From Stepping Stones up to the 1st and 2nd graders, FSW students go crazy for Kindermusik! The Stepping Stones have been “fiddling around” throughout the semester with the unit Fiddle-dee–dee. The unit takes its name from the beloved folk song about the fly who married the bumblebee. The students are exploring creatures from the animal kingdom, whether furry, web-footed,winged or whiskered and using chants and rhythmic songs and dances to teach them musical terms, such as piano/forte and lento/rapido.

The Young Stargazers transport themselves into a Kindermusik city, where ordinary sounds and sights on the street make a musical ensemble. The student’s shuffle their feet to a 4/4 beat, while street musicians serenade and sing and clock towers boom, bellow and ring. As for the Kindergarteners, they are further developing their skills from Semester 1, and learning how to keep a steady beat plus reading and writing musical notation and are now applying their knowledge to playing the glockenspiel. They are also developing the greatest instrument of all – their voice! The 1st and 2nd graders are also continuing from Semester 1 and 2 of Kindermusik for the Young Child. They are building on the child’s natural interest in musical instruments with the introduction of the two-string dulcimer and Appalachian music, which sets the stage for a sampling of Native American music. Exploring multicultural music from Japan to Hawaii – just to name a few, the students are learning basic notation concepts on their first wind instrument – the recorder – while gaining confidence and appreciation for their own musical gifts. 

As for the 3rd and 4th graders, their hard work paid off with a wonderful performance at the Talent show. As the students were preparing for their performance, they focused on using proper timing and rhythm, correct notes, playing with a group of students to build harmonies and used this experience to enhance their musical understanding. Music can be a vehicle for helping children understand major concepts such as patterns and cycles, as well as helping students understand cultural diversity, the writing process,mathematical reasoning and concepts, the scientific process and the impact of technological advances in music. As we move forward our students will explore and learn about Jazz music and its influence on music today and in the past, and learn a variety of Wind and Brass instruments, such as the Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone and the Trumpet.

The 5th – 8th graders have also had a big pay off when they performed in the Talent Show. Some students came back to me and said, “can we play it again?” This shows to me that they really enjoyed the learning experience of playing in a group and playing together as a band. As the students were preparing for their performance, they focused on using proper timing and rhythm, correct notes,playing with a group of students to build harmonies and used this experience to enhance their musical understanding. As we continue this quarter, we are developing our knowledge of Jazz music and how it has influenced music of today and the past, and exploring Wind and Brass instruments such as the Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone and Trumpet. As part of the integregation to their Language Art classes, we are exploring theatre and dramatic arts. This should be a fun rest of the year!