Hello all,

Letter M week was Musical, Marvelous, Magnificent, Miraculous, and Much easier to find adjectives for than some of our previous letters! Throughout the week, the students were immersed in different forms of music from all around the world. They met a musical guest and even made music and musical instruments themselves!  Read on below to learn about the fun and learning that took place!

On Monday and Tuesday morning, the students completed their letter M tracing and identification activity sheets. Some of the M words included: mailboxes, moons, monkeys, muffins, and more!  The teachers were very impressed with the quality of the students’ work. One after another, the students meticulously colored and completed their pictures then held up their work for the teachers to admire. Later in the day, the students created a letter M word list and went hunting for M’s around the classroom!  Here is the letter M list they came up with.

 

 

Also on Monday afternoon, the teachers introduced the students to music from Asia!  The students listened to both traditional and current music from countries such as Japan, China, India and Korea.  The students all commented that the traditional music sounded very different than music heard on the radio in the U.S. today.  The teachers mentioned that this mainly had to do with the different instruments used in these countries.  Watch below to see a girl playing a Gayageum, a Korean string instrument, to hear how different traditional Korean music sounds from American music today.  Do you remember the word for her beautiful Korean dress that a PPA Mommy taught us in our Korean Lesson during Letter K week?  (A hanbok!)

 

 

The students were so excited to hear music from other countries that sounded just like music they know!  Needless to say, the Indian “Bollywood” inspired dance party had the students really moving and grooving – particularly the “Jai Ho” song which was featured in the feature film Slumdog Millionaire!

During Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, the teachers switched continents as the students headed over to Europe as they listened to and learned about music from Germany, Ireland, along with others!  The students noted that some songs, particularly the Irish music by the group U2 sounded very familiar.  The German music on the other hand did not seem so familiar.  The teachers explained that this might be because of the language difference between English and German.

On Wednesday morning, the students began creating the first of three musical art projects for the week.  The students made their very own music notes!  One thing was for sure, these notes were jazzy and jeweled!  Seeing that the notes looked so beautiful, the teachers decided to put them into a new classroom bulletin board!  The final step of this project involved each student answering the question, “What is your favorite song?”  The answers ranged from preschool favorites including, “The ABC’s” and “The Farmer in the Dell” to more current hits including, “Baby” by Justin Bieber or “Rumour Has It” by Adele.  The bulletin board turned out great!

 

 

On Thursday, the students had a blast learning about the three different classifications (or groupings) of instruments.   The students discovered the first grouping was called WIND instruments.  This grouping of instruments contains any instrument that a musician blows into!  Can you think of any wind instruments?  (Here’s a hint – Think of an instrument that sounds like telephone! – Answer: Saxophone!)  The second grouping of instruments was called STRING instruments.  This grouping contains any instrument that has strings for a musician to pluck, strum, or bow.  Can you think of any string instruments?  (Here’s a hint – Think of an instrument that you play near your ear! – Answer: Violin!)  The final grouping was called PERCUSSION instruments.  This grouping of instruments contains any instrument that musicians have to bang!  Needless to say, the students LOVED this grouping!  Can you think of any percussion instruments?  (Here’s a hint – Which instrument comes in a set? – Answer: DRUMS!)

After that discussion, the students were so excited to learn that they would be creating their very own percussion instrument- a xylophone!  The first step was to decorate the xylophone body with some paint on a sponge!

 

 

Next, the students glued on the xylophone bars.

 

 

Finally, the students were ready to play!  🙂

 

 

After Spanish class on Thursday afternoon, the students were paid a visit by a musical PPA Daddy!  Can you guess which instrument grouping his guitar belongs to – Wind, String, or Percussion?  (Answer:  String!)  

 

 

The students were treated to some music from all over the world!  First, the students enjoyed listening to (and moving along with) Rhythm and Blues music which is popular in the southern part of the United States of America.  The PPA Daddy explained that what makes Rhythm and Blues music so special is that it blends together music from not just one place in the world but many!  The Rhythm and Blues music the students listened to below has hints of musical sounds from Africa, Spain, and the South-western part of the U.S.  Take a listen for yourself!

 

Photo Sharing – Video Sharing – Photo Printing 

The students were clearly feeling the rhythm as they could not help but get up and dance along with the music!  A special PPA Thank You to our musical guest for coming in and performing for us!

 

 

On Friday, the students created one of the most fun percussion instruments to play – the Maraca!  Hailing from Latin America, the maraca is also known as a rumba shaker.  The students all had a good giggle when they heard this and commented that it was so silly that their instruments shared a name with Rumba’s Cafe next door to school!   For their morning work, the students reused mini-water bottles as the shell of their maraca.  After selecting various beans, sparkles and gems, the students placed the pieces inside their bottle.

 

 

A label and a little glue on the lid and Voilá!

 

 

The students had created their maraca!

 

 

Friday afternoon wrapped up with Spanish class along with a technology presentation where the students listened to music from all over the world!  The students loved seeing people all over the world sing and dance to music as seen in this video from Greece!

 

 

Or this one from Ghana!

 

 

Or this one from Tahiti!

 

 

By far, the most enjoyable video that the students viewed was from Britain – actually, Britain’s Got Talent.  See why for yourself.  Enjoy, it is quite silly!  🙂

 

Well, that is all for “Letter M is for Multicultural Music Week”.  As always, thank you for reading.  Have a wonderful and safe weekend!

-PPA

REMINDERS:

2011-2012 Re-enrollment Contracts and Deposit are due back

before or by Wednesday, February 15th.

Next School Closing:

Monday, February 20th – Observation of Presidents’ Day

Theme for Next Week: