Our journey continues...

Grade 1 students continue to explore a number of nursery rhymes which are based on sol and mi.  By adding non-pitched instruments and creative movement, students are bringing the nursery rhymes to life.  Grade 2 students' Musical Storytelling takes us to the east coast where the Acadians inhabited.  They are learning a number of songs from the Atlantic provinces and will be learning some songs in French.  

Grade 3 students continue to deepen their understanding and experience of "galloping time" vs. "marching time" by conducting the music in two-beat patterns.  They are also experiencing how a song can switch from marching time to galloping time part way through the piece.  While Grade 3 students focus on the study of "rhythm", Grade 4 students continue their inquiry on "texture", with a focus on performing different textures.  Using "Alberta" as the unifying theme, students will learn songs connected to the indigenous culture.

Please join me in welcoming Ms. Amanda Knuppel,

our student teacher who will be

working with different music classes.  

Music Inquiry

Through the singing of nursery rhymes, Grade 1 students continue to explore what makes one song sound the same as another.  So far, they have noticed that if songs have the same melodic contour and the same rhythm, they sound the same.

Grade 2 students continue their journey of Musical Storytelling.  They realized that opera is a form of musical storytelling in which the story is sung throughout.  They made the connection between the opera Hannaraptor, presented by the Calgary Opera, and some of the questions they had asked about musical storytelling.

By exploring "marching" music vs. "galloping" music, Grade 3 students expanded their collection of "musical legos".  They will soon be using these musical rhythmic blocks to create their own piece of music.

Grade 4 students continue their inquiry on "texture."  They listened to a piece of music called Scheherazade through which students were able to develop a basic understanding of "texture" or the "fabric" in music.  They will continue to develop the vocabulary necessary to describe what musical textures are.

Calgary Opera - Hannaraptor

On Tuesday, March 6, Calgary Opera will be bringing Hannaraptor to Elboya School.  In preparation for that, students from Grades 1 - 4 have been learning a little bit about opera.  Here is an interactive site that will be helpful:

http://classicalkusc.org/kids/opera/

By walking through this interactive site, no only will students listen to parts of Hansel and Gretel, a famous opera, they will also learn the ABC's of opera.

Enjoy!