End of qtr 1

So we've had our concert--I was really proud of all of the kids! 43 out of 51 6th grade students showed up--wow- that's a great turnout! Thank you to all the parents that punted along with us at the first concert of the year. We didn't get the tarp moved to the MS so the singers had to stand in the bleachers on the opposite side to sing.

The students and I discussed concert etiquette both before and after the concert. The students have worked really hard, it would be nice if everyone in attendance was quiet so they could be heard! There will be some reminders and helpful hints in the next concert program.

Before Halloween everyone started Christmas music! I know its early, but we've got a ton of music to learn. Each class is learning 12 Christmas carols, and 1 combined song that all the choirs will sing together. Then both the MS choirs are working on medley's. The 7/8th grade is working on a medley of "White Christmas" and the 6th grade is working on a medley of popular Christmas music.

OUR CONCERT AND POTATO FEED IS DECEMBER 14, 2009 at 7pm at the HS! Students need to be at the HS at 6:30pm and that's when the potatos will be ready for the parents and audience members to start eating!

The 7/8th grade choir will be accompanying the HS choir to Centralia for some caroling on Friday, December 18. The bus will be leaving from the HS at 5:15pm. We will be returning to the HS by 9:15pm

The students and I will be busy all the way up to the last day before Christmas break! After our concert on Monday (12-14-09) we'll be watching our fall concert and our Christmas concert on dvd. The 7/8th graders will also be starting to pick music for solo and ensemble contest that last week before break.

We might be singing in some holiday assemblies, I'll let the students know when I know when and where.

Need T-shirt Money!

The choir room was a bit quiet last week as the 6th graders were all at Ft. Flagler. The 7/8th gr choir continued to get ready for the concert that is coming up pretty quick!

Out of 65 kids that need to buy a t-shirt, about half have either given me a note or paid for the shirt! I will purchase the shirts and have the students check them out since students are paying in a timely manner. This is the first year that students haven't gotten their money in on time. Maybe there was confusion between the Ft. Flagler t-shirt and the choir t-shirt?! The choir t-shirt is required for all students to wear for performances. At $14 a shirt it seems pretty cost effective. That way your student doesn't come home and say they need a new outfit for each concert!

The other issue is the rest of concert attire--black from the waist down--which means if you wear a skirt you need to have black tights and shoes. If you wear pants, you need to have black socks and shoes. This is to help everyone look uniform! Plus the students look great up on stage in all black!

New Things This Year!

This year has brought tons of changes for the choir/drama departments here in Tenino!  

I start the day at the HS for the first time in 7 years

which means I end at the MS

In between I'm at the elementary school!

Its been a great experience--I'm getting to teach drama to 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders!  We've done a name game and made posters about things relating to drama.  In our next class we'll be reading an introduction to drama in play form.

Another new thing this year is that the two HS choirs are now one--which means we have over 20 kids in choir!  All the choirs are getting ready for the first concert, coming up on October 21, 2009 at 7pm at TMS.  Your students and I would love to see you all there!  

The last new thing is that there is no HS fall play this year.  The THS drama class will be putting together a show in class and be traveling to TES and Parkside to perform during the school day!

I'll be writing more about this as it gets closer, but the THS choir will be starting a candle fundraiser in mid-October.  We want to make sure we can afford to go on our trips we have planned this year, so we're starting early!

I'm really excited about all the new things that are happening this year!  Hope to see you all at a performance or two!

The first fall blog!

The choir department of TMS and the choir/drama departments of THS are off and running! 

The MS 7/8th grade choir is a great, boisterous group of kids!  We've started singing and working in groups and everybody's working toward the first concert Oct. 21.  The concert will be at the Middle School.  The sixth grade choir has 49 students signed up and we're working towards being a group.  We've worked on some rhythm in small groups, started singing a welcoming song and the kids just received a song called "My Principal's a Pirate"!  

We've done "clappy duets", where with a partner each student claps a written rhythm, while their partner is clapping another rhythm.  We've worked on note names and note values and we've started to put together singing sections in both classes.  

