Week 6/15-6/19
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Dear First Graders,
Congratulations! You've made it through 13 weeks of distance learning! I know it hasn't been easy but I'm proud of you. Although our sticker chart is still at school, I know it would definitely be filled up by now. In fact, you've earned more than one super fun music reward! I hope you enjoy these games and activities. Love, Ms. Sheridan PLAY: Have some fun playing these music games from PBS kids featuring Peg and Cat and other friends from this great show! Music Maker Peg's Parade SING & DANCE: Sing along with some old favorite songs from throughout the school year! Follow along with this dance routine to "Can't Stop the Feeling"! Try and get your family members to jump up and join you! Make a video of your dancing and share it with me at: [email protected] |
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Week 12: 6/8-6/12
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READ: You Matter
Christian Robinson is an author and illustrator. I follow him on Instagram and find his series called “Making Space” @theartoffun really engaging and moving. My children and I have watched and made art along with him. I highly recommend it! He released a new book a few days ago and it’s message is one that I want all of my students to hear. YOU MATTER! LISTEN & SING: Songs that bring us together There are so many things going on in the world around us right now. Many people are feeling worried, sad, angry or confused. These are all important feelings. Sometimes, these emotions can leave us feeling alone. One thing I know that can always help bring people together is music. Humans sing when they are happy. But, we also sing when we’re sad. Making music has a magical way of helping us share our feelings and find the words we need to express ourselves. It can make us feel united and strong. It has the power to lift us up and make us belong. You and your family may be expressing your feelings at home by making signs of gratitude and cheering on our essential workers helping to fight the pandemic. You may be protesting, marching or attending a vigil to show that you know Black Lives Matter. All of these actions are important tools for changing and strengthening our community. Throughout history, music has been the glue to bind communities together when they are unraveling. Each year at Pierce, we sing to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. to remind us of our constant fight for civil rights in this country. What we sing, unites us and makes us stronger. I have shared these songs and more in a playlist below. I encourage you to bring these songs into your homes. Listen and SING as a family and lift each other up. |
PLAYLIST: Songs that bring us together
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LEARN: Peter and the Wolf (Listen to the entire story here!)
This week we will finish up our unit on the Orchestra by learning about the Percussion family! Percussion instruments are played by hitting, shaking or being scraped. When I meet with your classes this week, we will talk about all the members of the percussion family in the Orchestra. In Peter and the Wolf, the timpani play the role of the hunters searching for the wolf. The hunters are the last characters in our story that we must learn about! When you listen, you’ll hear snare drum bass drum and timpani too.
This week we will finish up our unit on the Orchestra by learning about the Percussion family! Percussion instruments are played by hitting, shaking or being scraped. When I meet with your classes this week, we will talk about all the members of the percussion family in the Orchestra. In Peter and the Wolf, the timpani play the role of the hunters searching for the wolf. The hunters are the last characters in our story that we must learn about! When you listen, you’ll hear snare drum bass drum and timpani too.
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COLOR:
While you are listening to the Percussion family play the theme and variation, go ahead and color them all in using this worksheet. How many different percussion instruments can you hear?
While you are listening to the Percussion family play the theme and variation, go ahead and color them all in using this worksheet. How many different percussion instruments can you hear?
Week 11: 6/1-6/5
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SING: “I am With You” by Olaf!
