Music with Mrs. Karia

 Here are the rubrics for 4th and 5th Grade for 1st trimester. They are based on a singing performance assessment and a trimester test on listening and reading skills for their grade level. The rubric is below gives details on how the grades were determined. Please email me at akaria@op97.org with any questions. 

Last week and this week 2nd through 5th grade students learned a new pitch. At Whittier we label the pitches do, re, mi, fa, so, la, and ti. Ask your student what pitch they learned about! Though they have been experiences the pitch through listening and singing activities this week will be the first week we label the pitch, identifying it's location in the scale and it's hand symbol. Here is a visual with all the hand symbols and pitches. So far these are the pitches each grade has learned. K- has not learned any pitch names yet 1- so and mi 2- so, mi, la, and their new pitch do 3- do, re, mi, so, la and their new pitch high do (do') 4- do, re, mi, so, la, low so, low la, high do and their new pitch fa 5- have learned all pitches are are now being introduced to the minor scale (la to la instead of do to high do) At this link are some 5th graders singing the song "Ah Poor Bird" playing Orff (xylophone) instruments: Ah Poor Bird

All the classes focused on rhythm this week by playing our West African tubano and djembe drums.  The 2nd graders-5th graders learned new rhythms which they then played along with pop or rock songs (for example "Take Me Out" for 4th grade shown in this link ). The kindergarteners experienced the drums for the first time and 1st graders reviewed their quarter note and eighth note rhythms.   We also started handing out the top banana award to classes who demonstrate excellent behavior as a whole. So far, Ms. Heide's 5th grade and Ms. Park's kindergarten have received the trophy which will travel around the school.  SPECIALS SURVEY LINK The specials teachers have put together a survey to find out more about your family's experiences. In music class we teach and sing about holidays and cultures around the world. If their are any types of songs that your child cannot participate in, make sure to fill out the survey  so that we are aware. We've had a blast this week...

We have been having a wonderful year so far. The past 2 weeks students have been acclimating or re-acclimating to the music room procedures and expectations. This week all the students are doing grade-level lessons surrounding steady beat and rhythm. In kindergarten we used play-doh as tortilla dough flour and kept a steady beat to the poem "Tortillitas" See if you children remember the motions and words to the rhyme! "Tortillitas para mama. Tortillitas para papa. Las bonitas para Papa. Las quemaditas para mama" (sorry for the lack of accents in the Spanish lyrics) Students with their play-doh "tortillitas" 1st grade- 5th grade students played "Busted" a game where students pull a stick from a cannister. The stick may have a rhythm on it. If it does, they read the rhythm and keep the stick if it's done correctly. If the stick says "Busted!" the student loses their turn and all their sticks. Next week we will start reviewing melody. ...

Here are the rubrics for 4th and 5th Grade for 2nd trimester. They are based on a month long GarageBand project. Please email me at akaria@op97.org if you have any questions.

 December 2022 All month, all of the grades have been focused on learning songs for the Winter Sing. The whole school gathered in the gym on Wednesday at the end of the day to sing a variety of songs together from different countries, cultures, and traditions. The slides with the lyrics are at the link below. WINTER SING SLIDES Also, I wanted to say thank you to the teachers and the students who helped me through my journey to become a National Board certified teacher. This December, I received the news that I passed! An extra special thank you to Ms. Kula's, Ms. McDaniels'/ Ms. Gawne's, and Ms. Herron's classes last year who were essential parts to my learning journey. 

  This is the rubric for the 1st trimester grading There was a written test and 2 performance tests (xylophone and singing) based on their grade level skills and concepts. The written grades were averaged together as well as the performance grades. There was no listening grade this trimester. If you have questions please email me at akaria@op97.org