Fun Websites for Kids!

http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/

http://www.scholastic.com/kids/stacks/games/

http://funschool.kaboose.com/index.html

http://www.funranch.com/games.htm


http://www.funbrain.com/

http://www.freerice.com/#/english-vocabulary/1403

http://disney.go.com/games/#/games/


http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/games/index.html

http://www.brainpop.com/


http://pbskids.org/games/index.html

6th Grade Band

Sixth graders have been learning about the instruments in the band!  Every year, 6th graders get to chose to be in band with Mrs. Long and Mr. Siasoco or in general music with Mrs. Kikoler.  Beginning band students can play flute, clarinet, trumpet, trombone or percussion.  During the next few weeks, every 6th grader will get to try each of these instruments and decide if they think band is right for them.

Here are some important dates for students interested in band:

September 1st and 8th - Mr. Siasoco and Mrs. Long will be available at Benton High School from 5-8 to answer question about band.

September 15th - Rental Night at Missouri Western State University at 6:00.  Reiman's Music will be available with rental instruments, supplies and books.

Information about band will be coming home soon!

Musical Mania!

Lake Music is going nutty for musicals!

As mentioned in the newsletter, 3rd-6th graders will have an opportunity to participate in an after school musical club - a first for Lake Contrary!  Students who participated in choir last year are welcome to join again without an audition.  New members will audition within the next few weeks.  Stay tuned for more information!

I also have some great news!  Music students at Lake will get to go on TWO music and theatre-related field trips this year!  4th-6th graders will go to the symphony on October 6th and K-3rd graders will go to see the Junie B. Jones Musical on April 27th!  On February 9th, the ENTIRE school will be going to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!  All of these performances are at the historic Missouri Theater in downtown St. Joseph. 

It's going to be a great year in music!

Coming Soon To a Backpack Near You!

Welcome back Lake Contrary!

There is so much going on in music at Lake.  I have posted a link to the Music Notes newsletter that will come home early next week.  Please review this and feel free to contact me with any questions.

It's going to be a fantastic year!!

Beauty & the Beast, Jr.

During summer school each year, St. Joseph students get the opportunity to participate in a musical.  This year, six students from Lake Contrary joined 36 others from across the district in Disney's Beauty & the Beast, Jr!  Students enrolled in summer school at Lake Contrary got to go see the final dress rehearsal on Thursday morning.

The performance was amazing - everyone did a fantastic job!  It is no easy task to prepare a musical in 16 days, but these students did it and they were awesome!

Click here to see our pictures on photobucket!

Way to Go!

I am so proud of the Lake Contrary Honor Choir for their awesome performance on Saturday!  It was an amazing day and their performance was stunning!  A big thank you to all of the awesome choir families that have been so supportive of choir!

More pictures will come soon!

Choir Rehearsal

Choir members -

We will have one last honor choir rehearsal on Friday until 6:00.  Please make sure that your music is memorized by this time.  If you need help or wish to stay before or after school to work with me, let me know!

You will get your t-shirts on Friday afternoon.

Some reminders for Saturday:

• Please don't wear your t-shirts to rehearsals - bring it with you to change into.   You don't want to be the kid with Ci-Ci's pizza sauce all over your new shirt.
• You need to be at Grace Evangelical between 8:30 and 9:00 on Saturday morning.
• The concert will start at 3:00 for your family and friends.
• I will bring some extra snacks that day - impress me with your memorization on Friday and I will take requests!
• You are representing Lake Contrary so that means that we are not going to be acting completely crazy.  Furthermore, this is the first time that Honor Choir is being held at this venue and we will want to go back!  If we don't do a good job, we will not be asked back and it is an amazing place for a concert.  Trust me, you don't want to do Honor Choir in a non-air-conditioned auditorium.
• Do your best and have a great day!

Rap a Tap Tap

5th Graders are learning about the book Rap a Tap Tap - Think of That! by Leo & Diane Dillon.  It is a book about the famous tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.  We will be learning more about Bill Robinson during class.  Here are two videos that we will be seeing.

Here is an article about Bill "Bojangles" Robinson on the American Tap Dance Foundation website.

Lake Music News

Check out the Upcoming Events & Reminders page for details on performances and events going on at Lake Contrary!

Music In Our Schools Month

March is Music In Our Schools Month (MIOSM)! In celebration of MIOSM, Lake students have been talking about why music matters. Here are some of the reasons that we think the study of music is important...

For more information about the importance of music education, check out the resources on the Childrens Music Workshop site or you can call me at the school and I would love to share all the reasons why music matters!

Happy MIOSM!

These are a few of my favorite links...

We have been using laptops a lot in music this year! 4th, 5th and 6th graders have used Finale to publish their compositions and students in 2nd-6th grades have been using different websites to review different concepts we have been learning about in music. 6th graders even used glogster to publish their composer reports!

You can find all of these sites and more in my pearltree below. A pearltree is a web of links. Click on "Composers", "Music Theory" or "Symphony Sites" to find the links.



Happy surfing!

Honor Choir Music

Choir Members:

Here are some examples of your music by other singers. Please, please, please practice your parts! You will have a much better experience on Saturday if you are prepared and part of that is memorizing your music.

Chariot's Comin'! (Swing Low, Sweet Chariot)
Traditional Spiritual
Adapted and arranged by Don Besig



Inscription of Hope
Z. Randall Stroope

About the text...

"The Holocaust is a stunning reminder of the tragic results of prejudice and hate toward other people. But it is also a reminder that hope held firm will eventually reign victorious over the greatest of odds. The following words were inscribed on the walls of a cellar in Cologne, Germany, where Jews were hiding from the Nazis during World War II. Hope was all they had to hold on to; hope was their only bridge to a brighter tomorrow." (taken from the octavo)



Oye la Musica (Hear the Music)
Jay Althouse

Pronunciation:

Oye la musica de la vida.
Oy-eh lah moo-see-kah deh lah vee-dah.
(Hear the music of life.)

Oye la vide en la cancion.
Oy-eh lah vee-dah ehn lah cahn-see-ohn.
(Hear the life in the song.)

Porque la musica es el ritmo,
Pour-kay lah moo-see-kah ehs ehl reet-moh,
(Because the music is rhythm,)

porque la musica es vida.
pour-kay lah moo-see-kah ehs vee-dah.
(because music is life.)



Polly Wolly Doodle
American Folk Song
Arranged by Brag Printz



Galop
Ken Berg



Fireflies
Words & Music by Adam Young (Owl City)
Arranged by Mark Brymer



Thank you to Mrs. Becerra for sharing these videos with me!

Lake Contrary Choir Rocks!

Congratulations to the 2011 Lake Contrary Choir! Members are:

Want to know how I made the name cloud? Click here to see my technology page.

The choir has been working hard at rehearsals every other Tuesday. They have recently begun to rehearse until 6:00 to get ready for the St. Joseph School District Elementary Honor Choir. Anna, Austin, Brooklyn, Calen, Gracie, Jacob, Kaden, Katie, Kyle, Montana and Timaree will be representing Lake Contrary! They will be part of 180-member group that will rehearse together on Saturday, April 9th. Their concert will be the same day at 3:00. Mark your calendars! This is a don't miss concert!

Who/What: St. Joseph School District Elementary Honor Choir Concert
When: 3:00pm
Where: Grace Evangelical Church

Hope to see everyone there!

Welcome!

Hello world and welcome to the first ever Lake Music blog!

Right now, I am still going to be changing and adding A LOT of stuff, so please come back soon!