Miss Lenhart's Music Class
K-4 General Music | St. Joseph Elementary School | St. Joseph, Illinois
Miss Lenhart's Music Class
Peter Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet:
Recent Activities
For the past three years, St. Joseph Grade School Music program has been the grateful recipient of grant money from a sponsor from New York City. This money funds our unit of study on Peter Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet including the purchasing of tickets to see the live performance at the Krannert Center in Urbana as a culminating event of our study. This is a very unique and special musical opportunity for our students and we are very grateful that we are the recipients of such a wonderful gift.
During our unit of study, the students study the composer, the story, the ballet art form, the music, and the instruments of the orchestra. This is the first time that our 2nd grade students have explored the realm of the symphonic orchestra and the analysis of classical music. Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet is a fun and exciting way to introduce the students to the orchestra instruments and their repertoire for the first time.
A big thanks to Ann from the University of Illinois who came to St. Joe to give a harp presentation to all of the 2nd grade students on Monday, November 26th. The students were treated to some special performances by Ann, including a live performance of the Harp cadenza from the Nutcracker. The students also learned some interesting facts about this beautiful instrument. What an exciting opportunity for our students!
Dec. 1st Performance
This year's students have the opportunity to meet our sponsor after the performance on December 1st. After three years, she has decided she would like to fly down to attend the ballet with our students. As a result, this year's estimated return time has been changed in order to accommodate a short reception for the students following the ballet.
2nd Grade Curriculum:
Musical Experiences
The students as St. Joseph Grade school participate in an interactive and stimulating General Music curriculum that utilizes the Orff-Schulwerk approach. This approach encourages a learning atmosphere that is developmentally appropriate for the students as well as creates an interactive, creative, and engaging environment. This approach also led to the development of specialized melody instruments that are appropriate for the elementary-aged child to perform on. These melody instruments include: wooden xylophones, metal metallophones, and metal glockenspiels. When these instruments are played together in an ensemble, this helps the children become sensitive listeners and considerate participants.
A typical daily lesson consists of a variety of activities that reinforce the lesson’s primary musical objectives. These activities may include: movement/dance, songs/rhymes/poems/chants, singing games, or performance opportunities on either upitched percussion or melodic Orff instruments. Each activity is planned and developed in order to provide the students with several opportunities to experience the musical concept on a visual, aural, and kinesthetic level.
At the 2nd grade level the students focus on these primary musical objectives throughout the year:
♫ Solfege: Do, Re, Mi, Sol, La
♫ Rhythms: Quarter, Eighth, Half notes and rests
♫ Beat vs. Rhythm: Meters in 2 & 4
♫ Form: AB, ABA, Ostinato, Phrase
♫ Dynamics: Forte/Piano, Crescendo/Decrescendo
♫ Notation: reading and writing standard music notation
♫ Performing Technique: ensemble performances
♫ Melody/Harmony: by providing simple accompaniments for selves on Orff instruments
♫ Music Analysis
♫ Composition
♫ Orchestral Instruments
♫ Composer Biographies
♫ Unpitched Instrument Technique
♫ Pitched Instrument Technique
In addition to the typical daily lesson, the students at St. Joseph also participate in a variety of musical experiences throughout the year. This includes several specific units of study that culminate in either a student performance or the attendance of a performance.
Some of this year's experiences include:
♫ Peter Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet at Krannert Center, Urbana
♫ CUSO In-School Music Education Concert
♫ CUSO Youth Concert at Krannert Center, Urbana
♫ Thomas Metcalf "OrffCats" assembly
2nd
2nd
Harp Presentation
