October
We are continuing our exploration of rhythm in October. We will be playing rhythms on various percussion instruments around the music room, and reviewing how to hold and play those instruments from our Kindergarten days.
We are also expanding our knowledge of various rhythms. Last year, the students learned one beat rhythms of a quarter note (tah) and two eighth notes (ti-ti). In grade one, we learn the one beat silence (shh), and about sixteenth notes. The children will learn to say, play, read and audiate those rhythms.
We have learned a silly poem called “There are No Bananas in the Sky.” We will be replacing the silly words of that poem with non-pitched percussion sounds. For example, we will use a shaker for the word “banana”, turning the poem into a rhythm piece.
In October we will also explore Drama with our game Magic Spell in which the children pretend to act and move like various animals.
We will also learn a song for the CBC Music Class Challenge called Pour A Little Sunshine In My Cup. This song also meets our school goal of being a good friend to each other.
September
The grade ones are beginning the school year with Rhythm.
We are going to talk about syllables and how they relate to rhythm (one syllable is a sound).
We are going to start with talking about our own names, and how many syllables our name has. We will use our names in a clapping game.
Then we will learn to notate a varying amount of syllables per beat to learn notation of words with 1-4 syllables.
We will learn and review how to play the non-pitched percussion instruments in the music room. These include the tambourine, maracas, triangles, guiros, cabasas, hand drums, claves and woodblocks.
Then we will play some songs and games using the non-pitched percussion instruments.