Below is a list of costume suggestions for each class. Please try to source and put together as much as you can. Let your classroom teacher know if you need any costume pieces for our play. 

Classes	Style	Specific costume suggestions
Div. 19-21	Techno	Athletic wear or graphic t-shirt and loose pants, headphones on some children
Div. 17 & 18	Alternative rock	Plaid shirts over t-shirts, jeans and runners
Div. 14 – 16	Alternative – Nirvana	Plaid shirts over t-shirts, or sloppy/oversized shirts, jeans and runners
Div. 12 & 13	Pop boy band – New Kids on the Block	Styled hair, black pants, jackets over t-shirts
Div. 10 & 11	Pop music – Britney Spear’s fans	1990s Athletic wear – sweatpants and tight t-shirts/tanktops
Div. 8 & 9	Pop boy bands and girl groups – N’Sync, Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls	Ms. Karlson will give teachers a class list of costumes. Each child is one of the following: Spice girls – colourful and sparkly wear Backstreet Boys or N’Sync – loose athletic wear. Can wear backwards baseball caps
Div. 6 & 7	Men In Black	Ms. Karlson will give teachers a class list of costumes. Each child is one of the following: Agents – black pants, white shirts, black tie, black blazer, sunglasses Office workers – black pants, white shirts, black tie Aliens – get creative!!!!
Div. 3 & 5	As Rhythm Nation video	Black pants, black shirt, black jacket and black baseball cap. “Bling” on cap and jacket
Div. 1, 2 & 4	Various Hip Hop and R&B groups	Ms. Karlson will give teachers a class list of costumes. Each child is one of the following: Vanilla Ice – athletic jumpsuits MC Hammer – parachute pants Boyz II Men – colourful blazers, white t-shirt and jeans Kriss Kross – jeans and jackets worn backwards Public Enemy – loose shirt and pants with chains or a big clock hanging around neck, baseball caps

 

We are working hard to get ready for our Spring Concert this year!  The feature of the concert is our Musical Play, Alien Festival, and each music class will perform a piece during the play! All the music is from the 1990s! 

The dates and times of the concert are as follows: 

Divisions 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 will perform on Wednesday, May 28th at 1:30pm, and at 6:30pm.  Doors will open for the evening performance at 6:00pm. 

Divisions 1, 3, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21 will perform on Thursday, May 29th at 1:30pm, and at 6:30pm.  Doors will open for the evening performance at 6:00pm. 

The grade seven band will perform at the beginning of the concert on Thursday, May 29th only.

Parents/Guardians music let Ms. Karlson or your child’s classroom teacher know if your child will not be able to attend his or her performance date. And please let either of them know as soon as possible so staging and blocking in each scene can be planned accordingly. 

The reason we need to know if your child will be unable to participate is because there is a lot of planning that goes into a concert. Ms. Karlson is planning the spacing of the children on the stage and sound production for the number of children in each performance. The classroom teacher needs to plan enough costume pieces for each child in the performance. If your child is going to be absent from his or her class performance, adjustments need to be made in these areas. It can greatly impact the sound and spacing of the children if many of them are absent during a class number. Again, please let the school know well ahead of time so that the teachers can plan for the actual number of students who will perform, and the other children who are performing can get used to the volume they need to sing, the amount they need to act and the instrument they are actually going to play and the space they will have on stage. It is very stressful for the teachers and the performing children if another child is suddenly absent the day of the performance, so please make sure they come to their class performance unless, of course, they are very sick. 

We also need lots of costume pieces for the 90s. If you have extra, please send them to school to be used by another student who may not be able to obtain them. Your child’s teacher will be coordinating your child’s class costumes.  

More information will come out about our play as we progress in the preparations, and all this information can be found on the music blog of our school website. 

Thank you! 

The grade 2 and 3 students of Armstrong and their teachers and EAs will be attending Primary Days of Music next week! We will be visiting Taylor Park school in the afternoon on Tuesday, March 11th. Unfortunately, parents are not invited to attend. There will be 4 different schools of grade 2s and 3s in attendance – Taylor Park, Stride Elementary, Windsor Elementary and Armstrong.

Please see the grade 2/3 tab at the top of this webpage for the song list and videos with which to practice.

During Clubs this term we did Reader’s Theatre in the music room!

We had four groups of children of multi-ages reading scripts and acting out short plays.

One of the groups performed their play at the last assembly. This was the group that worked on Little Red Riding Hood.

The other three groups elected to have their final performances filmed and I am sharing them here with families. Click on the links below to see their final performances. Please do not share these links with the public at large.

Tortoise and the Hare

Hansel And Gretel and Cinderella

We are looking for volunteers from our Armstrong Leaders – the grade 6s and 7s to be the actors in our school musical, Alien Festival written and directed by Ms. Karlson.

