Trimester 3 Update, 2018
Trimester 3 has flown by! We have had such a great time learning and growing together this year! Our spring trimester was packed with making music, dancing, singing, laughter and smiles. Feel free to scroll down to see some highlights of our time together! Parents, I'm sure you have probably heard about our new green screen we used for the musical production as well as during class. It turned into such an engaging element in our room. We continued to find creative uses far beyond just the "blooper reels" for the musical. It became the perfect setting for authentic performance assessments. We used it with all grade levels. Students could pick their background picture, stand in front of the screen, and sing/play the songs for the given lesson. The recordings were then collected as data of their growth and progress with the musical concepts taught. The children were so excited to be musical movie stars! (I learned so much from this fun process as well.)
Kindergarten
I've had a blast, this trimester, with these darling children. They learned about steady beat, high/low, fast/slow, quarter notes/8th notes, and have become beginning music readers. I can't wait to see them again in 1st grade! One of our favorite activities was picking out secret instruments from the magical black box! They also LOVED singing/playing lullabies to their puppet friends! They were beyond adorable!
1st and 2nd Grade
This trimester was definitely centered around "hand-on" learning. Our 1st and 2nd graders studied what qualities make pitches high or low. They made discoveries about music and shared them with their classmates. My 1st and 2nd graders spent a great deal of time playing ukuleles and reading/singing the pitches So, Mi and La. My second graders became scientists as they worked their way through our new STEAM/PITCH lessons developed by Mrs. Woodard (our instructional coach) and I. They used the Design Process in collaborative groups to learn and report about the fundamentals of pitch. They worked together to design their own instruments as well. The unit ended with presentations for the class.
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| The Design Process |
3rd, 4th and 5th Grade
An abundance of time was spent singing, dancing and practicing for our musical "And the Olivia Goes to..." Learning how to work together, become a cohesive ensemble, combine movement to music, memorize lyrics, speaking parts and choreography really gave their brains a wonderful workout! Their performance was incredible. Pictures of our talented start are below! It feels like it has been an award winning year!
Musical Photo Credit: Mr. Sam Hewamanage
As I say goodbye to this year's 5th grade, I can't help but feel grateful and blessed to have had the opportunity to call them my students. Looking back on all the wonderful years with these special children makes me feel so incredibly happy. I will hold them in a special place in my heart and will truly miss seeing their smiling faces across the hall. Best wishes to them as they journey on into their bright and shining futures.
Love,
Mrs. Jensen
