Bye Vowles

The awards assembly is past and we are winding down for the summer. Tomorrow, (Wednesday) the students will all meet at the flagpole to sing and be dismissed. Thank you Vowles Friends for an incredible 27 years. I will miss you all. See you on the river, I'll be the one in the kayak.

Almost Finished

One more busy week of school left for this year! The Louisell Family Band will perform today at 2:30 for the BEST celebration. This is my gift to the students. Perhaps you have heard, I'm planning to retire at the end of next week. I want to thank you for your kindness and support over the years. I've taught music in the Mt. Pleasant Schools for 28 years after teaching 2 years elsewhere. Twenty-seven of those years have been at Vowles. I will miss you all, but I'm excited to be following new opportunities. My successor will be lucky to work with such fine students and their families.

Fantastic Friday!

Great job Vowles Students! I enjoyed the repeat performance very much! I am so proud of all of you! Thank you too, to our guests. It wouldn't be much fun to perform without an audience and you were great. We had an overflow crowd both days. Sorry it was so warm, but we all appreciate your support. Thanks also to the Vowles Staff for all of their help with schedule changes, 'people moving,' supplying props and all of the other jobs that needed to be done. I couldn't wish to work with more wonderful people! I hope all of you had a relaxing weekend!

Performance Time!!

Thursday's performance was outstanding! Way to go students! Friday (today) we'll do it once more. I'm really looking forward to seeing it again! VIP events start at 2:00.

Almost Performance Time!

We're almost there! Our performance primarily for parents is tomorrow! Join us at 2:30 PM. Friday, VIP/Grandparents' Day activities begin at 2:00 with the musical performance at 2:45. We have been practicing on the risers this week. Tomorrow morning we finally will hear the fine piano accompaniment to put it all together. I hope to see you at one of the performances!

Review, Review

Students are still preparing for next week's performances, yes, next week! I hope to see you there. We have been singing this week to the baritone ukulele and guitar. Younger students have had a chance to try these. Ask your children how many strings each of the instruments have. Students have also been practicing using their 'inner hearing' as a stop sign is presented in the middle of a song as a signal for them to sing silently, then a go sign is shown and all students should be able to begin singing again at the same point in the song. This can be quite a challenge! This month's Vowles Best celebration will feature the Louisell Family Band on May 30 at 2:30. Stop by and hear the music.

Did You Save the Date?

We are in full swing in preparation for our spring programs. I hope you have saved the dates, May 24 at 2:30 PM primarily for parents and May 25 at 2:00 for VIP/Grandparents' Day. We are getting excited about these performances! Assessments continue and it's hard to believe that report cards and the end of the year will be here so soon. To keep things a little more interesting, some assessments use the opportunity to sing into a microphone. This week also includes a review of orchestra instruments with 'Music Instrument Bingo' for 1-4 graders. Ask your children about their favorite instruments. Kindergartners are playing some rhythm instruments and still practicing keeping a steady beat.

Program Prep and Composers

This week we are making sure that our program songs are memorized. (Parent Program March 24 at 2:30 PM, other guests Friday, March 25 classroom visitation at 2:00, music program at 2:45 PM.) We are beginning to work on logistics as well. Assessments for the last report card will begin this week also. One of the first grade classes had a special guest. Mr. Louisell visited to show them a banjo. They were reading a book about a frog with a banjo and made the invitation to him. Other classes have been singing along with an autoharp. Mrs. Louisell has one that has 21 chords. It's a little different than our Vowles instruments with 15 chords. Ask your children about our stretching routine. This week the music is Hungarian Rhapsody number 3 by Brahms. He is the last of the composers on our 'wall of fame' to be heard. We have already stretched to music by: Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Saint-Saiens.

Extra for the Weekend!

The Shepherd Maple Syrup Festival takes place this weekend. Saturday there will be a concert performed by the Central Michigan Area Concert Band at 6:30 PM in the Shepherd High School Auditorium. Mrs. Louisell and Mrs. Hofmeister play in this band. Check out this concert which features favorites like "Highlights from West Side Story," "The Stars and Stripes Forever," "Overture for Band," and "Peanut Vendor" as well as newer pieces like "Silver Quill March" and "Variations on the Kitchen Sink." (Yes, there is a kitchen sink played in that song.) The concert will last around an hour and is great way to spend part of your evening. Also, watch for Mrs. Louisell in the Central Michigan Strollers in the parade on Sunday. The Strollers will be the band wearing red shirts and riding on a trailer.

