General Information
Week 5 of class is now complete! This week was a fairly normal week for A Band. I was finally able to learn more about the band competition for A Band, more information is in your section. In 4th and 5th grade we started a new unit inspired by world events. Since this is an Olympic year, I created a unit based around the Olympics for the students to participate in throughout the month of February. I am really excited to try this out with them this year!
Announcement: A Band Parents: please read your section below about what is new regarding the band competition
Advanced Band
This week we continued to work on Epic Venture and Africa. I also made the decision to bring back Down to the River to be the other piece performed with Epic Venture in April.
Last week, a form informing you about the opportunity for our band to perform in a music competition went out. A lot of you communicated any potential conflicts and I greatly appreciated that. I was finally able to get a hold of the people hosting the event and discovered that the date we originally had was wrong. The date is actually April 17th, which is a Friday. Due to 8th grade being gone on their DC trip, we are unable to attend this event; however, I was able to come up with an alternative. Instead of us going to a competition, I am essentially bringing it to us. Two of my college professors will be coming to the school to judge the students on their performance just like they would at a competition. The advantage of doing it this way is, they will then have the opportunity to workshop with the band after and help them grow even more. While I am sad we cannot attend a formal competition this year, I am very excited to still give the students this opportunity! It will be during our normal class time and I will send out that date as soon as I can confirm it with my professors. Attendance will still be mandatory.
Selections from the Sound of Music is planned to go out on Monday for Grandparents Day. If this is not something we can learn fast enough, Epic Venture is the back up plan.
4/5 Grade Band
Please make sure your students have their instruments and books for class!! Everything we are doing in class this semester requires them to have an instrument everyday of class.
Band Olympics: This is a new unit idea for me, but I am very excited to try it. Each class has been divided into teams of 3 or 4 with a mix of instruments represented in each group. In class this month we will do various activities themed around Olympic events to compete for “medals”. I will be keeping track of all the medals each team earns on the bulletin board. I am hoping this will be a fun competition between everyone and that it connects them more to worldwide events.
5th Grade: This week we established our teams, gave them names, and created their flags for the bulletin board. We also had sectionals in our combined class. Sectionals are a great way for students to help other students learn. They give them the chance to give pointers and learn at the same time.
4th Grade: This week we established our teams, gave them names, and created their flags for the bulletin board. They also did their play check on No. 18 from the Red book. We also had sectionals in our combined class. Sectionals are a great way for students to help other students learn. They give them the chance to give pointers and learn at the same time.
Upcoming Events
MARCH 8TH AT 9:30 AM- BOTH GROUPS- PERFORM DURING SUNDAY SCHOOL AT HOPE LUTHERAN
MARCH 13TH AT 9:00 AM- BOTH GROUPS- GRANDPARENTS DAY PERFORMANCE
APRIL TBD- BAND COMPETITION AT SCHOOL DURING CLASS
MAY 3RD AT 10:30AM- A BAND ONLY- PRELUDE FOR THE CHURCH SERVICE
MAY 19TH AT 6:30PM- BOTH GROUPS- FINE ART NIGHT PERFORMANCE