From Grade 1 to Grade 8, Music class is off to a great start this school year. Grade 1 students are learning the vocabulary to describe music; for example “forte” means loud and “piano” means soft. One game these students played was to sort pictures into forte and piano, based on what they thought the item in the picture would sound like. For example, a butterfly would be put in the “piano” pile, and a gorilla in the “forte” pile. Of course, they needed to act out all of the pictures to see which category they would choose!
Meanwhile, students in Grade 8 are fully immersed into the Ukulele Tribe. Using the music theory they’ve learned in previous Music classes at McGuffey, this largely student-driven class is about applying that information. Small motor skills are enriched through ukulele play as well as intonation skills as they learn to tune their instruments. The Ukulele Tribe also derives great joy out of “birthday-bombing” staff members with a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” using ukuleles and kazoos… ideally right in the middle of a class so the teacher is the most surprised. Today was our founder Janet’s turn to be birthday-bombed!