Music Program Presented May 24 & 25

We are working toward our spring performances! Parents are invited to share the performance on May 24 at 2:30 PM. Grandparents and other VIPs are invited for an afternoon visitation to Vowles School Friday, May 25 beginning at 2:00 PM with the musical performance scheduled for 2:45 PM. Save the date and join us! The third and fourth graders have been busy with some 'acting' to go with one of their songs. They will also have a chance to experience the poetry and music of Saint-Saiens and his Carnival of the Animals." Kindergartners are also having an experience in acting. First and Second graders have been using chords to accompany one of their songs. They used both boomwackers and xylophones to make the chords. Ask them about I and V chords. Selected students are looking forward to drumming this afternoon in the Vowles BEST celebration.

Thursday's District Event

Tomorrow the Mt. Pleasant Schools Foundation is holding an "Inspire" event at the high school from 6:00-8:00 PM. Come and see what types of things are being offered in the Mt. Pleasant Schools. Vowles and Ganiard music will host a table full of instruments to try as well as show videos of performances. I hope you can join us there. In music class we have finished our peek at the brass instruments. We are beginning to polish songs for our May performances. Save the date: May 24 for parents, May 25 for other guests. Both during school in the afternoon. We are also beginning the last round of assessments. These include rhythm patterning (and writing) and singing in a group.

Save the Date

I hope everyone had a great spring break. (I spent mine resting, playing music and visiting family.) This week we are tying up all the loose ends from March. A few classes are finishing the stories with sound effects. Others are practicing writing rhythms with craft sticks. All students will get a chance to see brass instruments this week. I will be demonstrating the bugle, trumpet, trombone and sousaphone. Ask your children how these instruments change pitches. We will be choosing songs and begin practicing for our spring concerts soon. These are opportunities for us to share a little bit of what we have done this year. Save the date! Parents will be invited to see us perform during the afternoon of May 24. Grandparents and other VIP guests will be invited the afternoon of May 25. I hope you will be able to attend and support your children as performers.

March is Much

We are winding down Music in Our Schools Month and Reading Month by combining the two in our activities. By the end of the week all students should have had a chance to hear one of two fables, "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" or "How the Camel Got His Hump." These fables have key words where a musical instrument is played and also have a short song that goes with them. The song is accompanied by our xylophones and glockenspiels. It is difficult to listen carefully enough to not miss an opportunity to play! (Ask your children about the vibraslap, gong, casaba, guiro, bell tree, claves or ocean drum.)
First and second graders have also enjoyed the story of "Peter and the Wolf" with some acting and a video as well as a book. Third and fourth graders will be hearing "The Carnival of the Animals." Spring break is close. Please have a safe and happy week off!

Nice Job, Fourth Graders!

Monday evening's Peacemaking Awards Ceremony featured many of Vowles fourth graders along with students from Ganiard and Fancher. They sounded great! Good job students! There was not a time when the students could all rehearse together, so they sang together for the absolute first time at the ceremony. Thanks so much to all who participated! You were wonderful!

Reminder for Fourth Graders

Today is the day! This is a reminder that the Vowles fourth grade students have been invited to perform two songs at the Peacemaking Award Ceremony. The ceremony will take place Monday, March 26, 2012 at 6:00 PM. It will be held at the Mt. Pleasant High School Gym. Students are asked to meet at the gym at 5:40 PM. They will be dismissed to meet parents as soon as their songs are finished. Please plan to meet your student in the gym hallway if you will be leaving, or meet your student to sit with you until the ceremony is finished. We are looking forward to this exciting opportunity.

Music and Reading

March is a busy month for us. We are celebrating Music in Our Schools Month and Reading Month together. We had our assembly last week for the Concert in MIOSM. The fourth graders are preparing for a performance at the Peacemaking Awards. Third graders are working on recorders. Younger students are having a chance to sing songs that are books and also add sound effects and songs to stories. Ask your child which stories they have used in music class.

