The Life of Robert Northern - French Horn and Jazz Performer - Sound Awareness Musician and Famous African American Musician

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/arts/music/robert-northern-dead.html

• Famous French Horn and Jazz Performer
• Served in the Air Force
• “I learned that every entity on Earth is communicating through sound,” Mr. Northern told The Washington Post in 2017. “Every animal, every bird, every insect. And if we hear it, we can be a part of it.”

Ukulele Resources

C, Am, F

• Stay With Me - http://www.viewpure.com/zJPJiXGl1PA?start=0&end=0
• Best Day of My Life - http://www.viewpure.com/jAzqewpjji0?start=0&end=0
• Thunder - http://www.viewpure.com/_5DE5Qnn1Zs?ref=search
• Good To Be Alive by Meghan Trainor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF15Ip2Ig3M

C, Am, G

• Gummy Bear - http://www.viewpure.com/vv14Q3Jgbg8?start=0&end=0

C, F, G

• Cool by the Jonas Brothers - http://www.viewpure.com/2uV4kvjudG0?start=0&end=0

C, Am, F, G

• Me by Taylor Swift - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMqba_kZtTo 
• Brave by Sara Bareilles https://safeYouTube.net/w/98SD
• Try Everything from Zootopia - https://safeyoutube.net/w/mGd8
• One Call Away by Charlie Puth - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlItE2anF7A
• Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars - https://safeYouTube.net/w/pCSD
• I Don't Know My Name by Grace Vanderwall - https://safeYouTube.net/w/GDSD
• Cups by Anna Kendrick - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGI1LWfFIZQ&list=RDkbexjxcLA8E&index=24
• Somewhere Over The Rainbow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv46K4cSsoc
• Sweet But Psycho - Ava Max - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwqXHpj1QRM

C, Am, G,D

• Radioactive by Imagine Dragons - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO9YisL6HBM&list=RDkbexjxcLA8E&index=25

C, G, A, D

• Old Town Road - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hdgX3DwBGM

C, G, Em

• I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMVcostqOuE
• What About Us - Pink - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPc3wY_aqhI
• It Isn't In My Blood - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB5dg2XGv_c&list=RDXPc3wY_aqhI&index=18

C, G, D, Em

• Cheap Thrills - Sia - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTDYXHoB9Ns
• I Knew You Were Trouble - Taylor Swift - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upuWRqIgJlo

C, Am,  D, Em

• Better When I'm Dancing - Meghan Trainor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_ZwxZCQwbo

C, Am, F, G, Dm

• Counting Stars - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUXAdvr6mxo
• Don't Start Now - Dua Lipa - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9O5NzVYA-A
• Roar - Katy Perry - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm5cMfvmRTQ
• See You Again - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hzSjhog80Q&list=RDXPc3wY_aqhI&index=27

C, Am, G, Em, D

• The Middle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ad3Ry_S75I&list=RDXPc3wY_aqhI&index=36
• Firework by Katy Perry - https://safeyoutube.net/w/TcfA

C, F, G, D

• Sweet Home Alabama - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMLgH0fWMYo
• 
  

C, Em, D

• Daisies - Katy Perry - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyA2_LdNDWc

G, D

• You Need to Calm Down - Taylor Swift  - Explicit Lyric - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4girIMGqDY

Multiple Chords

• Darkside - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGY4PdIndZ0
• Fireflies by Owl City - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdoks36OYkk

Virtual Kindergarten Concert - Practice Files

I Can Sing A Rainbow

Little Red Caboose - Red

Purple Light - Purple

Rain Rain Go Away - Blue

Mister Sun - Yellow

Five Green and Speckled Frogs - Green

Snowflake - White

Musician's Choice Board - Week of April 20, 2020

Choose ONE of the following activities

RESPOND:  Do you like Star Wars?  How about Harry Potter?  How about Home Alone?  The music to these films and many more were composed by John Williams!  Learn more about John Williams and respond in SeeSaw with a video recording, audio recording, or write out the things that you learned! Learn about John Williams (2 minute video) Watch and Listen to the Jaws theme (3 minutes) Want to Learn More?  Watch this interview.

