Music Term 1 Newsletter
Meet the music team.
Mrs Digby- Years 1, 3, 5, 6 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)
Mrs Spain- Foundation, Year 2, Year 4 (Wednesday, Thursday)
Welcome to Term 1
My name is Mrs Digby and I have been the music teacher at CEPS for 15 years. I have four children who all attended Cheltenham East. I used to be a German teacher in Secondary school but my first love has always been music. I cannot remember a time when I didn't sing or dance and I want to share my love of music with the students I teach.
After many years of being the sole music teacher at CEPS, I am very excited to welcome Mrs Spain to the music team this year. Mrs Spain has been a CEPS classroom teacher for many years and after the arrival of her second child has joined our team two days a week. She is an enthusiastic, vibrant teacher and will be a great asset to the team.
Music lessons take place weekly for 50 minutes and the children have settled in beautifully and are loving their music classes!
Foundation
We have such fun in the Music Room playing games and singing songs. Every music session includes: moving, listening, playing, singing and creating.
This term in Music we will be:
- learning the routines in the music room
- playing various percussion instruments
- developing our singing/speaking voice
- learning to take turns and work cooperatively with our classmates
- making up movements for our classmates to follow
- acting out short skits which develop our understanding of fast & slow, loud & soft, high & low
Year 1 & 2
InGrades 1 and 2 we will continue to play many percussion instruments such as maracas, tone blocks, clave, tambourines, drums etc, developing an accurate sense of beat and rhythm. We will begin to read and write simple written music using our understanding of syllables and experiment with tuned instruments such as xylophones.
This term in Music we will be:
- learning the routines in the music room
- further develop our singing/speaking voice
- playing various percussion instruments
- experimenting with tuned instruments (xylophones)
- taking turns and working co-operatively with our classmates
- playing lots of games to develop our sense of beat and rhythm and help us respond appropriately to different music styles
- beginning to read and write written music (Grade 2)
- making up movements for our classmates to follow
- acting out short skits which develop our understanding of fast & slow, loud & soft, high & low
Year 3 & 4
InGrades 3 and 4 we will build on and strengthen the 4 musical elements of; beat, pitch dynamics and tempo, using the skills of listening, singing, moving, playing, and creating. Students will continue to use different percussion instruments and have the opportunity to experiment with and create sound in a variety of different ways. They will be given the opportunity to move to a variety of different music styles, learn rhymes and act out short mini-plays.
This term in Music we will be:
- developing our understanding of the 4 musical elements (beat, pitch, dynamics and tempo)
- enhancing our skills in listening, singing, moving, playing and creating
- writing out the rhythms of simple songs and writing our own music
- playing a wider variety of percussion instruments
- listening, moving and responding appropriately to a variety of music styles
- learning to work co-operatively with our classmates in many small and large group activities
- learning and creating rhymes
- acting out short skits that develop confidence, cooperation and performance skills
Year 5 & 6
In Grades 5 and 6 we aim to create a supportive, encouraging environment where everyone works together and has fun performing and expressing their ideas. We will be consolidating and expanding our knowledge of various rhythms and begin to write own own music which we will play on percussion instruments. We will focus on working together to create interesting and exciting performances which will improve confidence, personality and enjoyment.
This term in Music we will be:
- exposed to music from other cultures- singing and playing various instruments
- writing our own musical rhythms in small groups and presenting them to the class
- composing short melodies on xylophones
- learning to improvise using instruments, movement and voice
- playing instruments accurately in 'parts' rather than all playing the same thing
- practising short skits and raps
- learning to give honest, constructive evaluation and feedback to our classmates after performances.