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PreK & Kindergarten: Students have been learning to sing, dance, and play instruments at the same time. When we sang Sally Go Round the Sun, we learned how to dance in a circle to the beat of the song, then we added finger cymbals to play along! With Old King Glory, we learned how to dance in two circles (an inner and an outer circle) that danced in two different directions! Then, we added instruments to play to the beat. They also practiced singing story songs like Little Bunny Foo Foo and A Peanut Sat on a Railroad Track. 1st & 2nd Grade: Students have been continuing to practice their rhythm skills using the Karate Drumming Coloring Sheets. They have also played games, including Rhythm Connect Four, Rhythm Jenga, Slahal, and BUSTED! Along the way, they also practiced singing songs like Che Che Koolay, Bee Bee Bumble Bee, and Take Me Out to the Ballgame. 3rd & 4th Grade: Students wrapped up their work on world music with the World Music Game Show. They also continued earning Recorder Karate belts by playing “Hot Cross Buns,” “Gently Sleep,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” and “It’s Raining.” To help them play the new notes E and D on the recorder, they also played the game Slahal. 4th & 5th Grade @ Chester: Students have been hard at work on their scenes for Finding Nemo. They have been doing an excellent job with the music and have much of the choreography down for the first half of the show. Next, they will be working getting off script for their lines and rehearsing the blocking for the second half of the show. 5th & 6th Grade: To help students in their songwriting process, they have been working building and playing chords using the Major & Minor Chords Worksheet. In addition, we explored how music can express feelings and emotion by playing the Musical Game of Feelings.
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PreK & Kindergarten: Our learning goal this trimester was to echo, read, and play basic rhythms patterns using percussion instruments and movement through body percussion. Students learned to sing the song Teddy Bear and came up with a dance to express the song through movement, and learned about how to read slow (quarter note) and fast (eighth note) rhythms, along with high notes (Sol) and low notes (Mi) using the song Frog in the Meadow. Finally, using a velcro board with rhythmic icons, students moved music notes around the board to create their own rhythms and melodies, and then played their compositions on resonator bells! In addition to this main learning goal, students also continued to practice their listening skills by listening to and identifying sounds. Listen to recordings of their repertoire here.
1st & 2nd Grade: Our learning goal this trimester was for students to practice identifying, composing, and playing music notation symbols, including quarter notes, quarter rests, and double eighth notes. As part of this objective, students composed their own 4-beat rhythm patterns and created their own body percussion compositions to interpret sound using hand clapping, knee slapping, and foot tapping. In addition, students learned to sing a variety of songs to sing as a class, including Candle in the Snow and Skinnamarink. Listen to recordings of 1st grade here. Listen to recordings of 2nd grade here. 3rd & 4th Grade: Our learning goals this trimester were 1) for students to be introduced to music from around the world, and 2) to learn the basics of playing the recorder. For world music, students heard music from various countries and practiced identifying them on a map of the world, including Mnohaya Lita (Ukraine), Al Citron (Mexico), Sakura Sakura (Japan), and Vem Kan Segla (Sweden and Norway). Students also learned about geographical and cultural instruments, including the sitar (India) and the santur (Iran). For the recorder, students played along to videos such as the pirate adventure to get used to identifying notes on the music staff and playing the notes B, A, and G, and then they moved to working from the Recorder Karate Book to earn White, Yellow, and Orange belts by playing “Hot Cross Buns,” “Gently Sleep,” and “Merrily We Roll Along.” 5th & 6th Grade: Our learning goals this trimester was for students to be able to compose their own musical ideas. To help them achieve this goal, students started by composing a contrafactum of The Skye Boat Song by writing new words to sing along with the original melody. Students also completed mini songwriting assignments, including the Hot Cross Buns Streetcry, the Gently Sleep Lullaby, and the Merrily We Roll Along Goodbye Song. In the next trimester, we will explore recording software to document and catalog their music. Access recordings of class performances:
