It is hard to believe that another school year is about to come to an end. It has been very exciting for me in this combined world of music and technology. I have discovered that our children, K-2, can sing like angels. I think all that attended the second grade concert on May 17, 2013 and the first grade concert on May 24, 2013 will agree that our children not only showed great musical skills but also showed a stage presence beyond their years. I can’t begin to tell you how proud I was...

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Our performances have begun with a great night had by all just before April vacation with our Body, Mind and Spirit night. This Art, Music and Physical Education collaboration proved to be a lot of fun. I will never look at the “Cha, Cha Slide” in the same way again since watching it done with basketballs was such a treat. Our next performances coming up are as follow:Grade 2 concert on Friday, May 17, 2013 at 1:45. It will show the culmination of a year’s worth of work, which...

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It is hard to believe that we are already at the end of March and moving into the end of another school year and the beginning of our performance season. Students will be working towards those performances as well as continuing in their other aspects of music education. We are working on note reading and were introduced to a series of books whose main character, Freddie the Frog, will help us with everything from reading the notes on the staff with a treble clef to scat singing. We will begin...

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Our new year is off to a great start in both our music world and the technology world here at the H. Olive Day School. I feel blessed each week I hear the “voices of angels” as our children enthusiastically sing and dance through each of our general music classes as well as our choral periods. Our barred instruments have also had a workout as our children focus to add accompaniment to different songs. We will start focusing on more reading of rhythms as well as learning the notes on...

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I have begun all of our music classes congratulating our students on their outstanding voices they used in our sing a long before the holidays. I would also like to thank Mr. Robert Goldman for helping out us with his skills as an accompanist. The new year promises to bring lots of movement into our lives here at the H. Olive Day School. Our January lessons are filled with creative movement as well as songs about Martin Luther King. We will continue experiencing these through not only movement...

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We are continuing our great enjoyment of our musical experiences in the music room. November has begun our great holiday season and our school focus of sharing and caring. We are exploring this not only through our music but our team concepts of cooperation while dancing and singing. The general music classes have been utilizing our barred Orff instruments (xylophones and glockenspiels) as well as a variety of other percussion instruments. We hope to utilize some of these in our performances in...

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We are off to a great start in September with our musical experiences in the music room. September’s main curriculum concept is rhythm. So far,we have explored this concept through movement, body percussion and rhythm sticks so far. Keeping a steady beat and adding other rhythmic patterns, have been important components. We are also beginning to read rhythms. The concept of dynamics starting with loud and soft and the building of  our musical vocabulary of forte and piano has begun....

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The music for our Kindergarten classes has been songs of animals that are our familiar favorites.Songs like "Old John the Rabbit" sing about the antics of the rabbits that are found eating our garden vegetables. Barnyard animals are also the subject of the sounds we imitate in the song,"Morning on the Farm". We have been playing music patterns on the xylophone in all classes using 2 or 3 letters of the musical alphabet that match the melody of a song.  The song titled " The Little Green...

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The music for our Kindergarten classes has been songs of animals that are our familiar favorites.Songs like " Old John the Rabbit" sing about the antics of the rabbits that are found eating our garden vegetables. Barnyard animals are also the subject of the sounds we imitate in the song " Morning on the Farm".The music for our First Grade classes has been centered around our concert theme: The Musical Heritage of the United States:  Songs of the Old WestPlease join us for our First Grade...

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Springtime is a busy time in the music room. We are singing songs that enhance our reading books from the Frog and Toad adventures. I will share many of the songs of friendship, playtime fun with friends, and read aloud those stories that apply.The First and Second Grades are working hard to prepare their best performance during our annual concerts coming up soon.Watch your child's backpack for announcement letters to parents about concert dates and times. See you soon! Mrs. Madden

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Music classes will be devoted to songs about friendship, love, and kindness. We will also be learning the song DR. SEUSS WE LOVE YOU! to help us celebrate our school wide Snuggle Up to a Good Book reading campaign. Patriotic Songs will be reviewed to help us celebrate the February birthdays of Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.Learning Songs for our music concerts in the Spring will begin to ensure that we will be our BEST. First and Second Grade classes will also begin tryouts...

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In the month of January we are exploring songs of freedom and equality for all peopleas we remember Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 16, 2012.The songs in Grade 2 include " Lift Every Voice and Sing" a song written to celebrate the Birthday of Abraham Lincoln.We also dedicate this month to the songs that portray the daily life of African American children during the time of Lincoln to the time of Martin Luther King Jr. Other songs for all Grades include " All Night, All Day" , " Free At Last"...

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December is my favorite month because of the joy our children show when we sing the holiday songs!"Jingle Bells" is sung with excitement and accompanied by jingle bells, tone blocks and egg shakers."My Dreidel" is a familiar song to represent the holiday of Hanukah. We all delight in the songs that tell the story of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", "Frosty the Snowman",and the tradition of gift giving in "The Twelve Days of Christmas". These and other December holiday songs will be included...

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In October there are so many ways that we have imagined what instrument sounds would match the sound of the characters in our holiday songs. We found soft sounds of the maracas match the sound of a flying night creature. The sound of a jingle bell made us think of water moving. The sound of Boomwhackers to imitate the sound of someone knocking on our window. As we use our imagination we have accompanied "sound stories" that compliment our song lyrics for the Halloween themes. Soon...

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