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Ms. Berar:  “Knock Knock…”

Student:  “Who’s there?”

Ms. Berar:  “A little, old lady…”

Student:  “A LITTLE, OLD LADY WHO??”

Ms. Berar:  “Oh WOW!!!  I didn’t know that you knew how to Yodel !?!?”

That’s AWESOME!!!

When saying this line, try singing it and it will sound like you are yodeling:                      “A little, old lady who?” 

Here is one of my favourite scenes from my favourite movie of all time,                       “The Sound of Music,” filmed in 1965.  Based on the real-life story of the vonTrapp family who fled their homeland in Austria from the Nazis during World War II.

The film is based on the Broadway Play written and composed by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.  In this video, the VonTrapp children, along with their governess (nanny), are performing “The Lonely Goatherd” using marionette puppets and singing.

Yodeling is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch (chest register or “chest voice”) and the high-pitch (head register or “head voice” aka “falsetto”).  This vocal technique originates from the Austro-Bavarian word “jodeln,” meaning “to utter the syllable jo” (pronounced “yo” in English).  This vocal technique is used when singing in many cultures worldwide.

In this video, the von Trapp children perform a goodnight song to the guests at their father’s party.  It is titled, “So Long Farewell…”

My friends, it has been a wild and yet a wonderful school year, hasn’t it?  I want to wish all of my students and families the very best for the summer break!!!  Enjoy this time as best as you can!  Hopefully, we will meet before too long and we will make music again.  Keep a song in your heart my lovely friends and until then…  TTFN!  (Ta Ta For Now…)

OxoxO

Ms. Ravena Berar

Hello My Lovely Friends!

Can you believe that this is the last full week of our school year?  I hardly can.        Our school year has been a different one too, hasn’t it?  Well, I believe that as information changes, our decisions change.  I take comfort in knowing that this is all part of our learning and growing process.

Have a listen to Bill Richardson read his story, “The Bunny Band.”  He is the same authour of the story/song that we learned earlier this year called, “The Aunts Come Marching.”  Bill is also a poet and former CBC radio host.  Along with Bill, you will hear Rosanne play her flute.  She is one of many talented musicians who perform with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO).

As this story is about growing vegetables in a garden, I thought what a PERFECT time this would be to listen and learn a song by Charlotte Diamond called,       “Each of Us is a Flower.”  Listed below are the lyrics.  Have a listen to the song.  Can you hear the parts that repeat?  After you listen to the song, play it again and see if you can sing along with Charlotte.

Happy Monday to you ALL!  I hope this post finds you well!

In addition to working remotely from home on Mondays and Tuesdays, I am back teaching, in-person at Maywood on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for the month of June.  I teach a cohort of students whose parents are Essential Service Workers on Wednesdays and I am teaching a cohort of Grade 2/3 students on Thursdays and Fridays until the end of the school year.

Although I am not teaching my regularly scheduled music classes, I look forward to the day when I can do that again this Autumn when we will all, hopefully, be back at school on a more regular basis.

Take a look at the website of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra to explore what the instruments look like and sound like.  Choose 1 instrument (or more) from each family (group) to look at and listen to their sounds.  Click the link here to access the website:    https://www.mydso.com/dso-kids/learn-and-listen/instruments

After reviewing different instruments from each family, watch and listen to the video below from the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of their former conductor, Maestro Bramwell Tovey.  In the video, he not only conducts the musicians but he is also the narrator of the story.

• Draw, colour, and label a picture of an instrument that you enjoyed hearing the most.
• Draw, colour, and label a picture of a few of your favourite instruments.
• If you could play any of these instruments right now, choose your top three.  Which ones would they be?  Tell me why?
• Tell me about what you observed when you watched the Peter And The Wolf video?  What did you notice about the musicians?  How many were there on stage?  How were they arranged?
• Could you actually imagine the animals in your mind when listening to the story?  Did the music help you to visualize them?  Yes or No?  Please explain why or why not.

Take great care and have a wonderful week ahead!

Musically Yours,

Ms. Berar

Hello My Friends, Hello!

For your music explorations this week, I am sharing a story with you that is very meaningful to me on a deep level.  It is written by Dr. Wayne Dyer and is titled, “Unstoppable Me!  10 Ways to Soar Through Life.”

I wish to express how extremely proud of you I am, as we have been discovering new ways of being and doing while we have been learning from home!  Good for you!!  Remember to dream big, shine bright and sparkle more!!!

Do you know this FUN song by Charlotte Diamond?  It is called, “I Am A Pizza.”  She is the composer of the song,  “May There Always Be Sunshine.” Do you remember listening to that song in my post from a few weeks ago?   Hopefully, you do.

After listening to this song this week, see if you can memorize the words.  You may wish to change the words or add verses with pizza toppings that you like.  Maybe you like to eat anchovies on your pizza?  Or perhaps artichokes?  Or maybe pineapple?  Have fun with this one!

Enjoy listening to “Ketzel the Cat” being read aloud by Cassie, a violinist with the VSO (Vancouver Symphony Orchestra).

NEW on the right-hand side of my blog, near the top of each post, you will now find a section titled, “Bookmarks.”  Here you will find the links to the websites that I have directed you to in previous posts.  I have indicated the websites that are musically interactive for students to explore with the designation “(Students)” beside it.  Plus, there are a few other websites for your parents to explore.

Friends, I would LOVE to receive a picture of your response to either one of the stories shared in this post or to “I Am A Pizza.”  Draw me a picture or create something with other objects that you have at home (e.g. like we do with the Loose Parts Cart at school), take a photo of it, and email it to me.  Or if you would like to record a short video of yourself singing any of the songs that we have learned this year, please send it to me and I will post it to the Student Gallery page.  Have a wonderful week!

Click here to email me:   Ravena.Berar@burnabyschools.ca

Hello My Friends!

I hope this post finds you well!  It is hard to believe that it is nearing the end of May.  Wow!  For our music explorations this week, I wanted to share this video of a great story written by Mo Willems.  He is the author of many children’s books including the “Elephant and Piggie” series.   The story is narrated by Michelle who plays the clarinet (a wind instrument) with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO).  The VSO performs at the beautiful Orpheum Theatre in downtown Vancouver.  I hope you enjoy the story!

My grade two students in divisions 14 through 17 participated in Primary Days of Music in March just before Spring Break.  We walked to Nelson Elementary and sang a repertoire of songs together with four other schools.  One of the songs is called, “Why We Sing” by Greg Gilpin.  Listen to this adult choir, ‘The Northern Lights Chorale’  perform it.

In this second video of the same song, you can sing along with this children’s choir.

After listening to the story, “Because” and the song, “This Is Why We Sing.” record your response(s) to either one or both of them by drawing or painting a picture.  Your picture can be abstract (lines, shapes, colour & design) or it can be concrete (pictures of people, places, things, symbols).  Use your imagination to create your unique response.  Remember, there is no right or wrong response.  How you feel, is how you feel.  If you are able to have an adult take a digital photo of your work, that would be wonderful.  Please email it to me at:  ravena.berar@burnabyschools.ca

I have now created a page on my blog, titled, “Student Gallery.”  You will find it in the top horizontal menu.  This page is password protected for security reasons so that only the families of the divisions that I teach, will be able to see it.  I have just emailed all of my Maywood families in divisions 14 through 21 with the password for you to be able to access this page.  A number of emails, “bounced back” to me as undeliverable.  If you did not receive a separate email from me but you would like to receive the password, please let me know one of two ways.  Either you can leave me a comment here on my blog or you can email me directly at my email address above (highlighted in blue).  Thank you so much to all of you for the AMAZING work that you are doing for our school and for your families too!  Remember, together… we can!  Take great care of yourselves!!  Sending you much love. OxoxoxO