Music Lifts Us UP!

Music helps students to develop many important skills and traits. It really does lift us ‘UP’!

This month, the Toddlers have been singing and acting their ‘Hello Song’, and exploring the different musical instruments and sounds that they can create.

The younger children in Casa have especially enjoyed singing and playing songs like ‘Frog in the Meadow’; they have practised using their beautiful singing voices, and we have learned how we can use different instruments to make sound effects. The energetic Kindergarteners have been learning about ‘Steady Beat’ as we sing and move to a song, while students take turns to create a steady beat on rhythm sticks for the class to follow.

In Lower Elementary, the younger students have been creating a “storm soundscape”, based on a poem. They read the poem and highlight any words that for which they can produce sound effects. After creating sound effects with their voices and bodies, they will be exploring instruments that they can use to tell the story with sound. Grade Three students are learning about the elements of music. They are creating their own dictionaries to use in class, and will be writing their own pieces of music, featuring the different elements.

The Upper Elementary, the Grade Four students have been using Music as their Passport Around the World! They are currently exploring Mexico, and are learning the traditional Mexican folk dance, Los Machetes. Farmers would have used machetes for cutting down vegetation, but in class we are using rhythm sticks to mimic this movement. The Grade 5 students are currently doing a unit on Music and Film. They have been working in groups to design and create sound effects for different scenes from an old cartoon. Now they are working on syncing up their sound effects with the video, much like when silent movies had orchestras!

Music is an invaluable way to synthesize and apply so many skills and ideas from all aspects of study, and it lifts our learning – and our spirits – up with joy!