Listen to this beautiful new song by everyone's favorite snowman. Sing along with Olaf and think about all the people that you are missing. Call you family and friends and sing this song to them. It's a beautiful way to share how much you are missing them while also brightening their day and spreading joy. LEARN: Brass Family This week we are going to be learning about the Brass family. Many of these instruments may be familiar to you. Brass instruments make a very full and strong sound. But they can also be played softly and smoothly! Watch the introduction to the Brass family from Ms. Han. LISTEN: The Wolf Theme We learned about 4 different brass instruments no. In “Peter and the Wolf” the french horns represent the wolf. Watch the video below to see three french horns playing the part of the wolf. READ: Tubby the Tuba We're going to hear a story about Tubby the Tuba. The tuba is a brass instrument so this is the perfect time to share one of my favorite music books! Listen carefully for the tuba and the other instruments in the orchestra. How many instruments can you count? |
COLOR:
While you are listening to all of these fun videos and learning about the Brass family you can color them in on this worksheet as you go! You do not need to make them their real color. You can color them in any way you like. :) |
Week Ten: 5/26-5/29
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SING: “We Are Fine Musicians”
Let’s practice our new song again! Once you’ve learned all of the parts that I sing in the video, try adding your own ideas with new instruments! WATCH: There are four families in the orchestra and this week we are going to focus on the Woodwind family. There is also a short video that you can watch to review what you may already know about the members of the String Family and a video I made just for you! PETER AND THE WOLF: Peter and the Wolf is a story about a boy named Peter who lives with his Grandfather in the woods. I hope you had a chance to listen to the story last week! If you did not, please do so this week. It’s important that you learn all the different characters in the story. Each character in our story has a theme that plays when they enter the scene. You should begin to recognize the music that plays for each animal as you listen. Since we are learning about the Woodwind family this week, we will learn about the characters that have themes played by Woodwind instruments. There are FOUR themes played by Woodwind instruments! Grandpa/ Bassoon: Cat/Clarinet: Duck/Oboe: Bird/ Flute:
“Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin!”
Last week you listened to the story “Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin!” by Lloyd Moses. This week I’d like you to review what you learned from the story and complete the worksheets below! Once you’ve completed them, have your grown up take a picture and share your work with me at [email protected]
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COLOR: Another great way to learn about all the members of the Woodwind family is to color them all in! Print out this coloring sheet for Woodwind family and have fun! I would highly recommend coloring your sheet while you are listening to the pieces listed above! 
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Week Nine: 5/18-5/22
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SING:
This week we will bring back an old favorite from music class! Sing along with this video of our song "Bow Wow Wow" and see if you can remember all the movements. I would love to see you singing and dancing to this song at home. Send me a video at: [email protected] WATCH: There are four families in the orchestra and this week we are going to focus on the String Family. Ms. Han shared some information about the String Family in a video you can watch! (I will be making next week's video!) There is also a short video that you can watch to review what you may already know about the members of the String Family. PETER AND THE WOLF: Peter and the Wolf is a story about a boy named Peter who lives with his Grandfather in the woods. We will be learning about this piece of music for the next few weeks. The music was written by a Russian composer named Sergei Prokofiev. This fairytale adventure is told by a narrator and an orchestra. Each time Peter appears in the story, we hear the same theme music which is played by the String Family! LEARN PETER'S THEME: Listen carefully to the music below and try to remember what it sounds like. This is Peter's theme song and whenever you hear it, Peter is near! You can listen to the entire story and watch the orchestra play as well. Keep your ears open for Peter's theme. COLOR:
Another great way to learn about all the members of the String Family is to color them all in! Print out this coloring sheet for the String Family and have fun! I would highly recommend coloring this paper while you are listening to the pieces listed above! |
LISTEN:
"Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin" is a great story for you this week because it introduces many instruments of the orchestra, including the violin! Listen and watch carefully to see if you can find all the string instruments that we’ve learned about so far. |
Week Eight: 5/11-5/15
