Rounds and Recorders

This week we dove into the music we will be doing for the assembly at the end of the semester. We began by singing "Give to Me Your Hand", which we began last week, but this time I taught it a little differently. First of all, we actually warmed up singing a scale with the solfege syllables that I taught them last week. I asked the class what syllables and hand signs they remembered. I was amazed! They were able to recall all of them! I was so proud of my 6th graders! Warming up with the scale proved effective, and as a result they sang more on pitch as a whole. The class has made such improvement with their singing!

Dr. May last week told me that it would be better for the kids to hear the music a few times before singing it and to teach them the words first. I brought a penny-whistle with me, and I decided it would be a fun way for the kids to hear the melody if I played it for them on my little instrument. They did like it, and they caught onto the melody  much better than last week. Now, "Give to Me Your Hand" is a round for 4 parts, and I was nervous to do such a complicated round with such a large class. Mrs. Pruyt helped lead a section of the students, and it actually went really well. The students were able to catch on quickly. Mrs. Pruyt is so supportive and helpful! I am so grateful that I to get to work with her!

For the second half of my visit, we started playing recorders. In a class of 31 students, playing recorders can be a bit chaotic. Mrs. Pruyt helped me with classroom management by instructing students to place their recorders on their desks when they weren't playing them. We spent and entire half-hour learning 4 notes. It took a while, but I wanted to make sure that each student had the correct fingering and that the note was speaking. I did this by having one row play at a time as I walked by checking their hand positions. I can tell that teaching the recorder song is going to take a little bit longer, but I have confidence that they will do well.

Here are some pictures! Finally!