Attention Fourth Grade Families

Our now famous fourth graders have been invited to sing at the Mt. Pleasant Public Schools Peacemaking Awards Ceremony. The event is March 26 at 6:00 PM in the High School Gym. Students need to arrive by 5:40. They will be dismissed to families immediately after their performance. Vowles students will be singing with students from Fancher and Ganiard. I hope you can attend.

We Did It!

The Vowles students gathered in the gym last Thursday to watch and sing along with the "Concert for Music in Our Schools Month." Since our fourth graders appeared during the National Anthem (I might add that they were the first school featured. How cool is that?) the students remained respectful and sang well. Our cheering was saved for the rolling of the credits. We do love seeing the words, "Vowles Elementary School" on the screen. We have already received our certificate of participation. It is framed and ready to be added to our 'wall of fame.' Stop by and see it in the music room. We have concert certificates dating from 1999 and National Anthem Project certificates from the beginning of the project in 2005. Way to go students!

It's Music in Our Schools Month!

Our Vowles celebration of the Concert for Music in Our Schools month will take place on March 8. Students will gather in the gym for the sing-a-long assembly. Vowles parents are welcome to come and sing with us if you like, or you can enjoy the concert from your own home as well. The concert is posted on the district web page AND will be shown each day in March on the district TV cable channel 98 at 1:00 PM and 6:30 PM. Happy Music in Our Schools Month! Remember,
"Music lasts a lifetime!"

Short but Busy

Hello,
Welcome to our very short week. Third and Fourth graders are still working on recorder songs. First and second graders had a chance to work on beat and patterning with an egg shaker passing game. Ask your student if they can show you the pattern to 'shake, shake, pass.' Kindergarten students began exploring tempi by walking different speeds, trying to find their own natural speed and then trying to identify who was walking the speed that matched the music from the piano. This appeared to be a tough task. We'll work more on it through the end of the year. A snow day and parent/teacher conferences cut our time a little short. I was happy to meet a few of you during conferences. I am looking forward to the Vowles BEST celebration that had to be postponed from Wednesday. Twenty-three students of all ages have signed up to come to the music room for a session of drumming. Next week, we will all get to try a snare drum as well. We will be including activities that refer to stories as we enter March for reading month. March is also Music in Our Schools Month which features the concert from the National Association for Music Education with our fourth graders. If you can't wait to see it, check it out on the district web page. You can view it (and sing along) from there.

Scales, Rhythms, Recorders and a Concert

Good morning! The third and fourth graders have been moving very quickly with their recorder playing. All students should now be able to play at least one song. The fourth graders have already begun to work on their recorder piece for VIP day. (Save the date, May 24 for parents, May 25 for other special guests.) When we are confident with playing, the recorders will be put aside for a while so we can concentrate on other activities as well.
Younger students have been exploring the major scale with hand signs, walking the scale (moving from a rubber dot signifying low do to other scale steps) and playing boomwackers. They are also building rhythm patterns by placing classmates as human notes. A child standing straight and alone is a quarter note. Two children holding on to hands or shoulders are eighth notes and a child alone kneeling on the floor is a quarter rest. Their patterns are very creative! Younger students are also having a chance to explore dynamic changes (quiet and loud) with games of ‘Lucy Locket.’
We are all looking forward to our ‘Concert for Music in our Schools Month’ assembly on March 8, 2012. Watch for the broadcast of the sing-a-long concert from the Association for Music Education, with our own fourth graders, on the Mt. Pleasant Schools channel 98 during the month of March.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

The National Association for Music Education has put out a press release about this year's Concert for Music in Our Schools Month (formerly the World's Largest Concert.) It's official! The Vowles fourth graders are on the show! Vowles is the ONLY school representing Michigan this year. Congratulations students! The Concert is available for purchase on DVD or mp4 download. It will also be shown during the month of March on the Mt. Pleasant Schools cable channel 98. You can read the press release at: http://www.menc.org/news/view/press-release-student-voices-from-around-the-globe-join-together-in-the-inaugural-concert-for-music/

Paddle Drums, Boomwackers and Recorders Oh My!

