Joyful Noise Music: 2013

Week of December 30th, 2013

ONE IS SILVER AND THE OTHER GOLD!

Today's theme in music class was friendship! We sang "Silver and Gold" and sorted/wore gold and silver bead necklaces--a big hit. =)

We also read the following poem about friendship:

With a Friend

by Vivian Gouled

I can talk with a friend

and walk with friend

and share my umbrella

in the rain.

I can play with a friend

and stay with a friend

and learn with a friend

and explain.

I can eat with a friend

and compete with a friend

and even sometimes

disagree.

I can ride with a friend

and take pride with a friend.

A friend can mean

so much to me!

Older children talked about how the structure of a poem is different from a book, and learned what the word "stanza" meant. We also discussed a few vocabulary words in the poem including "compete" and "pride"!

We also played a fun ball game, sang "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story and learned how to sing "friend" in Spanish! We discovered today that if we are speaking of a friend that is a girl, we would say, "mi amiga" and if the friend is a boy, it would be "amigo".

Our infant class also enjoyed singing songs with puppets and practicing rolling the ball!

Over all, our main theme today is how precious our friends are, and we are thankful for each and every one here at Joyful Noise.

Have a safe and joyous New Year!

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD

FOR EXTENDED LEARNING:

1. Who are your friends?

2. Is "amiga" a friend that is a girl or a boy? What about "amigo"?

3. Can you show me something silver and something gold?

Week of December 16th, 2013

Candlelight Christmas Sing-A-Long!

{Battery operated candle :) }

We had a great time singing Christmas songs in all of the classrooms today! We turned the lights down low, put out this battery operated candle, and sang songs about baby Jesus, reindeer, and good ol' Santa Claus!

Check out the mp3's below to hear some fun snippets of our sing-a-long as well as interesting conversation from the kids! We also enjoyed playing a jingle bell hide and seek game in some classrooms and also singing the children's names with jingle bells today.

Use the questions below as extenders for conversations this evening--have a wonderful and merry holiday! See you on the 31st of December for our next music class!

The winner of jingle bell hide and seek--found it in the manger! =)

Here's a fun "action" song I sang in the infant room today called "I'm a Little Snowman"!

FOUR'S CLASS MP3: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and "History" (Click here to listen!)

FOUR'S CLASS MP3: "Silver Bells" and "Echoes"

Questions to ask your child today:

1. What was your favorite Christmas song from today?

2. Can you tell me about the candle from music class?

3. (Four's class only) What does "history" mean? (Listen to the mp3 above to understand why this was relevant in today's class!)

Week of December 9th, 2013

The winner of our "Jingle Bell Guessing Box"--he guessed there were 45 bells,

when in fact, there were 43! Way to go!

JINGLE BELLS ROCK!

We explored bells of all kinds today, including small to large jingle bells, cowbells, hand bells and chimes, and shakers as well! We started out by exploring a box of small, loose jingle bells, and we sang some of our

favorite jingling songs, including this fun tune below:

CHRISTMAS BELLS

Tune: “Oh, Christmas Tree”

O Christmas bells, O Christmas bells,

We love to hear you ringing.

O Christmas bells, O Christmas bells,

You make us feel like singing.

You sing to us of colored lights.

You sing to us of Christmas night.

O Christmas bells, O Christmas bells,

We love to hear you ringing.

The children also enjoyed shaking a "jingle scarf" with a partner! Each child held an end of the scarf,

which had small jingle bells tied to it, and we went around the circle until everyone had a turn, singing the following song (to the tune of "Row Row Row Your Boat"):

"Ring Ring Ring the bells,

Ring them loud and clear!

To tell the people everywhere

That Christmas time is here!"

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT MUSIC CLASS TODAY:

1. What was your favorite type of bell from music class today? There were many types of bells--small to large jingle bells, cowbells, handheld shakers, and even bells tied to a scarf!

2. How many little loose jingle bells were in the box? There were 43 bells in the box!

3. When you hear jingling bells, what do you think of?

Week of December 2nd, 2013

LISTENING AND RESPONDING:

Our reactions to different pieces of music

Today in music class, students responded to four different pieces of music and drew pictures to correspond with their thoughts/feelings/interpretations of the pieces that were presented to them! If you child is 2 or older, than you make have noticed a drawing in their cubbie or mailbox coming home today! Two year old students drew and responded only to Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" (see the video below), but three years and up took home a piece of paper that contained four numbered squares. It looked like this:

Here are songs they listened to that corresponded with the numbers! :) (Click to listen!)

1. King Sunny Suku Suku Bam Bam (African Juju music)

2. Celtic Dance: The Gneevguillia Reel

3. Duke Ellington: Take the A Train

4. Tchaikovsky: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies

Younger students enjoyed dancing to the music with scarves and also rocking, bouncing and moving songs. Our two's and under also enjoyed reading this book, which I "sang" to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle!