AUBURN ELEMENTARY MUSIC

When the first grade classes led our P2 (Positivity Project) assembly they talked about one of my favorite character traits: LOVE. They also sang a song about Martin Luther King Jr. in honor of Black History Month (and love). Listen to the recording of Ms. VonAllmen's class practicing.

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate,
The first one said, "Oh my it's getting late!"
The second one said, "There are witches in the air."
The third one said, "But we don't care!"
The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run!"
The fifth one said, "Let's have some fun!"​

Then "OOOooo" went the wind,
And OUT went the lights.
And the five little pumpkins
Rolled out of sight.

Streamers, shakers, and scarves, oh my! In lower elementary music we use all kinds of fun props and percussion instruments to explore music and movement. We spend a lot of time exploring body awareness in the context of experiencing a variety of types of movement. This helps develop rhythm competency in young children (although they think they're just playing!). Another area of focus at these ages is discovering and refining children's singing voices through songs and tonal games. 

Individual student input and expression are present and valued in our music classroom, even in the youngest grades. Creativity takes many forms in music class. It could look like students improvising short rhythm patterns on percussion instruments, singing their own owl calls in the context of a song, or creating their own dance moves to a familiar song...to name a few.

In kindergarten and first grade students begin to develop their musical and movement vocabulary. We practice identifying contrasting elements of music and space such as fast and slow, gentle and strong, and soft and loud. We also reflect on connections between music we hear and how it makes us feel.