Earth Day is April 22nd of every year.  The theme for Earth Day 2020 is climate action and it also marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day!  How might you continue making every day Earth Day?  Perhaps this video will remind you what we are working for.

For more information check out EarthDay.org

At a time when we all need music to give hope and comfort, I would like to share two videos with you.

The first one is by the great Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli who gave us a moment on Easter Sunday that seemed to rise above everything else happening in the world.  The live-streamed concert took place from an empty Duomo cathedral in Milan, accompanied by the cathedral’s organist Emanuel Vianelli.  It was the largest simultaneous audience for a classical live stream in YouTube history.  After 24 hours, 28 million people had watched the concert.

The second one is “Memories” by Maroon 5.  Such a joy to see young people singing and building community!  Enjoy!

Let’s start this long weekend by dancing The Bunny Hokey Pokey!  You may even want to try it with your family.  

Here’s one more fun song “B-U-N-N-Y”

Why don’t you try an Easter Hunt for musical sounds in your house?  How many can you find?

Best wishes to you and your loved ones!

I have been thinking about all of you a lot and am missing your smiling faces!  I will be posting music and dance activities on this blog and possibly through your class teams.  Stay tuned for further updates. 

In the meantime, you can continue to explore musicplay online and check some of the websites in my blogroll. Feel free to reach out to me if you like at bonnie.ishii@burnabyschools.ca. 

For now, I share with you this fun upbeat song that you can dance along to at home.  I certainly did! 

“Get Back Up Again”

Here is a wonderful resource to keep those music vibes going!  Click on the link below.   

MUSIC PLAY WEBSITE

Our grade 2 and 3 students are excited about participating in the upcoming District Primary Days of Music on Thursday, March 12th at University Highlands School.  We are enjoying our songs and can hardly wait to share them with everyone!  Students, wear your school spirit wear or something blue on this special day!

Click here for more information

Our upcoming Winter concert, “Candy Cane Lane” is on Thursday, December 12th at 1:30 and 7:00 pm in our school gym.  “Candy Cane Lane” is a-buzz with festive holiday preparations with candy canes, reindeer and why even the evergreens are sprucin‘ up. But there is trouble brewing! Which candy cane color is better, red or green!?!  Better call out the Color Guard to save the season! 

This delightful show includes all students from Kindergarten to Grade 3, as well as featuring the extra-curricular Intermediate Choir. 

Click here for the Costume Letter

“It’s My Time!” is the official 2019 – 2020 school dance.  Have fun with it!  Our first performance will be at the upcoming Halloween Community Gathering!

Come join us at our Voices of Nature Concert on Thursday, April 25th at 1:30 or 7:00 pm.  We are excited to share with you our new discoveries about the environment in this joyful music making celebration.  Student work will also be on display for viewing prior to the show.  Doors open at 6:30.

As we move into Spring, I can’t help but think about the amazing learning opportunities we experienced in term 2.  A few highlights include:

Div. 2 and 3 shared their opera ‘A Letter to Wanda’. This debut performance of the story ‘The Hundred Dresses’ by Eleanor Estes was adapted and written as an opera by Suzanne Windsor-Liscombe.  Our students studied inference, point of view and perspective in Language Arts, along with themes of kindness and compassion. They took their learning to an even deeper level through an infusion of the Arts, particularly the genre of “opera”.  

Through the leadership of our Boomerang Club members, we were able to raise $1107.35.  for the Canuck Place Hospice!  The ‘Boomerangers” look forward to continue their work in cultivating kindness and gratitude within our school community.

We also had the opportunity to host the District Primary Days of Music Festival at our school!  Schools in attendance were Douglas Road, Capitol Hill and Lyndhurst.  It was a glorious morning of joyous singing by these young voices!

All of our students had the opportunity to work with our muralist, Ann Thorsteinsson, where she worked with students to design and create a mural for the outside of our school.  In conversations and then through drawing and painting, students explored the possibilities of Becoming as a theme for inspiration.

I look forward to our another term of new learning including our work with Voices of Nature!  Stay tuned! 

Enjoy a well deserved break everyone and Happy Spring!