Hello Penguins!

Students at Pattengill are currently working on a variety things. Young 5's and kindergarten are currently focusing on keeping a steady beat. We have been listening to a lot of great songs that help us do this in many ways. Most recently, we have been using bean bags to keep the beat by picking them up, dropping them, and tossing them back and forth VERY GENTLY.

In the spirit of fall, the 3rd graders have been focusing on how music makes us feel (affect). For now we are  working mostly with scary music, but will expand to other feelings later in the year. We begin by listening to music that society would deem "spooky" such as the theme to The Twilight Zone and Jaws. We then try to pinpoint what the musicians do to make it scary. Through this exploration, we cover many elements (tempo, dynamics, rhythm, etc...) of music in a very meaningful way. Students then get to create their own scary music in small groups.

4th grade is currently reviewing what they learned about notation last year by playing the keyboards. This is also in preparation for their continued recorder unit later this year. They will be starting a unit on texture before the end of the month, which has to do with the different layers (instruments, voice parts) of music.

Several grade levels (1st, 2nd, and 5th) are working on songwriting. This project differs depending on the grade level, but the students choose a topic, write lyrics and create the melody for every song. I usually come up with several piano parts for them to choose from. We then practice, record the songs and compile them into a school CD! It is hard work, but a lot of fun. Students have to combine their knowledge of music with writing skills and end up with a wonderful finished product! One group just finished adding their melody today, which you can find below!