Preschool & Kindergarten have been continuing to practice their listening skills by listening to and identifying sounds. They also learned about slow and fast rhythms and high notes (Sol) and low notes (Mi) using the song Frog in the Meadow. Using a velcro board, students moved frogs around the board and played the music on resonator bells! Students also practiced singing Love Grows. 1st & 2nd Grade have been practicing drawing quarter notes, quarter rests, and double eighth notes. Recently, they created 4-beat rhythm patterns. To embody the beat, they have also been practicing body percussion using videos like this and this. To help students feel the beat, they have also practiced saying and clapping iconic beats with Valentines Day Playalong. And finally, they started learning how to sing Skinnamarink. 3rd & 4th Grade have been listening to music from various parts of the world, including Mnohaya Lita (Ukraine), Al Citron (Mexico), Sakura Sakura (Japan), and Vem Kan Segla (Sweden and Norway). Finally, they have also been working on playing the recorder, using the notes B, A, and G. They have been playing along to videos like The Pirate Adventure, and using the Recorder Karate lesson book. 5th & 6th Grade have been working on writing their own lyrics as a contrafactum to The Sky Boat Song. To help them come up with lyric ideas (and to help them match correct pitches) they also worked on mini songwriting assignments, including the Hot Cross Buns Streetcry, the Gently Sleep Lullaby, and the Merrily We Roll Along Goodbye Song. And finally, at Chester Elementary, 4th and 5th graders have been continuing their work on the Finding Nemo musical, working on their ensemble and solo songs. Access recordings of class performances:
Preschool & Kindergarten students learned to sing the song Teddy Bear and came up with movements to express the song. They have also begun learning how to read music notation for fast and slow rhythms (eighth notes and quarter notes) by clapping and by using rhythm sticks. 1st & 2nd Grade students have been learning to sing Candle in the Snow, a song about helping others by being a light in the world. They have also been learning to read and draw basic music notation, including quarter notes and quarter rests. Next, they will be learning to read and draw double eighth notes, and then they will be ready to start composing their own rhythms in 4-beat patterns. 3rd & 4th Grade students have been learning music from other parts of the world, including Mnohaya Lita and Al Citron. They have also begun working on playing the recorder, which combines the skills of reading rhythms and identifying notes on the music staff, along with the fine motor skills of covering the correct combination of holes on the instrument while blowing gently into the mouthpiece. 5th & 6th Grade students have begun learning to sing two versions of The Skye Boat Song. Then, they used this song as a source to compose a contrafactum—writing new words to sing along with the original melody. They will use the skills they learned with this activity to begin composing their own music. Access recordings of class performances:
Kindergarten & PreSchool Our learning goal for this trimester was for students to sing songs from memory with a steady beat while demonstrating knowledge and skills of tempo and dynamics through sound and movement, while being safe, kind, and responsible. Instruments included the drum, tambourine, egg shaker, güiro, rhythm sticks, and glockenspiel. For example, when we learned the song “Old King Glory,” students explored singing and playing simple rhythmic instruments with various dynamics and tempos to interpret the music, while also engaging in physical movements to complement the rhythm. Students learned a variety of songs, including “Hop Old Squirrel,” “Here Sits a Monkey,” and “Pass the Pumpkin,” “This Little Light of Min (pre-k) and “Peace Like a River” (k). 1st & 2nd Grade Our learning goal for this trimester was for students to identify the four basic families of instruments and describe how each family creates sound. For Woodwind and Brass, students listened to samples of these instruments and practiced identifying them by sound and classifying each instrument by their family. Woodwind instruments included the recorder, flute, clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon. Brass instruments included the bugle, trumpet, trombone, euphonium, and tuba. For String and Percussion instruments, students had the opportunity to play these instruments for a hands-on learning experience. String instruments included the violin, cello, ukulele, guitar, and harp. Percussion instruments included the snare drum, bass drum, güiro, and glockenspiel. In addition, students learned a variety of songs, including “I Will Be Your Friend” (1st grade) and “It’s in Everyone of Us” (2nd grade). 3rd & 4th Grade Our learning goal for this trimester was for students to identify and describe music genres popular in the Western World, including classical, folk, blues, jazz, country, rock, and hip-hop. Students listened to a variety of music samples and practiced their communication skills by describing what they heard, helping them to build a vocabulary for describing the various characteristics of sound. In addition, students learned a variety of songs, including “This Land is Your land” (3rd grade) and “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” (4th grade) at the Harvest Celebration in November. 5th & 6th Grade Our learning goal for this trimester was for students to identify and describe basic elements of songwriting (verse, chorus, bridge, etc.). Students listened to a variety of music samples and practiced their listening and communication skills by identifying the various elements and patterns they discovered. Students also practiced playing chords on instruments, including the ukulele, guitar, keyboard, and glockenspiel. Students were given access sheet music and simple chord charts, and challenged to learn how to play chords on these instruments while singing. In addition, students learned a variety of songs, including “Leaves Are Falling” (5th grade) and “We Shall Overcome” (6th grade). Access recordings of class performances:
