NEED TO KNOW
Red Balloons #14: Your students are so much fun and they have come so far! I can't believe we only have one class left of Red Balloons. Our last class will be next week on December 10. It will be a Parent Day and a fun review of everything we've learned.
NEXT SEMESTER: We'll start up with Blue Bugs on Tuesday, January 7. The first day IS a Parent Day to kick things off! The class calendar will be taped into the student workbook you'll get that first day of class. It is also available now and you can always find it at the Calendar part of the website.
GOOD TO KNOW
LET'S PLAY MUSIC: In our Let's Play Music song, we learned what MI RE DO and SOL SOL DO look like on the staff. We sang "baby-steps going down" and "down same leap-up" to help describe the notation.
WALTZ OF THE FLOWERS: Listening for specific sounds and having an expectation of what they're about to hear increases your students' ear sensitivity. We used the flower puppets again this week, and some of your students asked to have them at home. The link for the printable mini puppets is in the Parent Notes for Lesson #9, and can always be found in the Puppet Show section of the website.
FUN TO KNOW
Here is one of my favorite NBA commercials that shows how sports teamwork and musical ensemble practice can highlight similar skills! They are using the sound of the bouncing basketballs like tone bells, and the result is so much fun!
We've been experimenting with the Tongue Drum for the past few weeks. I love being able to show how musicians use the same basic chords no matter what instrument we play! Here is a video of some Christmas songs on a tongue drum. It's just so dreamy!