I have a wonderful HS TA for my 6th grade class, Dachelle Knutter.  She's helpful in reminding students of the classroom rules and has been in my program since she was in 6th grade, so she has a knowledge of music as well.

The music room is a busy place both 7th and 8th periods!

Two weeks before break!

This has been a busy past few weeks. Both choirs are working on their "Christmas Carols" for the sing-a-long at the choir concert in about a week. This past Wednesday each of the classes had a listening assignment that compared and contrasted 5 different Christmas Carols. Three of them the students are singing and 2 were classic songs--The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire...) and The Little Drummer Boy. Ask your students which three they listened to that they're also singing.

We're a week away from the Choir concert! Each choir is working on four songs, as well as a combined song for all four choirs, plus 13 classic Christmas carols. A few of the carols are; "We Three Kings of Orient are", "Angels We Have Heard on High", "Good King Wenceslaus", and "Joy to the World". It is quite a bit of music, but the kids are doing a great job with it. The carols don't have to be memorized, so the day before Thanksgiving they spent decorating their carol books! I know one student took her's home and showed it to a graduate from the program and he was reminded of his carol book. Ask your students what kind of decorations they drew and whether they have a green or red cover.

On December 17, 2008 we're having our concert! We will be performing at the HS and will have tables set up so you can sit as a family. We also add a baked potato dinner to the evening. A loaded potato will be $4 and a family of loaded potatos will be $15. It does not cost to get in to the concert, just if you buy a potato. This is a choir fundraiser that we do every year to help cover costs. The potatos will be ready at 6:30pm when you bring your student for warm-ups. Looking forward to seeing everyone there! Come with your appetite and be ready to sing with the choirs on your favorite classic Christmas carol!

Fifth/Sixth week of school--already!

Fifth week--We are working hard on all our music selections. Each of the classes have a foreign language song so that's our focus for this week, especially Monday and Thursday. We also worked on a music packet Tuesday and Wednesday, learning about the National Anthem. There were word searches and number lessons involved, as well as information about the composer. We all helped each other out on the word searches, and they tried to see who could get finished first--them or me! On Friday I introduced the next movie in our selection--Fern Gully. We watch this movie because it has various different song styles throughout and we can talk about them as we go through the movie. Typically, in movies they have the same song style, but not in Fern Gully. There is rap, country, world, jazz, blues, and rock styled songs performed. Ask your student if he/she knows which song is which style?

Sixth week--
The students are just over two weeks from their first concert so it's pretty hectic in class! Each class has 4 songs to memorize. On Monday we worked on woodshedding each of the pieces (that is picking the trouble spots in each song and fixing just that section). Tuesday we started practicing how to walk onto the risers for the concert. There is a particular way in which we do this. Ask your student if they know who they stand by and what row gets on the risers first? Wednesday they had their first sub and did a listening assignment. The assignment was to compare and contrast the music from North and South Africa. Ask your student what the differences were? Today's Thursday and we'll be working on our music again and continuing to practice getting on and off the risers. Hope everyone enjoy's their Friday off!

Fourth Week of School!

This week both choirs received two new songs, to add to their two old ones. On Monday, since it was a half day we worked on some theory worksheets. They were reviewing note names and all about time signatures. We talked about 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time signatures and what each note is worth in each measure.

Tuesday we worked on marking the new music, each part makes a mark next to their line so that they can follow the music easier. Both choirs also received a foreign language piece. 7/8th grade choir will be singing, "Si Vis Amari" and the 6th graders will be singing "Ose Shalom". We spent some time in class going over pronunciation for each of those songs.

Wednesday we completed the theory worksheets. The students worked with partners and then altogether as a class. We corrected the note name portions in class and then clapped the time signature portions as a class. Progress reports were passed out to the students today.

Thursday we worked on the new music. The 6th graders learned one of their new songs all the way through. The 7/8th grade choir worked on all four songs.

Friday I let the kids vote on what we did because everyone had been participating all week. No surprise that they picked--to finish "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers"!

The choir shirts have been ordered and will be in October 10!