Songs for Scott Elementary

November 17th

2009-11-13T23:10:00.002-06:00

Second Grade students will perform two concerts of their musical "The Box." The first at 2:00 PM and the second at 7:00 PM at the Belton High School Forum. They will be wearing their matching shirts, blue jeans and tennis shoes. They will be given their shirts at school on Tuesday and will wear them home for the performance that evening.

Welcome Back!

2009-09-08T13:23:00.002-05:00

The new school year has begun and we are looking forward to all of the great things we are going to learn this year. A lot of activities are scheduled and great learning will be taking place. September is one of my favorite months because it is the longest stretch of uninterrupted learning time. After labor day the next break will be for parent-teacher conferences in October, so this is when routines become solid and real learning takes place.

Be sure to check out the great links to the right of this post. There are some just for fun and some that are very good at reinforcing our learning.

Subscribe! If you want to keep up on what is happening in music, but don't want to come by all the time, simply subscribe and you will be notified when I post new information. It's the easiest way to stay informed of what is happening in class. I hope everyone is ready for a great school year! - Mrs. Frank

Music Learning Games

2009-04-03T11:29:00.002-05:00

The computer lab is a fun place for students to explore music. Many students have asked how they could play these games at home. Easy as pie! Just click on the scott music sites line to the right of this post and you will be taken to a place called trackstar. I have created this trackstar so that students can go to the nine sites listed without searching and accidentally ending up on a site that is not OK for children. Students can safely play the many games that are located at each site and the best part...THEY'RE LEARNING!!!

It's Recorder Time

2009-02-04T11:33:00.003-06:00

Fourth Grade Students and the Third Graders in Ms. Zismer's class will be learning to play recorders beginning in March. Each student is welcome to borrow a recorder from the school, however, you may also purchase one through the school at the great price of $5. This includes a storage bag, cleaning rod, neck strap and grease. We will be following the "Recorder Karate" program which will allow students to earn belts for their recorder by passing recorder tests. It is a fun challenge that allows everyone a chance to succeed at playing this simple and enjoyable instrument.

Lessons on the recorder help the students master the treble clef and fourth grade rhythms along with learning folk songs that align with the Missouri Grade Level Expectations.

2nd Grade Program Coming

2009-02-04T11:31:00.002-06:00

Second Grade students will be performing their program "Make a Difference" on the Forum Stage (at the high school) on March 26, 2009 at 7pm. We ask that the students meet at 6:45pm. The students will be wearing matching t-shirts that were provided by the Scott Elementary PTA.

3rd Graders Reschedule Symphony

2009-02-04T11:27:00.003-06:00

The Kansas City Symphony kindly allowed us to reschedule the trip, which took place on Tuesday, February 3. The students were all dressed up and seemed to enjoy the show. The students will have a chance to express their feelings about the concert and discuss what they have learned through this experience. It should be interesting to see what they thought.

Staff Holiday Party

2008-12-16T22:12:00.004-06:00

It has been a fifteen year (or more) tradition here at Scott elementary for the teachers to give white elephant gifts at the annual holiday staff party. One special gift has been a big part of the annual tradition - the "Christmas Iguana." I was honored to receive this special present and wanted everyone to know how proud I am to share this honor in the tradition of many teachers before me and have displayed the Iguana for all to see. It is very fun to work at Scott Elementary!

Center Time Has Begun!

2008-12-10T11:10:00.003-06:00

All students in Kindergarten through third grade have begun using learning centers. The centers are listed below:

Groovy Shapes - Create music and explore instrument sounds on the computer
Coloring (Kindergarten and 1st Grade)
Music Note Worksheet (2nd and 3rd Grades)
Lego's - Students may create anything as long as it is a pattern
Music Ace - Learn the basics of music theory through a fun computer game
Reading - Students may look at any of over 30 books that are illustrated songs or stories about instruments and composers
Keyboard - Experience high and low sounds and a wide variety of accompaniments while exploring in our piano keyboard center.
ABC Cards - Practice the ABC's of music through simple games (K and 1st)
Drums - Work as a team to read and play using rhythm cards (2nd and 3rd)

The students go to each center with their team of three or four and will rotate to a different station each time they come to class, so that they can experience each concept with their team. After everyone has experienced the center, the centers will be expanded or changed so that there is always something new to learn or explore.

Ask your young musician which stations they have done in class and share what they have learned. We can always use feedback to help us improve our centers and to make this time the best learning experience possible.

Congratulations!!!

2008-11-22T12:38:00.002-06:00

I would like to applaud the efforts of our students that participated in the performance on November 20. I am so proud of them! Check back in the next week for pictures.

Catching Up

2008-11-10T19:38:00.003-06:00

It's been a while. I am not living up to my once a week goal and am trying to catch up a little. There are lots of things going on...Fourth Grade, Ms. Zismer and Mr. Broadway's classes are gearing up for their show next week. All other classes are focusing on teamwork to prepare them to work at learning centers. More on that next time.

