Music with Mrs. Karia

2nd Trimester Report Cards This trimester 4th and 5th graders focused on learning pieces for the opera and their study of the recorder. Their performance grade is based on singing a song from the opera and playing a phrase of a piece on the recorder. Opera assessment: M- student matched pitch consistently P- student matched pitch but not consistently NY- student did not match pitch 50% of the time or less (no E possible for this assessment) Recorder assessment: E- student spent the time to learn the whole piece and recorded it for me at school or at home M- student played the chosen phrase of the piece with correct fingering and only 1-2 squeaks maximum P- student played the phrase but had some incorrect fingering 1-2 times and squeaked (or had an unclear tone) more than 2 times NY- students had incorrect fingering more than 1-2 times and were not creating a clear tone consistently. Their listening grade  was based on a quiz on form in pieces of music I played i...

What a February! Here are just a few of the highlights from last month During the day on February 27th, we had our Black History Month assembly (featuring Cynthia Maddox as Harriet Tubman). 2nd-5th grade students who volunteered to come to a few lunchtime rehearsal learned the song "Harriet Tubman" to sing at the conclusion of the assembly. That evening, Whittier held it's first Black History Month Literacy Night. At the beginning of the evening, students and adults joined in singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing" Everyone in the school learned the song. Some (like this first grader) even tried learning to play it at home!

There will be a featured chorus singing the song "Harriet Tubman" for our Black History Month Assembly next week. If your child is in 2nd-5th grade and interested in singing they can come to the rehearsals during lunch recess. 2nd grade rehearsals- Friday at 11:10 and Tuesday 2/26 at 11:10 3rd-5th grade rehearsals Thursday at 11:40 (for those who didn't come this Tuesday), Friday at 11:40 (featured part auditions), and Tuesday 2/26 The lyrics to the song we are learning are at this link Lyrics Here is a link with an older chorus performing the song (we won't be doing this exact version) Video

Opera for the Young is coming to Whittier to perform their brand new original opera "Super Storm" with us this February! Several students have wanted to look at the music on their own and listen to the recordings in order to prepare. Here are the links below. Students in K-2nd will be working on "Let's March" and "And now we're down to three".  3rd-5th will be working on "Might does not make Right" and "Our story's brief...". The opera chorus (3rd-5th) rehearsing during lunch will be working on all the songs and the acting parts of the story. Student practice tracks Student handbook

WHITTIER WINTER SING! On the last day of school before winter break, students and staff will gather to celebrate winter (and winter break)! The performance is only open to students and staff due to the capacity of the gym. Each grade will lead a song and chorus will join in the fun as well. Many students have been asking me to share the lyrics to the songs. You can find them at this link: Whittier Winter Sing Lyrics

Below are my specific guidelines for grades in 1st trimester for 4th and 5th graders. During 1st trimester, we were primarily getting used to the procedures and expectations of the music classroom. Because of this, the grades for 1st trimester are truly a beginning (jumping off) point. Throughout the year, growth should be shown in some, if not all of the areas presented. Effort: The effort grade is based on daily interaction and motivation in the music classroom. Most students receive a "2" in this category, which means that they are paying attention and participating as required a majority of the time. A "3" indicates that a student went above and beyond to participate in music activities a majority of the time. A "1" indicates that the student on multiple occasions was not participating in the activities/ not following directions during music. Performance: This trimester the performance grade is solely based on their singing (which was wha...

In kindergarten music we did an extension of a classroom counting activity to compare the number of syllables in different colors. Students then wrote their own music and added colors which matched the number of sounds in the rhythm.