PERFORM:  Have you been practicing a musical skill or new instrument?  Make a video of your learning and post to SeeSaw.

CONNECT:  Did you know that the band One Republic created a new song, Better Days,  while in COVID-19 Quarantine?  They encouraged fans to send them videos of themselves and made these videos into the Official Music Video. Watch the video here Respond in SeeSaw with One Item Perform the song - Lyric Video Make an artwork based on the song Write how you connect to the song

CREATE:  Watch this video to create pop songs in Chrome Music Lab!  Write the same song the video creator shows you or create your own!  Go to  Chrome Music Lab to complete the activity.  Press the SAVE button and copy the link.  Post the link in your SeeSaw Journal.

Musician's Choice Board - 3rd, 4th, and 5th

Choose one of the following activities

RESPOND:  Listen to a new genre!  April is Jazz Month!   Visit the Smithsonian's Jazz Website, then respond in SeeSaw (what did you learn? how did you feel?  what musicians did you learn about? what instruments did you see, did you like Jazz,  etc.)	PERFORM:  Have you ever wanted to learn how to beat box? Click Here to Watch a Video to get started! Beatboxing 101 Assignment: Create a video in Seesaw to show off your Beatboxing skills. Can your parents beatbox? Post to Seesaw.
PERFORM:  Use Household Percussion Instruments (spoons, pots, cans, etc) to play along with this video Post to Seesaw.	CREATE:  Watch this video on Form.  Create your own piece based on form.  You can make a live video or you can use Garage Band or Chrome Music Lab.  Post to Seesaw.

Woodwind Family

Flute

Lizzo Playing Flute

Beat Boxing Flute - Super Mario Bros.

Classical Flute

Piccolo (Similar to a Flute, but much smaller)

Stars and Stripes Forever Piccolo Solo

Clarinet

Dance Monkey - Clarinet

Saxophone

Saxophone Quartet - Shake It Off

Recorder

                                              The Royal Wind Music

Recorders Play Pop

Brass Family Instruments

Trumpet

Trombone

French Horn

Tuba

Participation Scale in the Elementary Music Room

Easy Elementary Music Centers

Here are some easy to put together stations that could be used in the Elementary Music Room classroom.  I teach in a K and 1 building and these were great for our students!

 

 Set out some instruments that students know and let them name the instrument and play them too!

Mallet Station - practice Mummy Mallets (rest position), Motorcycle Mallets (Play Position), Mouse Mallets (Play Gently), and Mallet Limbo (a game to practice playing gently).

Actors Toolbox / Musicians Toolbox In the Elementary Music Room

• Teaching in Small Groups - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQtk44XWZPM
• Large Group Circle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkwYPTr-3pI
• 
  

Music For April

Opening Day Songs
Take Me Out to the Ball Game

• Lyrics - http://viewpure.com/Tnh3Ag8yAfk?start=0&end=0
• Pepsi Commercial - http://viewpure.com/yEjVCNw5nRA?start=0&end=0
• http://viewpure.com/u8Vv7X48WYk?start=0&end=0

Music for March

Read Across America

• It's My Book - http://viewpure.com/rtD9ex0r1Ak?start=0&end=0
• In The Pages of a Book - http://viewpure.com/Gd03HQrB-RU?start=0&end=0

St. Patrick's Day / Rainbow

• Rainbow - Liz Huett - Movie Leap!
• ViewPure Movie Clip - http://viewpure.com/qLGUfzWWR5Y?start=0&end=0 
• ViewPure Music Only - http://viewpure.com/KhUOdRAWmtg?start=0&end=0

Mallets in the Music Room

This week at our school, we have been focusing on playing xylophones!

