Monday, May 31, 2010

Happy Memorial Day. What a wonderful day to not only enjoy BBQ and summer fun but to remember those who have fought and sacrificed for our freedom.

A special thanks for all those who helped with the concert. The students did an excellent job with their performances. We had singing, recorders, bells, flutes, guitars and skits. There is a lot of musical talent amoungst the students at OCS. The 2 part singing at the end of the concert was incredible. Students in grades kindergarten - 7th grade were all able to sing their parts. It's great that we have students that worked a little extra to play the guitars, sing, play recorders, tell stories and play flutes. And of course our k-5 feature of Aesop adventure not only included some wonderful music, but those classic stories with a message.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Good morning -

It's May already - and a lot is happening in music.
Hopefully we are all getting ready for the Spring Concert on the 26th. The students in grades k-5 have been working on the music for An Aesop Adventure and are sounding great. A group of the 6th grade students will be telling the stories. We also have a group of 7th and 8th grade students working on the song "Stand By Me" to play on the guitar and of course we have the students who will be working behind the scenes on stage. The concert will conclude with all the students in grades k-5 (and a couple of 6th and 7th graders) singing patriotic songs. I think it's great that we have students from every grade involved.
Not only is there the concert - 1st grade has been learning about instruments, 2nd and 3rd grade will be learning about Vivaldi and the 4 Seasons, 4th grade is REALLY busy not only singing the songs for the concert - but they are preparing songs on the recorder and earning belts for recorder Karate. 5th grade just finished a unit on the 3 B's and 6th grade is starting a unit on the musical "Oliver". Kindergarten really enjoyed moving to the music of Camille Saint Saens, Carnival of the Animals. 8th grade completed their history unit with reports on 21st century musicians - and did an excellent job with powerpoints and written reports. While 7th grade is now playing guitars, they just finished a unit on Baroque and Classical composers.
Enjoy the beautiful weather and sights and sounds of spring!