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WATCH:
An orchestra is a group of musicians who play music together. This week we will be learning about the different families in the Orchestra. In this video, a boy named George gets to visit an orchestra in Sydney, Australia where he lives! After you watch the video, try to answer these questions: -What does a conductor do? -What is the conductors stick called? -What are the four families of the Orchestra? -How many members of each family can you remember? -Do you have a favorite instrument? Next week we will begin to learn more about the Orchestra and how instruments can be used to tell stories! LISTEN: “Jake the Philharmonic Dog” is one of my favorite musical picture books. He is a cute and lucky dog who gets to visit an orchestra with his owner! Listen to me read the story and see how many instruments you meet along the way. SING: Here is a new song about some of my favorite instruments! Listen as I sing and join in each time you hear an instrument plating. Can you make up some of your own verses about instruments you heard and saw in our orchestra visit and read aloud? Send me a video of your new idea and I will share it next week! Email it to me at: [email protected] Oh, we are fine musicians, we practice every day. People come from miles around just to hear us play! My trumpet, my trumpet, they love to hear my trumpet... My trombone, my trombone, they love to hear my trombone... My tuba, my tuba, they love to play my tuba... My piccolo, my piccolo, they love to play my piccolo... MOVE: It’s time to get off the couch and move your body! Grab your family members and follow along. You will practice moving and freezing and following the singing cues. Have fun and don’t be afraid to get silly. |
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Week Seven: 5/4-5/8
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SING:
We learned the song, “Signs of Spring” last week. This week, Ms. Han and I made a video of us singing it as a round. Remember, a round is when we all sing the same song, but different parts come in to sing at different times. This makes harmony! Days grow longer warm with sun, Let's get out and have some fun! Bring your bat and glove and ball, Bikes and roller skates and all. Brisk the breeze and warm the rain, Plant your garden once again. Trees are greening, robins sing, These are certain signs of spring! Listen to us sing, and then sing along. You can pick one of the two parts and sing along. Teach it to a family member to sing it together, or maybe even find a friend on Zoom or Google Meet to try it out! WATCH & SING: This week we’re going to be watching a video that teaches us about how important keeping a beat is! We often practice finding the beat and patting the beat while we sing in music class. This video will show you why that’s important! Try to pat and sing along with the video. MOVE: Body Percussion The best musicians know how to feel and keep a steady beat when they make music. Today we are going to work on that skill using body percussion. Start at the very first slide and be sure to follow the directions. Then go through as many patterns as you can! Remember to keep a steady beat with each pattern and try not get faster as you go. How many slides can you get through? LISTEN & CREATE: Listen to "Tritsch-Tratsch Polka" (Tritsch-Tratsch means “Chit chat” or talking at once!) composed by Johann Strauss. You can watch a few times as you think about the way the music is making you feel. After you are done listening, please print out this worksheet and fill it out. If you don't have a printer, you can make your own based on the one below. Ask your adult for help with reading the directions. I would love to see your work! Please send it to me at: [email protected] |
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Week Six: 4/27-5/1
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SING:
Start your day by singing two familiar songs from music class! Start with Frog in the Meadow and make up some patterns for your frog to croak using ta, ta-di and takadimi. Do you remember when we sang a song about John, the Rabbit in music class? We always hopped on the words, “Yes M’am” and you can do the same at home. You can also begin to learn a new song this week. Signs of Spring is the perfect song to sing in the spring because things are changing all around us each day! The weather is warming up, the days are lighter for longer, the flowers are blooming and it makes me want to find my baseball glove and get outside to play! CREATE: Do you like secret codes? I do! Use this worksheet of rhythm patterns to play your name or send a message to someone! Spell your name on a piece of paper. Find the rhythm on the chart for each letter of your name and write them down in order. Then, try to say and play the rhythm sentence that spells your name. You can spell all the names in your family too! Record yourself or send me your rhythm sentence so I can see your work: [email protected] 
MOVE:
This song activity gives you a chance to work on your coordination and musical timing while having fun! The “Deteggtive” will lead you through the song showing you which beat is happening in the music. The picture here tells you what each egg means.
