or different.

1st grade – Identifying patterns in short simple songs or speech pieces.

2nd grade – Identifying the FORM of a piece of music.

3rd grade – Identifying and describing the FORM of a familiar song.

4th grade – Singing rounds, canons, and/or partner songs using proper vocal technique while maintaining pitch.

5th grade – Describing jobs associated with various types of concert venues and explaining why live performances are important to the career of the artist.(building on last year’s unit).

Unit two has been well under way in all grade levels and the students are having a great time learning about the different instruments and their families. We have lots of instruments for hands on exploration as well as performing on. Ask your child which instruments they learned about and got to play. We have also shown come classes some really cool video clips. Check out 2 Cellos, The Piano Guys, and Jazz for Cows on YouTube!

Kindergarten – Learning and performing on classroom percussion instruments

1st grade – Grouping classroom percussion instruments into pitched (xylophones/metallophones) and un-pitched (maracas, hand drum, triangle, woodblock…)

2nd grade – Grouping un-pitched classroom percussion instruments into sub categories: metals, woods, membranes, and shakers/scrapers.

3rd grade – Identifying and describing common characteristics of instruments that are grouped into five different families (categories) Keyboard, String, Percussion, Brass, and Woodwind.

4th grade – Identifying visually and aurally instruments from the five families (building on last year’s third grade unit).

5th grade – Identifying all common band and orchestra instruments, as well as keyboards aurally. (building on last year’s unit).