Summer's A-Coming!

Busy, busy, busy!  That's the story of my my musical life over the last few weeks.  My students have successfully put on two musical programs (Lights! Camera! Action! and Hats!), celebrated Cinco de Mayo, advanced on recorders, learned about Peter and the Wolf, and began an introduction to piano.  Whew!  We're tired, but not finished yet.  We've got two more weeks to have fun together before school is out for the summer.  My plan....to pull out some popular activities that the students have enjoyed throughout the year.  We've got just enough time to revisit and reinforce.   You too can enjoy some of my best sellers, now on sale through Wednesday 5/27, at The Bates Clef.

Students were up and moving as they learned a new dance, La Raspa as part of their Cinco de Mayo unit.  From young to old(er), all grade levels had a blast partnering up for this activity.

 My "littles" enjoyed learning the song, Los Pollitos.  They sang, tapped the beat, read the rhythms, then played on the Orff instruments as an extension.

 This is one of my fave times of the year with recorders.  Not because I thoroughly LOVE listening to recorders day in and day out, but because I enjoy seeing student accomplishments.  This before and after picture is worth a million words.  As of Friday (no pic to show), three students earned their Black Belt.  They worked so hard and were very proud of how far they had come.  Not that it's a competition against others, but the non-black belts find a little more motivation to keep pressing forward once our first wave of black belts is awarded.

 This last week, first grade learned about Peter and the Wolf as an introduction to the orchestra.  I found these really cute activities through Tracy King's Teachers Pay Teachers store.  The students really enjoyed the reinforcement practice and making connections between character and instrument.

 

 Finally, 6th graders were introduced to basic piano with these super cool keyboards I received from Donor's Choose.  This was the second project through the program that I requested.  If you haven't checked out that site, hit the link above.  It's amazing!

  How are you spending your last days/weeks of school? I'd love to hear what's happening in YOUR music world!