Fourth Grade Post #2

2008-10-02T18:10:00.003-05:00

We are continuing to prepare for our performance in November. We have completed auditions for speaking parts, soloists and dancers. We will be working on pantomimes this week and then will really start putting everything together.

Be thinking about what to wear. Students are asked to dress like whatever occupation they would like to do when they grow up. Hope to see everyone at the Forum at 7pm on November 20!!!

Kindergarten

2008-09-28T20:41:00.004-05:00

In Kindergarten we have a basic routine that we follow for every music class. We come in, get carpet squares and settle into our spots. Once everyone is settled we do our song of the month and a silly song or two to get the wiggles out.

Once the wiggles seem to be out we have story time. Story time consists of a song that has been made into a book. We have already had nine classes and have done everything from "The Star-Spangled Banner" to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

We then go into working with A-B-C cards to improve our skills with manipulating the musical alphabet. Ask your student about the games fat snake, pick-a-card, and fine (pronounced fih-neh).

Finally, to support the regular classroom, we "Rock Around the Alphabet" and sing songs that emphasize whatever letter they are studying that week in class. Overall, the goal in Kindergarten is to get the basics for literacy through music the letters A-H and marching, playing instruments, counting and anything else we can do to solidify a steady beat.

Tune in at the end of October for information about upcoming music learning centers for Kindergarten.

First Grade

2008-09-21T21:15:00.002-05:00

First grade students have been working on keeping a steady beat and high and low sounds. We used the nursery rhyme "Hickory Dickory Dock" last week to keep a steady beat, use our high and low voice and play glissandos on the xylophones. We had three parts going at the same time and students were really excited. We also sing a new story every week to promote fun songs and literacy. Last week's book was "Do Your Ears Hang Low?"

Talk Like a Pirate Day

2008-09-20T22:55:00.004-05:00

Friday was international "Talk Like a Pirate Day." In honor of this day, we sang the "Talk Like a Pirate Day Song" in all of the K-3 classes last week. Some students asked for copies and I told them that if they follow the Music K-8 link, they can purchase the song for $.99 This is not something we offer to make money for Scott Elementary. It is just a fun option for students to have copies of songs that we do in class. Most of the songs from our November 20 performance can be found there as well as our "Whacky Birthday Song."

World Music Festival

2008-09-18T11:58:00.002-05:00

The Longview Art and World Music Festival will light up southern Jackson County October 3-5 with art, food, music, crafts, and activities for all ages. The Festival will be held in the New Longview area and at MCC-Longview, 3rd Street and View High Drive, Lee’s Summit, Mo. Come and enjoy a juried art fair; desserts; Greek, Latin, Jamaican, Americandishes; international music and dance performances; kids activities; international marketplace; Last Chance Tours of historic Longview Farm;and much, much more!

Visit lawmf.net for more information and a scheduleof events and attractions.More complete details are available in the attached article and eventflyer.We believe the experiences the festival offers are wonderful ways toenrich children's and adults' knowledge of the art, music, food, andculture around them.We look forward to seeing you and your students there!

I received this information today and think it would be a wonderful event for the family. It is a good way to enjoy and learn about a wide variety of music and cultural traditions.

Second Grade

2008-09-13T21:41:00.002-05:00

Second Grade students are working on rhythms and notes to help them with the basics of reading and writing music. By the end of September they should be able to to read and write three pitches and three types of notes. We are playing games, working together and singing songs that help us improve these skills.

Third Grade Confusion

2008-09-08T10:10:00.003-05:00

I forgot to mention that the third graders in Ms. Zismer's class will be performing at the November 20 performance. I am so used to including them with the fourth graders in the class. I apologize for any confusion this might have caused.

To sum up...3rd and 4th grade students in Ms. Zismer's, Ms. Griffith's, Ms. Helfrich's, and Mr. Broadway's classes will all participate in the November 20th performance at the high school forum.

Monthly Songs

2008-09-07T22:23:00.000-05:00

Every class has been working on "The Star Spangled Banner" since the beginning of school. This is our song of the month for September (and a little bit of August). We also sing the "Whacky Birthday Song" each month to honor those having a birthday. These Scott traditions were started by Ms. Cook and I chose to continue the tradition with her permission. The students seem to enjoy having the familiarity and were very helpful at teaching me the motions to the "Whacky Birthday Song." These songs can be downloaded from the music K8 kids website for $.99 in an mp3 format for anyone interested in a copy.

Program in November

2008-09-01T23:22:00.000-05:00

Mr. Broadway's Class and the fourth grade classes are working hard to get ready for their big performance at the High School Forum at 7 pm on November 20. Notes went home on Friday and are due back September 5 (this Friday). Students are starting to think about what they want to be when they grow up and are supposed to find an outfit to wear that goes with this dream. I am looking forward to see a wide variety of "professionals" at our performance.

Welcome!

2008-09-01T23:16:00.001-05:00

Thank you so much for checking out the new music website for Scott Elementary. I hope the links will help students enhance their music skills and that parents will stop by regularly to keep up on the latest things we have been working on in music class.