Concert Practice!!

Below - you will find links to some videos and music that students may find helpful as they prepare for the concert in January! DON'T FORGET JANUARY 7th 6:30pm at Scappoose High School (students arrive at 6:15pm)

K - Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Star Dance Music
1 - All Through the Night, Abiyoyo
2 - Mortimer (book reading - no at home practice) Doraji, (words here)
3 - Kings and Queens dance (Start at 0:47)
4 - Porquois
5 - Somewhere Out There Lyrics here
Music Club - Fireflies, (flashlight choreography here)

NOTE: If the link doesn't play in Google Drive - try downloading it onto your computer.

HAVE FUN!!!!!

Halloween Class

Edvard Grieg - Composer

There are tons of great songs for music classes at Halloween. You may have heard your students singing - "Pumpkin, pumpkin round and fat. Turned into a jock-o-lantern just like that!" We learned a fun game last week with that song.

This week we worked on rewriting rhyming lyrics to "Monster Stew". 

Monster stew. Monster stew.

What do you think a monster would chew?

Bat and a rat and a worn out tennis shoe.

That's what you put in monster stew!

One of my favorite rewrites from yesterday came from the 3rd grade class (pretty sure it was them!)

Monster stew. Monster stew.

What do you think a monster would chew?

Bones and clones and a ghost that says "Boo!"

That's what you put in monster stew! 

We also had a listening exercise with one of my favorite Halloween type songs. The students met composer Edvard Grieg (click here to meet him!). Grieg wrote the music for Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt which was written as a Norwegian fairy tale. "In The Hall of the Mountain King" is from the part of the play where Peer is dreaming and meets a troll king. 

We practiced our listening and observation skills with our first listening of the song. Then, we learned how to read a listening map. We talked about what a theme is and recognized how often the theme was played in the song. Students demonstrated by raising their hand when they heard the theme start over. You can see the listening map here.

This song is always exciting and popular. I had one Kindergarten student last year that constantly asked if we could listen to the "Troll Song". So if your student feels the same way - you can find the one we listened to in class here. Or if you want to mix it up a bit -- there is a dupstep version here! You can also watch a Lego orchestra playing it here.

Hope all your little ghosts and goblins have a safe and happy Halloween!

Music Class/Concert Date

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Music classes happen every Monday for students at Sauvie Island. I definitely look forward to spending my Mondays with your students! We have been working with different songs and activities on further developing our musical skills.

I work with all students on developing and using a beautiful singing voice and learning how to play instruments. Reading and writing music are very important as well. This last one seems to be a newer skill for the students and I look forward to their growth this year!

Kindergarten students have been learning the different voices they have. Ask them to demonstrate what their 4 voices are!

It occurred to me this week that we only have 7 classes before we perform for our concert!!! This is both exciting and terrifying for me. We do have our concert date:

THURSDAY JANUARY 7th 6:30pm

We have some cool things up our sleeves for the concert! Put it on your calendar and plan on joining us for an evening of musical fun!

Music Club!

I am so excited to work with the 6-8th grade Music Club students. We have about 30 students choosing to participate in Music Club this semester and we have lots of fun things planned.

As a class we brainstormed ideas for what we could do in Music Club this semester. Based on the brainstorm session, we will be doing 3 units this semester in preparation for our performance in January. The three units are:

                               * Found Instruments/Group Composition
                               * Choir
                               * Bucket Drumming

Students have one overarching semester-long homework assignment that they will turn in at the end of the semester. Their very own listening journal. As we meet only once a week and our time in extremely limited, this will be an assignment done outside of class.

Please feel free to email any questions - dpappas@sauvieislandacademy.org

Get the syllabus here

And the listening journal assignment, cover page, questions and THE LIST here.

Have fun with the music and let me know how it goes!

New Year! New School!

I am so excited to have the opportunity to work with the staff and students at Sauvie Island Academy!! We have met a couple of times for music class and I look forward to Mondays and the opportunity to sing and learn with the students.

This year, we will be focusing on learning musical skills disguised as fun songs and games. The last two weeks have focused on getting to know each other, learning what's expected in class and using our singing voices!

I thought it would be helpful to share a little about myself ---

Ms. D on the first day of school at SIA

My name is Danita Pappas (students call me Ms. D) and I am from Seaside, Oregon. This means I have an aversion to turning left in the summertime and appreciate a really good chowder (but my dad makes the best I've ever had!) I've traveled all over the world - I've kissed the Blarney Stone and zip-lined the cloud forest of Costa Rica. One of the craziest things I've done is travel to Thailand for 3 weeks by myself. I've had some great experiences and seen some beautiful places, but the most beautiful place I've seen so far is the Oregon Coast and the craziest (awesomest) thing I've done is become a music teacher.

I graduated from Portland State University with both my Bachelor in Music Education and my Masters in Education. I still have strong ties to the school and what is happening in our area for  music education. I consider myself a Kodaly inspired teacher and have received my Level 1 certification. I use folk songs, dances and games to teach musical concepts to students. All students have the ability to learn and demonstrate musical knowledge. All students can learn to use their singing voice and we will sing every time we meet for music!

I have worked the last three years as the sole music educator in a small town in Eastern Oregon. While there, I taught preK-12 music, art, yearbook, photography and pretty much anything else that came my way. I also taught private lessons and worked with other educators in the area to increase musical opportunities for our students.

I am dedicated to student learning and excited for the opportunities that surround us at SIA. I have some fun things planned for the year and look forward to what we will accomplish together this year!