Music with Mrs. Karia

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

  What has been happening in music class? Week 1: Due to holidays and other days off, the first week of October was a catch up week. For classes that were already caught up, we learned a dance. In most grades the dance used a rhythm we were learning about in class. Here is a 3rd grade class dancing to "Hoe Ana" a dance from Raratonga. It was in triple meter so it utilized the dotted half note which is 3 beats long. The dance is supposed to look like people rowing in a long canoe like boat.  Hoe Ana Dance Week 2: During week 2, 2nd-5th grade students were preparing for a new melodic concept, though they may not have known it. Through songs and listening activities the new pitch was introduced before we labeled it.   In 5th grade, we sang "Ah Poor Bird" which is in diatonic minor. (a 7 pitch scale). 1st graders review their pitches from kindergarten (so and mi). Kindergarteners started our opposites unit, exploring loud and quiet in music. 5th Graders singing Ah Poor ...

 What has been happening in music class? SONG OF THE WEEK: Each week all the K-5 classes I teach learn a quick song that connects us as a Whittier family. The first week we learned the Wildcat song. In the upcoming weeks, we will start to brainstorm ideas about what makes a wildcat wild. Students will sing this and the Whittier song before we start our next all school assembly. Here is a link to a first grade singing the song! Wildcat Song PARENT SURVEY:  Have you filled out the specials survey this year? (It helps us learn about your child, you and the Whittier Community as a whole)... Some interesting stats so far: Kindergarten and 1st grade: Students have been working on our procedures for music classes over the past few weeks.  We enter with our "Follow the Leader" song where students sing and do steady beat motions. We then move into our "hello song" and jump right into call and response hellos where we explore different parts of our voices.  We have been revie...