Our third, fourth, and fifth grades students helped to create a xylophone scale so that they can self assess their performance.  How did we create it?  We used a High Five Jigsaw Activity.  Students chose their groups by giving a high five to a student with whom they could work well.  Next the teacher invited a another pair of students to join another high-fives group (Thanks Mr. Zimmerman for the great idea!).  Next, groups were given one part of the scale to discuss (i.e. Look 3 / Sound 2, etc.).  Groups were given a few minutes to discuss.  Groups then shared out one criteria they discussed and we added it to the scale.  After all classes had added to the scale, it was rewritten and now it looks like the image below.

Here is what each Grade Level has been working on:

• Kindergarten and First Grade - Exploring Xylophones with Glissandos (Up and Down)
• Hickory Hickory Dock
• Wee Willie Winkie
• Cuckoo in the Clock (striking on numbers)
• Second Grade - Mallet Techniques, Chord Bordun, Alternating Bordun, and Level Bordun
• Hop Old Squirrel
• Third Grade - Mallet Techniques, Crossover Bordun
• Fourth Grade - Mallet Techniques, Moving Bordun
• Page's Train
• Chattanooga Choo Choo
• Engine Engine Number Nine - Mallet Exploration
• Fifth Grade - V-I accompaniments and vii-I Accompaniments; Soprano, Alto, and Bass Xylophone Identification/Description of Range

Mallet Techniques

• Mummy Mallets - Rest position
• Motorcycle Mallets - Play position
• Hands Together / Alternating (Mallet Madness by Artie Almeida
• Beanbag Challenge - How long can you keep a beanbag on your wrist while playing?

Xylophone Rubric

Modified Four Corners Assessment - Soprano, Alto, Bass Xylophones - Grade 5

• Students move to the card that matches.... 
• visual - an instrument or picture of an instrument.
• aural
• description
• the lowest instrument
• the highest instrument
• the longest instrument
• the smallest instrument

Procedures In The Music Classroom

Many of us are going back to school this week and the beginning of the year is a fabulous time to teach procedures for your classroom.  Investing time in procedures at the beginning usually results in a classroom that flows smoothly and allows more time for music making rather than discipline issues.

This year, I for the primary grades, we are going to try starting by walking into the classroom and walking around the circle while singing.  Then we will sit down at a dash (not an assigned seat).  I find that the younger students really struggle with remembering their place and I want to spend time making music first.  Then we will learn staff spots (assigned spots in lines on the floor) and end class back at the circle with a game.

In our classroom, we use transition songs to get us from one place to the other.  Many of the students now know the songs so well, I only need to hum or play the melody for them and they will move to the correct location for our next musical activity.  If you are curious about our music room procedures, a few are listed below.  I made these for my long term sub when I was on maternity leave.

Staff Spots

Circle Spots

Silent Signals

Music for the Great American Solar Eclipse

Here are some ideas for integrating the Solar Eclipse in your music room:

• Aiken Drum
• All Through The Night
• Au Claire Da La Lune
• Claire De La Lune
• Eclipse - Lindsey Stirling
• Moonlight Sonata - Link
• Star Light
• Sally Go Round the Sun
• The Sun is In My Heart (I'm Growing Up, Mary Alice Amidon)
• Up Up from the East - Mallet Madness
• You Are My Sunshine

Grade 2 Lessons for This Week

• Time for Music
• Welcome
• Connect:  "Last time you came to music, we were learning about the William Tell Overture.  Today, we will sing, move, and play instruments all about the sun, moon, and stars for the upcoming Eclipse.  Let's Begin!!"
• Procedure Review - Quiet Cheetah and Responsible (Just Do It, Okay, Yes)
• Aiken Drum - Music K-8 Version
• Sally Go Round The Sun
• Phrases - Draw pictures on the board to represent each phrase.  Teach each phrase by copy.  Sing and face different directions or keep the beat differently for each phrase - Student generated movements.
• Circle - 
• Sing and walk in a circle, jumping on the word boom.  
• Sing and walk with hands touching.  
• Add an interlude of humming the song only.  Sing, hum, Sing.  
• Sing, sing in head, sing.
• Science connection - discuss the sun, earth, and moon and how they orbit or revolve around each other.  Discuss the Great American Eclipse.  Invite students to hold the "Sun", the "Moon" and the "Earth".  Sing the song again.
• Allow students to choose other students to hold the manipulatives.
• Sing the song and invite students to be constellations.
• Try as a canon.
• Star Light Star Bright
• If time allows, echo sing and review phrases.
• Sing the song and pass a wand around the room allowing each student to say a wish they have.  Remind students that being respectful means listening quietly.
• Xylophones -
• Review Playing Gently, Motorcycle Mallets,
• Glissandos before singing "Star Light, Star Bright"
• Steady Beat
• Sing, speak/play on spoken words, Sing
• Moonlight Sonata - Relaxation and prep for line up - ViewPureVideo Link
• You Are My Sunshine
• Line Up Procedure

