A Gallery of Activities in Music Class

Links to Homemade: Strings, Percussion, Winds

Click the picture to see a short slide show of the instruments.

Multicultural Instruments

Mrs. Lynn Allen from District 97 brought a collection of musical instruments from around the world to Ascension. 6th graders are researching instruments from around the world, so it was great to see some up close, and to play them. Thanks, Mrs. Allen!

"Great Big House in New Orleans"

"Way Down Yonder in the Paw Paw Patch"

Click the Cuckoo to watch a short movie!

Beethoven's Minuet in G

2nd graders enjoy learning about Ludwig von Beethoven's life.They learn a simple minuet in ABA form. Students dance in a circle with a partner, and bow at the end of each phrase.

Quaker, Quaker, How Art Thee?

A singing game for Thanksgiving time, this was learned by Preschoolers and the Kindergarteners.

Jazz Posters, Grade 8

Click the poster at right to see the complete collection.

Boomwhacker Game

The person in the middle chooses which friend to 'sashay' down the center with, and hands off the Boomwhacker. That person gets to choose next. . .continue!

Mrs. Reese taught the 5th graders some dance formation in preparation for their field trip to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Every year 5th grade makes the trip to the Auditorium Theater.

First graders are learning to read music! This card shows the opening phrase of "Queen Caroline." Students match small foam hearts with rhythm patterns to the rhythm pattern of the song.

Two Ascension students, Maggie and Damian, submitted entries to the Illinois Music Educator's Association's annual Cover Art contest! Winners were announced in January 2009. Damian's picture, at left, received an Honorable Mention! Congratulations!
See the other winners here.

"Mame"

Ascension's 6th graders enjoyed this classic musical in November of 2008.

Caught in A Spider Web

3rd and 4th graders learn (or review) the letter names of the treble lines and spaces while playing the Spider Web game around Halloween. Students check answers for each other and the winner gets a prize!

Recital Day

Ascension students may perform for their classmates for "Recital Day" -- an informal concert!

Grade 7

After a short composition unit, 7th graders rehearsed their original pieces and then performed for the class.

Click to watch a movie of one performance.

"Stick Notation" is used by younger students for writing rhythm. We got hands on practice with coffee stirs, and notated "Lucy Locket."

Folk Dance

Many junior high classes learned a Swedish folk dance with tapping sticks in Music class. It seemed easy enough until the music gradually got faster and faster!

Students learn a lot of folk dances: Heel and Toe, Goin' Down to Cairo, Shoo Fly (above left), and a new favorite, Sellenger's Round (5th grade, above right.) Students performed social dances, and, while having fun, learned about taking turns, touching, eye contact, choosing and being a partner, self-control and learning to wait! Naturally this is in addition to singing and keeping a beat while performing a specific sequence of motions.

2nd graders enjoy our series of songs from Africa. We learn "Ise Oluwa" from Nigeria and "Che Che Koolay" from Ghana. "Che Che Koolay" is a call and response song, so while one group plays instruments, the second group sings and performs a movement, and the third group replies with the same gestures.

5th Grade Songs 2009

Students in both 5th grade classes wrote their own tunes to a simple rhyme. They composed, printed out real music notation and recorded the songs! Which one do you like the best?

Listen!

Come, Butter, Come 203

Come, Butter, Come 204

Once I Saw a Little Bird 203

Once I Saw a Little Bird 204

The North Wind Doth Blow 203

The North Wind Doth Blow 204

Grade 1

First graders learn many short songs with the musical syllables "sol" and "mi." One song is "Snail, Snail," which the children sing as they coil into a spiral, like a snail's shell. Part of the fun is getting out of the tight coil!

Grade 3

"Where, o where is pretty little Mary? Way down yonder in the Paw Paw Patch!" Third graders learn the song and then the game. In the picture above, "Come on, boys, let's go find her!"

The third verse has students 'peel off' and form a bridge so that the game continues with new students at the top. See photos of "Great Big House" below.

Great Big House in New Orleans

In September, the 3rd graders learn a Kentucky folk dance
to the song "Paw Paw Patch" and a play-party game to the song "Great Big House". After walking in a circle for the first verse, students split into two concentric circles to begin weaving themselves together in the second. In the final verse, students circle again, but this time moving carefully, as the circle is much smaller!

"Great Big House in New Orleans. . ."

". .to fetch a pail of water. . ."

"Put one arm around my wife. ."

"The other 'round my daughter!"

Grade 5

"Old Dan Tucker" is a folk song that was mentioned in "Little House on the Prairie," which Grade 5 is reading. They learned a reel dance in AB form.

The Pipe Organ

Mr. Anderson takes 3rd graders up to the Organ Loft to see "The King of Instruments" in Spring.
Look at all those Pipes!

Thanks a lot!

Heel and Toe

5th graders begin a dance unit with an easy to learn circle dance. Sung to the tune of "Little Brown Jug," the directions are the words of the song!

Tideo

The 3rd grade learned to write the complete song "Tideo" in real music notation, including correct note stem direction! Naturally we celebrated with the Texas play-party game for the song.

Homemade Instruments

Spring, 2009

Aerophones are instruments that use air to make the sound. Many third graders used pens and other hollow tubes to make real homemade flutes and pan pipes. There are usually lots of bottles, tuned with water.

Click the picture to see a book of our instruments.

Click to watch a movie!

Our Bottle Bands and panpipe players made terrific sounds.

Several students could play 3-note songs on their instruments. Bravo!

Grade 1 makes Membranophones and Idiophones.

This drum head was once a swim cap!

A scraped can sounds like a Guiro.

Membranophones are instruments with stretched tops. Many first graders use balloons to make real homemade drums. Idiophones are instruments that make the sound of what they are made of. Each year we have excellent examples!

Some new pictures are put up every year.

Assorted metal objects became wind chimes.

This drum head was a balloon.

This "hardware on a stick" sounds like a tambourine!

This long shaker sounds great.

The students compared their home-made instruments to real musical instruments, and played together as a group.

Chordophones are instruments with strings!
Our 2010 2nd graders made quite an assortment this year! Notice the bridges that keep the strings from touching the sound box.
Instruments from previous years are featured at the end.

String Instruments need:

• a sound box (resonator)

• a hole for the sound

• strings

• bridges

Enjoy some instruments from past years!