There are 41 roles available for acting roles in the play.

Parents – please fill in this form to let us know that your child is interested in this opportunity and what their availability is for rehearsals and performances. The play will be performed on May 28th and 29th at 1:30pm and 6:30pm.

Welcome back to school after the winter break!

To find out what your child is doing in music this term and links and videos to their lessons, you can click above on the specific grade group for your child.

Here is a snapshot of their learning:

Grade 6/7 – guitars and chord theory

Grade 3/4 and 4/5 – recorders and treble clef pitch note reading

Grade 2 and 3 – Primary Days of Music songs

Grade 1 – melodies – reading, singing and playing on instruments

Kindergartens – non-pitched percussion instruments, high and low concepts in pitch

Some of our amazing kids are performing in an assembly next week – on December 20th at 10:30am.

Ms. Wilson’s class, Division 16, will be performing our song from the CBC Music Class Challenge, You Can Be Anything.

Ms. Andaya’s class, Division 15, will perform Frosty the Snowman and they are using some instruments for sound effects in the piece!

Mrs. Blake’s class, Division 12, will perform Hear the Bells by Alice Olsen. It is an Orff arrangement, and the children will be improvising on the xylophones during this piece!

Mrs. Calandra’s class and Mrs. Ogilvie’s class will sing some songs as well.

 

The top ten has been revealed!

Our neighbour, Second Street School has an entry that made the top ten! Check it out here!

https://www.cbc.ca/music/events/canadian-music-class-challenge/music-class-challenge-2024-top-10-1.7400094

We also have a top ten from University Highlands Elementary and from Capitol Hill Elementary. Way to go Burnaby music programs!

We have two entries in the CBC Music Class Challenge this year.

Divisions 8 & 9 performed “We Remember” by Allan Crossley for the Remembrance Day assembly, and then again to be recorded for the CBC Music Class Challenge!

Divisions 12, 13, 14, 15 & 16 performed Jeremy and Jazzy’s “You Can Be Anything” with a group of students playing the xylophones, drums and piano.

The two videos are now live on the CBC Music Class Challenge website. Check out the videos below!

https://youtu.be/WkdB5hGKKeA
https://youtu.be/Pc5UR-3pLL4

We have an assembly every month here at Armstrong to share what we are doing in our classrooms, celebrate our children and events and teach students of Armstrong those important performer and audience etiquette skills.

On October 30th we will have an assembly at 1:30pm we will be celebrating all of the October holidays! And there are many!

Division 12, Ms. Caruth’s class, will be performing Turkey Trot for Thanksgiving.

Division 10, Ms. Ford’s class, will be playing a drum piece that they created in class.

Division 7, Ms. Melton’s class, will be sharing information about all of the October holidays.

Division 13, Mrs. Albert and Mrs. Clark’s class, will be doing a dance for Diwali.

Come on down and enjoy those performances!

And, of course, we will have an assembly on November 8th for Remembrance Day, hosted by Division 10.

Division 10 and 11 will sing a rendition of In Flander’s Fields poem by John McRae and music by Craig Cassils.

Divisions 8 and 9 will sing the song We Remember  by Canadian artist Allan Crossley.

On November 12th some Vancouver Warriors players will join us to  educate our students about who the Vancouver Warriors are, the history of lacrosse, its Indigenous connection, the first people’s perspective.

The grade 6/7s will enjoy some line dancing in the gym on November 20th and 27th.

And Vanya Popoff, concert pianist and composer, will join us on November 18th to perform for us and work with a handful of our students.

And our first Young People’s Concert will be on November 25th at 9:35am. The intermediate students are so lucky to be bussed to the Michael J. Fox Theatre to enjoy a performance by The Leading Ladies Little Big Band.

Vancouver based 11-woman big band ‘The Leading Ladies’ present a rare musical blend of classic and modern jazz, showcasing beloved pieces from the big band era alongside modern-day originals. Directed by trombonist Casey Thomas-Burns, this dynamic and vibrant group of young women first came together to perform a single show in 2019. They’ve stuck together ever since. At a concert with ‘The Ladies’ you can expect to hear new takes on classic favorites, music by local and Canadian composers, and maybe even a few things you’ve never hear before as the band regularly debuts new pieces by emerging composers. Recently returned from their 2023 West Coast Tour, this band has been named as one to watch on the Canadian jazz scene. The Leading Ladies Little Big Band is an ensemble with a mission, and in addition to performing in concerts and festivals, focuses on educational engagements and community outreach. The band launched their program “LADIES’ NIGHT: Jazz Jams for Women” in the Spring of 2022, where femme-identifying and non-binary musicians of all ages and skill levels are invited to come and jam with the members of the band in a safe, female-led environment.