The Lower School Choir had great fun performing Thankful for the USA in honor of the upcoming President's Day holiday. Their classmates also enjoyed being serenaded as they ate lunch in the Stulman. Today the Lower School Choir was proud to sing two songs honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The first song, "Free at Last," highlights the memorable words Dr. King spoke at the famous gathering in Washington, D.C. in 1965. The lower school also heard Lift Every Voice and Sing, a historic and beloved song in the Black community. For the first time since 2020, we participated in the candlelighting ceremony at the JCC Owings Mills by singing our favorite Chanukah songs. Everyone had a great time, especially our audience of JCC preschoolers. Our Lower School Choir couldn't start until late in the year, but nevertheless enjoyed the camaraderie that comes with singing together. We were able to perform songs at two different Ta'am Shabbats in front of the Lower School, We sampled many different songs at our rehearsals, and the one everyone seemed to love the most was One Day by Matisyahu, sung here. The second selection on our video, a Hebrew version of the iconic "Baby Shark," started out as an April Fools joke, but they loved the idea so much that we had to go for it. Purim songs are not just fun to sing, but fun to use with instruments as well. Below, the two third grade classes accompany "Chag Purim" by playing chords on classroom Chime Bars. They did this exercise quite well, considering they were just taught the chord pattern a few minutes earlier. Music teachers across the country have been enchanted by Encanto, Disney's latest animated feature, and have created play-along videos to go with many of the songs. Here, each fourth grade class demonstrates a different activity using our classroom rhythm instruments and tone bars. During our last music classes before winter break, grades 2,3 and 4 each enjoyed playing percussion instruments to famous pieces of instrumental music. Here is 2Y playing along to Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker. The bouncing bee in the video tells them when to play. In November, we did lots of activities to celebrate Thanksgiving. Here, our students in 1B are playing chime bars to accompany a song called, "Shoo Turkey."
While the pandemic didn't allow us to post much musically during the 20-21 school year, we were able to end the year with this highlight.. Our fourth grade really came through! |
Sara R. FuldI have been teaching lower school music at KSDS since the fall of 2004. I received a BA and MAT from Goucher College and have been certified by the State of Maryland to teach both Elementary Education and Music K-12. When I'm not teaching, you might see me running up Greenetree Road, biking through Stevenson, and sitting in the stands at Ravens and O's games. Archives
April 2023
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