April 20-24

Have you seen commercials of people singing O Canada on TV? As a way to unite the country and thank frontline workers, people are singing O Canada at 12 noon every Sunday. Please join with your family!

You can sing along with the O Canada video or you can sing acapella. Acapella means you are singing without a piano or guitar accompaniment or a track.

Each week I will post a link to a new listening selection. If you have permission, listen and send a picture of your response to me: catherine.raap@burnabyschools.ca . I started an online gallery of artwork I have received from your listening responses. If you would like to have yours added, please let me know when you email me. For privacy reasons, I have edited out names.

Find a quiet space.

Listen to the music actively. What does that mean? Active listening is when you listen to music carefully and give it your full attention. (Listen to the music more than once).

Collect the sound with your ears and brain. Think about what you are listening to. Allow the music to affect you and respond to it.

Response options:

• You can move or dance to the music,
• write a story, poem or journal entry,
• create art, or
• build a 3D sculpture with blocks/lego/or any other materials you have at home

Take a picture of your response and send it to me. Don’t forget to write your name, division and the name of the piece you are responding to.

Here are some questions you could consider:

• What do you hear?
• What do you see when you hear this music?
• What do you think about or feel when you hear this music?

For this week, our listening selection is Hymn to Freedom. The music is by Oscar Peterson. You might remember singing or hearing this at our Remembrance Day Assembly two years ago. If you went to the Intermediate Choir Festival last year, this was the piece we sang all together with all the other schools.

Don’t forget to head over to the your grade level tab as well. I have posted a video to a story inspired by Oscar Peterson’s childhood called Oscar Lives Next Door. For intermediates, I have also posted a practice video for Hymn to Freedom. On May 4^th, people across Canada will be celebrating music by singing this song. I’ll give out more information in the coming weeks.

For additional music activities, explore your grade level tab and the online resources/links. Don’t forget to check out the gallery!