Good morning! Thank you to everyone who sent Valentine’s Day greetings! Fortunately, assessments were finished before the holiday. We have spent a lot of time playing paddle drums, boomwackers and recorders in the last week. Paddle drums and boomwackers are among the newest instruments in the school music scene. Paddle drums are drum heads in a frame that looks very much like a small tennis racquet. They are held by a foam covered handle and played either with the hand or mallets. We choose mallets for the assessment activities. Boomwackers are brightly colored lengths of 2” lightweight plastic pipe. Each length makes a different sound as the pipes are tapped on the floor or other hard object. We did some scale activities with these as well as some beat keeping. Third and fourth graders have begun to play the recorders. Vowles School owns enough recorders for each student to have their own to play. These are washed after each use. Germs are one thing we try not to share in the music room.

Grading and the PTO Auction

Good Morning!
This week we are in the middle of assessments for the next report cards. Amazingly, that time is quickly approaching. Students will be marked on "playing instruments." This will be either keeping a steady beat or maintaining a pattern, depending on the grade level. Students have been playing our new paddle drums for this portion of the assessment. We are also starting to learn some of the music for this year's World's Largest Concert. The WLC has been renamed this year. It's now "Concert for Music in our Schools Month." This year Vowles own fourth graders will appear on the broadcast. They will be featured during the singing of the National Anthem. Watch for the concert in your own home on the Mt. Pleasant Schools' cable channel during the month of March.
Don't forget the PTO silent auction on Feb. 9! There are many exciting items up for bid. I'm looking forward to having lunch with 4 Vowles students. They will be able to bring their lunches to the music room. I'll bring some brownies and we'll enjoy a nice visit.

Rhythm, Rhythm

Good morning! This week we finished looking at the clarinet and are moving forward to some classroom instruments played by the students. With report cards coming soon, the next couple of weeks will have some assessment of how students are able to use these instruments. Lower el students will demonstrate their ability to keep a beat, while upper el students will be patterning. We will be using drums, xylophones and rhythm instruments in these assessments. Younger students will begin by building a 'musical piece' from nursery rhymes. Second graders are preparing for their celebration of the Chinese New Year, so we tried some traditional movements with ribbon sticks to some traditional Chinese music. Watch for a few students to showcase this activity in the parade on Friday morning.

We're Back - Again

Good morning! Ah, a bright new week! Of course there was the slow start with a snow day, but we're working in music to get things back on track. All classes will be seeing a demonstration of the clarinet this week (that's the instrument that I play in the Central Michigan Area Concert Band. Watch for our concerts.) We will also be wrapping up some note reading practice with Rhythm Bingo. I was able to see some terrific sessions at the Michigan Music Conference, focusing on the latest in Orff, Kodaly and Delcroze. These are all different approaches to teaching music. I tend to choose portions of each method to use at Vowles in hopes of reaching each child with something that is in their own style of learning. New ideas will be sneaking into music classes soon. Oh, and ask your child about the picture of the contra-bass flute. (It's a most unusual instrument that I had a chance to try at the conference.)

Strange Week

Wow! What a week we've had! First the school closing for health issues, then a snow day. It seems like since a long time since I've seen the students! Elementary music teachers had a good professional development day on Monday. We now have many new resources to use. Today, the classes will try to tie up some loose ends from last week. I will be out of school Thursday and Friday to attend the Michigan Music Conference. I'm looking forward to seeing the latest in music education and learning new things for the students to do. I'm also looking forward to a 'normal' week next week. Enjoy yours!

We're Back!

We're back in full swing! I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and break. The first day back was a little chilly at Vowles, so we 'stepped up' into some play party games. Play parties are an American tradition from the mid 1800's. They were used during the time of western expansion to allow children to have a socially acceptable manner of meeting other people. Play party games usually involve partners (and changing them often) and often include beginning folk dance steps of the time. Fourth Graders played, "The Happy Miller." Kindergartners and First Graders played different variations of, "Naughty Kitty Cat." Ask your children how the games are played.
This week we are focusing on rhythms and rhythmic notation. We have all enjoyed drum circles and are now practicing the writing of rhythms with craft sticks. We will tie this up with the playing of Rhythm Bingo.