Music
Kii and welcome back to another fabulous year at TPS! For anyone who doesn’t know me, I am Erica and I started back teaching Music at TPS last year after a few years of family leave. I teach using the music education frameworks of Kodaly and Orff and love to see our students grow in confidence while having fun in Music. I am planning to add a little drama and dance to the lessons this year too. I have a background in classical piano but my love is playing in bands, having a sing-a-long and leading choirs that are accessible and joyful. Get in touch if you have any questions, ideas or would like to help out in the music room 🙂.
Grades 3-6
We have started the year singing! We are finding and using our singing voices and playing music games.
Some of the favourite songs you may hear at home are…
Count on Me - Bruno Mars
Feel Like Going Back Home - The Pigrim Brothers
You, You, You - The Okee Dokee Brothers
You may also hear some solfege which is a practice of matching notes to hand signs to make the aural into symbols. This helps us visualise what we hear (and makes us feel like we are in The Sound of Music).
Student suggestions for improving the music room.
I asked students what they thought would improve the music room space and here are some of the responses (some more doable than others)...
More colourful
Paint the walls (many colours were suggested as well as music notes)
Noticeboard fixed
Put up paintings of musical scenes and pictures of instruments and artists
Fairy lights
Disco ball
Plants
Mat
Music room guinea pig
LEDs
More storage
We will work towards adding these suggestions to the room!
Grades F-2
We have been singing and moving and playing hand percussion!
A favourite movement activity has been following the music to move like cats creeping and pouncing and mice scurrying!
We have also been having fun with a song called We Say Hello and finding all the languages in our class to sing it with.
Spicys
We stand on the shoulders of giants and after 10+ years of our beloved piano teacher Finley coaching and encouraging students every week at Spicy’s rehearsals he is having a well-earned break and actually eating his lunch.
Fortunately, two of our other instrumental teachers - Charlie and Maria - have taken the batton and we’re excited to spend time rehearsing and creating with them!
As we had sooooo many students wanting to be in Spicys we have had to limit the band to only grade 6s for the first semester.
Spicys will rehearse at Thursday lunch times.
Choir
Choir will start soon so watch this space!!
MUSIC ROOM WORKING BEE
We are hopping on to the back of the Enviro Team’s Working Bee this Saturday!
If you have any time to help counting and sorting, restringing guitars and other music room jobs, please join me in the music room any time between 9-1. See the Working Bee sign up for more information about the day.