Saturday, April 9, 2011

Wise Words from Former President Gerald Ford

Music education opens doors that help children pass from school into the world around them; a world of work, culture, intellectual activity, and human involvement. The future of our nation depends on providing our children with a complete education that includes music.

Gerald Ford
Former President,
United States of America

Expressive Movement in Second Grade

Each music period includes an opportunity to move expressively to music written by a great composer.  At the end of each class period, we have SQUILT, Super Quiet UnInterrupted Listening Time.  During this time, the students just listen without moving, talking, singing, etc. The SQUILT music is the same music to which  they moved earlier in the lesson.  We move and listen to the same musical selection for about 2 weeks, or 4 class periods. It is my hope that the moving and listening to the selection will help form a lasting bond with that piece. In this video, Mrs. Creach's class is moving to "The Aquarium" by Camille Saint-Saens.  This piece is part of a larger work called Carnival of the Animals.  

Research Shows Importance of Music Education

A research team exploring the link between music and intelligence reported that music training is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children's abstract reasoning skills, the skills necessary for
learning math and science.

Shaw, Rauscher, Levine, Wright, Dennis and Newcomb

Third Graders Learn About Percussion Instruments

The third graders have been learning about the 4 instrument families of the orchestra. They have learned about the brass, strings, and percussion sections. Shown in this video is Mrs. Burns' homeroom singing the song "Crash, Boom, Bang" as they play some of the percussion parts along with the song.

A Proverb from Zimbabwe

If you can walk you can dance. If you can talk you can sing.


~ Zimbabwe Proverb

Second Grades - Expressive Movement to Saint-Saens' "The Aquarium"

Mrs. Asher-Williams' class  portraying fish with their hands to this beautiful music.