Preschool learned to sing This Little Light of Mine and Kindergarten learned to sing Peace Like a River. They learned to play a passing game called Pass the Pumpkin, where they also got to practice their ensemble skills by learning to play music on percussion instruments using a steady tempo and a soft dynamic. Along the way, we are also continuing to practice responding to music through movement with a weekly dance party! 1st Grade worked on singing Do Re Mi and I Will be Your Friend. They have also been exploring how instruments make sound through vibration, and how to classify musical instruments by their family. Along the way, we have also continued to practice responding to music through movement with a weekly dance party! 2nd Grade has been learning to sing It’s in Everyone of Us. They have also been exploring how instruments make sound through vibration, and how to classify musical instruments by their family. Along the way, we have also continued to practice responding to music through movement with a weekly dance party! 3rd Grade has been learning to sing This Land if Your Land. They have also continued to explore music genres, including Country, Rock, Jazz, Blues, Hip Hop, and Country, by sharing music that they enjoy with the class and classifying each sample by their genre. 4th Grade has been learning to sing Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. They have also continued to explore music genres, including Country, Rock, Jazz, Blues, Hip Hop, and Country, by sharing music that they enjoy with the class and classifying each sample by their genre. 5th Grade has been learning to sing Leave Are Falling. They’ve also been learning how to play chords on instruments, including the ukulele, keyboard, and guitar. And finally, we have been exploring how to practice music in a Music Studio, by being a respectful and responsible musician. 6th Grade has been learning to sing We Shall Overcome. They’ve also been learning how to play chords on instruments, including the ukulele, keyboard, and guitar. And finally, we have been exploring how to practice music in a Music Studio, by being a respectful and responsible musician. Access recordings of class performances:
Preschool and Kindergarten learned to sing Farmer’s Apple Tree and have practiced playing steady beats on various percussion instruments, including egg shakers, drums, tambourines, rhythm sticks, xylophones, and güiros. 1st & 2nd Grade recorded their rendition of Down by the Bay and started working on Do-Re-Mi. They’ve also been exploring how instruments make sound through vibration, and identifying instruments from the four instrument families: woodwind, brass, string, and percussion. 2nd Grade recorded their rendition of Catch a Falling Star and started working on Do-Re-Mi. They’ve also been exploring how instruments make sound through vibration, and identifying instruments from the four instrument families: woodwind, brass, string, and percussion. 3rd Grade recorded their rendition of Find Your Light and started working on Do-Re-Mi. They’ve also started exploring various genres of music by listening to samples of various styles, identifying what kind of music each sample represents, and describing the sound. So far, we’ve listened to examples of folk, hip hop, blues, jazz, rock, pop, country, and classical. 4th Grade recorded their rendition of When You’re Smiling and started working on Do-Re-Mi. They’ve also started exploring various genres of music by listening to samples of various styles, identifying what kind of music each sample represents, and describing the sound. So far, we’ve listened to examples of folk, hip hop, blues, jazz, rock, pop, country, and classical. 5th Grade recorded their rendition of What a Wonderful World and started working on Do-Re-Mi. They’ve also been learning how to play chords on instruments, including the ukulele and keyboard. They are working on being able to write their own songs, and being able to play chords on an instrument is an important skill for writing a melody. 6th Grade recorded their rendition of When I’m Gone and started working on Do-Re-Mi. They’ve also been learning how to play chords on instruments, including the ukulele and keyboard. They are working on being able to write their own songs, and being able to play chords on an instrument is an important skill for writing a melody. Welcome to a new school year in the music room! Here’s what students have been working on:
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Mr. Cain, M.Ed.
AuthorMr. Cain studied music education at UMASS Dartmouth and Westfield State College under the guidance of saxophonists Rick Britto and Ted Levine. Archives
April 2026
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