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Week Five: 4/21-4/24
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SING:
Start your day by warming up your voice with our whistle warm-up and greeting song in the video here. Then sing a familiar song from music class! We sang “Rig a Jig” many months ago and played the game in class quite often. This time when you sing “Rig a jig jig, and away we go, away we go, away we go” make up your own dance and teach someone at home how to play with you! PLAY: Play one of our favorite singing games Poison Pattern at home! You can try any of the videos from the web page. The game gets harder as you go down the list so think carefully and see how far you can get. LISTEN: I Have a Little Trumpet by Mo Willems Watch this read aloud about Piggie and her new trumpet. I love Piggie and Elephant and I miss reading to you all! LISTEN: In Hall of Mountain King We continue our journey through “In the Hall of the Mountain King” by Edvard Grieg. This week we have a short film for you that tells the tale of Peer Gynt. Watch the live orchestra playing the music in the video here. Can you see the conductor’s movement changing as the song gets faster and louder? Imagine you are the conductor and lead the orchestra as they play. |
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Week Four: 4/13-4/17
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SING:
Warm up your voice with me. Sing along with the video here and join in with me and my whistle! Here are two songs for you to learn and sing at home this week. A Ram Sam Sam has movements that go along with the words. See if you can learn them all. The students singing in this video will get faster and faster. Can you match their tempo? Oh, In The Woods is a song you might remember from music class this year. Each line repeats and adds one more new part. Can you keep track of all the different parts? Sing along at home! PLAY: Last week we listened and moved to In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg. This week, I’d like to give you a rhythm challenge to the same music. As you listen to the video shared here, say the rhythm of the music as you follow along. Try it again, but this time clap the rhythm. Try it again, and find an instrument in your house to play along with as well. You can use your homemade maraca, a drum, or anything else that you can play from home! CREATE: Last week we listened to Bought Me A Cat and sang along. Hopefully you know all the words and can use them to do the activity for this week. Each animal in the song makes it’s own funny sound. Can you write down the rhythm of their sound using ta, ta-di, ta-ah and rest? Think back to when we used popsicle sticks to practice these same rhythms! You had lots of practice at hearing and creating these rhythms in music class. COMPOSE YOUR OWN ANIMAL SOUNDS:
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Week Three: 4/6-4/10
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SING: Start every day with a song! Sing a greeting song from music class to someone in your family. Make a video and send it to me at: [email protected]
Spread some joy around you by singing another song from our concert at home! Here's a country music version of "Mama Don't Allow" by Hank Thompson. The story of "Mama Don't Allow" is also told in this video episode of Reading Rainbow. Check it out! MOVE and LISTEN: In the Hall of the Mountain King Last week, we spent time listening to the song and learning about the story of Peer Gynt. This week, I have a challenge for you all! Watch the Movement challenge video to the “Hall of the Mountain King” and try to copy the movements. The more you practice, the easier it will get! If you would like, send me a video of you doing these movements! HINT: It’s very similar to “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes!” Sing & Watch: Bought Me A Cat As you listen, try to keep track of the order of animals and sing along! Can you find creative ways to make the sounds of the animals in the song? Use any instrument or object around your house that makes sound. |
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Week Two: 3/30-4/3
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SING: Start every day with a song! Sing a greeting song from music class to someone in your family. Make a video and send it to me at: [email protected] Spread some joy around you by singing two more songs for our concert at home! Peace Like A River and Do Re Mi
MOVE and LISTEN: In the Hall of the Mountain King You have probably heard this piece of music before! It was written by Edvard Grieg who was a composer from Norway. A composer is someone who writes music. He wrote this song for a play about a boy named Peer Gynt. In the play, Peer finds himself in an underground Kingdom of Trolls and must run to escape them at the end! Listen as he tip toes in softly, becomes more confident as he explores the palace, and then runs and slams door after door behind him to reach safety! Try feeling the beat of the music on your lap, or tiptoeing around your house to the beat as the music plays. You can read more here with a grownup. CREATE: Make a Maraca Find some musical instruments around your house to play along with your steady beat. Do you have a drum, shakers, or a triangle? If not, you can have your child make one! We’ll look at some ways to do this when we have our first online class. |
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Week One: 3/23-3/27
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SING: Ask your child to teach you a greeting song from music class! There are a few they know well enough to teach. “Hello, Hello, How Do You Do?” is a fun song because they pick a different way of moving each time we repeat the greeting. Some other songs they know well are “Mi Cuerpo” and “I Love the Mountains/City Life”.
MOVE: An essential musical concept for 1st grade is Steady Beat. As you listen to music and sing songs around the house, encourage your child to show you the beat, or pulse, by swaying, patting their legs, walking around the house, etc. LISTEN: The Carnival of the Animals by Camille St. Saens You can find this piece of music on whatever platform you listen to music on, or you can watch a video of it through the link above. Have your child listen and imagine the animals of each piece and how they might move like the musicians who are playing. PLAY: Peg + Cat Music Maker Understanding the difference between High and Low is another key concept for first graders. Play this game on PBS kids and help your child understand the relationship between length and pitch. The longer Cat makes the tubes, the lower they get! It works the same way on the xylophones they play in class. |
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