April 2018
Dear Parents,
The Kindergarten class spent most of the month working on their spring performance. They especially loved learning, “We All Sing With the Same Voice,” “Waltzing Matilda,” “These Are the Colors We Know,” and “Over In the Mountain.” The “Continent Song” was learned in their classroom and they taught that song to me. Since their performance we have been reviewing note reading and playing their metallophones as well as some well deserved activities just for fun.
Now that spring is in full swing, we have switched our listening activities to sounds they may hear outside. We started with bird songs which have included the cardinal, robin, blue jay, Canada goose, meadow lark, chickadee, and downy woodpecker. The bird songs for the month have been, “The Robin Song,” “Two Little Blackbirds/Two Little Dickey Birds,” and “Kookaburra,” The bird songs were followed by frog sounds. They have listened to the green frog, the bull frog, the Pacific tree frog, and the Canyon frog. Our frog songs include, “Five Little Freckled Frogs,” “The Bullfrog,” and “Hear the Lively Song.”
We have used two musical storybooks this month, “Driving My Tractor,” and “Knick Knack Paddy Wack.” “Driving My Tractor” is especially popular with the Dogwood, Cedar, Birch kids. My arrival in the classroom is usually greeted with, “book, book.” Also in these classrooms I took out the jingle bells, shaker eggs, and rhythm sticks so we could play, “Old McDonald Had a Band.” The preschool classrooms have also been listening to sounds of various instruments and trying to identify the instrument and instrument family by listening only.
Movement activities this month have mostly been the choice of each class. Some of those activities have included, “The Wild, Running Horses,” “Bach Duet From Peasant Cantata,” “Mozart’s Children’s Symphony,” “Cumin’ Round the Mountain,” “This Train,” “Yankee Doodle Medley,” and “Humpty, Dumpty.”
It is hard to believe but we are coming down the final stretch of the school year. In the coming month we will be working on graduation for the preK and kindergarten classrooms. As always, I look forward to seeing you all at the picnic and hearing any comments you may have.
Ms. Kathleen