Ukulele Resources

Sing Alongs

• Someone to Lava - Link

This Week's Music Class Brought To You By….Rossini!

This week in Grade 2, we will be learning about The William Tell Overture and Giochino Rossini.

Here are some places students may have heard the William Tell Overture:

Doritos Cowboy Kid Commercial
Google Chromebook
The Lone Ranger
Cherrios Commercial 2014

Grocery Store Kid's Ride

Here is some more information about the William Tell Overture:

• Finale of the William Tell Overture - Link
• Story of William Tell Opera / Overture
• Listening Exercise -  story of the William Tell Overture / Opera
• Story of William Tell  - Lego Version
• Read Aloud Book Version 
• Video of Orchestra Performance - Start at 2:45 for the Finale section
• Hip Hop Remix Video
• Boomwhackers - http://viewpure.com/cwiH4aPgEdk?start=0&end=0
• Boomwhackers - Progressively Getting Faster - Link

Beethoven Resources

• Moonlight Sonata - Video with Moon - http://viewpure.com/arMu4f8rnBk?start=0&end=0
• Ode to Joy Sheet Music - Lyrics About Beethoven - Link
• Symphony No. 6 - Song from Lynn Kleiner Kids Make Music! - Link
• Symphony No. 6 - Video of Orchestra - Link
• Symphony No. 7 - View Pure
• Note - There is a fabulous lesson that ties the rhythm of Symphony No. 7 to Frog in the Meadow in the book From Folksongs to Masterworks by Ann Eisen  - Worth every penny! Link

Boomwhacker Play Along Videos

Here are some fun Play-Alongs for Boomwhackers!

• Frere Jacques - http://viewpure.com/YpFegKX64NY?start=0&end=0
• Imperial March - John Williams - Link
• Ode to Joy - http://viewpure.com/UjsIxCdV_fg?start=0&end=0
• In the Hall of the Mountain King - Chromatics are needed - A, C, D, D#, E, G, G#, B, C. http://viewpure.com/eSSBfVhPiNc?start=0&end=0
• Pirates of the Caribbean - http://viewpure.com/6OaZaqyZKyI?start=0&end=0
• PopCorn - http://viewpure.com/yhr3n15o0yw?start=0&end=0
• We Know The Way - Moana - We play Steady Beat with all Boomwhackers - Great for Technique Practice!  http://viewpure.com/ubZrAmRxy_M?start=0&end=0

Grade 5 - Opera Unit

Our Fifth Grade students get to learn about Opera!  Last year, I found an AMAZING opera video of Hansel and Gretel from The Metropolitan Opera.  It is even in English!!!  My students (and myself) were mesmerized!  It is a little dark at times, but has wonderful videography, costumes, and set.

The video can be purchased from Met Opera's store - just $21!!!
https://www.metoperashop.org/shop/hansel-and-gretel-live-in-hd-dvd-met-opera-1730


Here is an excerpt on viewpure.com. There is no singing, but it will let viewers see the amazing costumes!
http://viewpure.com/HR6EmxZYMJQ?start=0&end=0

Sometimes we have time to fully immerse ourselves in the many jobs that must be done to create an opera.  Students have completed these artifacts to show the knowledge they gained about opera:

• Create a Brochure showing what you learned about Opera
• Create/Design Costume
• Create/Design Set
• Create/Design Music