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).

9-11 Memorial Concert Update

Attention 4th and 5th grade parents: Due to construction in the immediate area of Sims Park, the 9-11 Memorial Concert has been moved to Orange Lake Park which is adjacent to Sims Park. The times have stayed the same. Below is a link with a map pinpointing the location of the meeting area and performance area. We will still meet at 6:30 at the north end of the Lake. Roads will be blocked off, so please park early to walk to the site. Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to seeing you and your children.

911 Map

Don’t forget to have your child practice with the recordings below!!!

THIS IS AMERICA!

CANDLE FOR REMEMBERING

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

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

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

Sims Park 091115

2015 9-11 concert lyricsWe once again have been invited to share our love for our Country and show tribute to those we lost on that tragic day through our students’ beautiful voices. All 4th and 5th grade students are invited to perform at the 9-11 Memorial held at Sims Park in New Port Richey on Friday, September 11, 2015. Letters will be going home in their Tuesday folders on September 1, 2015. Please read over the information and let us know if your child can or cannot attend by indicating on the bottom portion and returning it to their music teacher. A copy of the letter, lyrics (words) to the two songs, and recordings to practice with have been uploaded at the top of this post. We hope you and your family will be able to attend.

Welcome back to school Odessa families!! We are so thrilled to have three full time music teachers on our staff this year. Miss Brooks has joined us from Polk County and we all wish her a fabulous year here as a new Wildcat! Please be sure to stop by and see us at the Open Houses on September 8th and 10th.

We are in the process of securing our Spring performance date for the 2nd, 3,rd, 4th, and 5th graders at River Ridge and will send letters home after Winter Break. We do have the dates set for the 1st grade Concert which will be in the school’s cafeteria the evening of our Holiday Night and the Mother’s Day Concert where we feature the Kindergarteners. Our ‘by audition only’ groups will be getting underway in September. Letters regarding the audition process and dates for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade chorus(es) as well as Orff Ensemble will be coming home in the next few weeks, so keep your eyes out!

All 4th and 5th graders will be needing a recorder for music class for performance and composition. Letters will also be coming home on a half sheet with information on ordering one as well as the instruction book.

Happy New Year families!
The students of Odessa are in high gear learning new material and utilizing information they learned in previous years but in a more complex manner. While our students are continuing to work on their Learning Goals and ‘show what they know’, the majority of them are also getting ready for the annual Spring Concert in March.

All 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders are learning songs from the British Invasion and beyond. The Beatles? check. The Who? check. Elton John? check Queen? check. These are just a few of the artists they are being introduced to. I am thrilled to learn that some of our students know many of them and their songs. A packet was sent home to all students in the above grade levels with an attached permission slip that needs to be signed and returned. Please return the lower portion even if your child cannot participate. Prepping for a concert, singing together and on pitch and having proper posture are all music standards for the State of Florida. However, the actual performance at River Ridge High School on March 9, 2015 is voluntary. If you have not seen the packet or it’s been lost or eaten by the dog, click here Permission Letter 030915 to download the information letter permission slip. If you need a copy of the lyrics, click here for 2nd and 3rd lyric sheet 2015 and click here for 4th and 5th grade lyric sheet . It will be an amazing concert!!

Hello Odessa Wildcats!
We have been very busy diving deeper into learning about musical elements and singing and playing instruments this first quarter.

Each quarter of music class, each grade level will be working on anywhere from one to four different units. Your child may be very strong in some areas like creating and composing, where others may be stronger in performing. Both formative and summative assessments will be used to see where your child is on the learning scale. We will also use pre-tests and post-tests which help show growth.

Here are our new learning goals for the second quarter for kindergarten through 5th grade:

Kindergarten: I can identify sounds within a piece of music. (These may be instrumental, found sounds, or environmental sounds.)

First grade: I can read, match, create, and improvise rhythms. (Students will use quarter notes, quarter rests, and beamed eighth notes for this standard.)

Second grade: I can identify the form of a simple piece of music. (Forms students need to know are AB, ABA, and call and response)

Third grade: I can identify the form of a familiar song. (Forms students need to know are AB, ABA, ABABA, rondo (ABACA), verse/refrain, introduction/coda, and call and response)

Fourth grade: I can classify band/orchestra instruments AND identify and describe the four primary voice types. (Students may identify through video, image, or listening example)

Fifth grade: I can aurally identify band/orchestra instruments AND the four primary voice types. (Students must identify ONLY by listening)

Some of these learning goals will take MANY weeks. We will be finished with some rather quickly, and then I will update again when we begin a new one for a certain grade level. Please feel free to contact your child’s music teacher (or me personally) if you have any questions about how or what is being taught in the classroom, or how your child will be assessed.