Musical Update

Hello Link Families!

Here is what is currently going on in music class at Link:

1st grade has just started learning solfege and has also started composing their own music to be played on glockenspiel.

2nd grade is working on singing while playing instruments.

3rd grade has worked on the difference between down and upbeat and will, be the end of this week, be able to find both in music.

4th Grade went on a field trip on April 19th to see and hear the Elgin Symphony Orchestra play. We have been working on the background of the pieces they heard on the field trip and continue to work on our recorder playing.

Blue belt testing is currently underway, please approach Mr. Clarke during music when you are ready. I will test as many students as possible during our half hour together.

On May 1st, 2012, during celebrate learning night, the 4th graders have a performance oppurtunity in the library on their recorders. Please bring your recorder and music up to the library to perform for your parents and fellow students. This is the requirement to meet black belt standing in our recorder karate unit.

5th Grade is currently rehearsing for their performance on May 24th. We have two performances during the day as assemblies for the school, and then one final performance at night. All three take place in the Link School gym. Please arrive by 6:30pm the night of the concert to get in to place and get warmed up.

I would love to see all of you there, but if there is another event that night I understand. Please have your parents call or email me explaining that you will not be at the performance.

The 6th graders have been working tirelessly on a recording project. Students have been put in to groups and have written original compositions or have recorded their own version of popular songs. By the 2nd week in May, this project will be finalized and put on C.D. for the 6th graders to take with them as a musical memory from Link as they endeavor in to 7th and 8th grade.

Thank you to ALL THE 6TH GRADE STUNDETS for their patience and hard work during this process. You all have shown incredible musicianship during this time, and I have every confidence you all will be successful in Junior High and beyond!

In other musical news, Mr. Clarke will be performing in a concert on May 7th, 2012 at 7pm. I currently play Clarinet in the Elmhurst College Wind Ensemble and have my final concert on May 7th. There are two ensembles playing that night and we are playing exciting pieces of music. The information is below along with directions if anyone is interested in attending.

If you do attend the concert, please try and find me and let me know you made it. I would LOVE to see you there!

When?:

May 7th, 2012 at 7pm

Where:

Elmhurst College

190 S. Prospect Ave, Elmhurst IL 60126
The concert is in the chapel which is located on the far west side of the campus.

Directions from Elk Grove:

209: Take 290 east to York road. Take a left at the end of the exit ramp for York Road. Take York road south through downtown Elmhurst. York road changes direction, make a left at W 2nd Street/Robert Palmer Dr. Take that through the first light, the next light will be York road again, turn left. Make a right on church street and take that to prospect, turn left at prospect. The campus will now be on your left side. Take Prospect to Alexander Blvd and turn left. Just past the football field is a driveway entrance, turn left and the chapel is the large building ahead of you and to the left. Parking is available behind West hall (the building next to the chapel) or in the Alexander parking lot located on Alexander blvd.

THE CONCERT IS FREE TO ATTEND!

-Mr. Clarke

Musical Update

Hello Link Students and Families!

I know this post is almost two weeks late, but I hope that everyone had a safe and wonderful Holiday break!

We have a short week this week due to conferences this Thursday and Friday and a long weekend as well. If you are traveling during our time off please go carefully.

In 6th grade music, we have continued to discover new instruments. Most notably was the piano, which we played briefly in class. Piano is an instrument that is available to use during our recording sessions in the upcoming months.

5th grade music students have explored different rhythms and time signatures, with our focus being mainly on 6/8 time. As of today everyone did excellent on their playing test. Thank you for your hard work.

4th Graders continue with their recorder unit, with recorder club starting up on January 17th 2012. During lunch and recess come to the library with your lunch to have lunch with me and try some different recorder music or get extra help with your in class recorder material.

4th graders also recently completed their white belt tests and everyone achieved the first level (white belt.) Excellent work! Please continue to practice.

3rd graders have explored some dance and will start incomplete beats today (Wednesday) which will continue after conferences and our long weekend is over.

2nd graders experimented with piano as well as learned what sustain means and how to sustain a note on the piano. We have also explored whole and half notes, quarter and two eighth notes.

1st graders have been working with syllables and one sound vs. two sounds.

And that’s it for a musical update.

-Mr. Clarke

Weekly Update

Hello Link Students and Parents!

It is hard to believe yet another week has come and gone. We are just 10 more school days away from our winter break! This school year has gone by so fast already, and seems to only be moving faster and faster!

This week 1st graders explored how to play Forte and Piano on percussion instruments.

2nd graders worked on tone color and the brass instrument family. We focused primarily on Trumpet during our lessons.

3rd graders explored Piano and Forte through movement. We also covered the William Tell Overture and experimented with thunder tubes.

4th graders continued through their recorder unit, and made excellent progress this week. Please remember to practice on days we do not have music class-weekends are included.

5th graders learned to play in ABA form using percussion instruments

6th graders put their listening skills, rhythmic ability, hand-eye coordination and concept of steady beat to the test through two different activities.

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful weekend!

-Mr. Clarke

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Link Students and Parents,

It has been a wonderful week at link school. 4th grade started their recorder unit, and have taken their recorders home to practice over the break. All other grades involved themselves in musical activities that tested their musical knowledge and skills.

I hope every one has a wonderful break and if you are traveling please go safely.

See you all on Monday!

-Mr. Clarke

3rd Grade Performance Review

Hello Link Students!

I am very pleased to report a successful 3rd Grade Show! It was a huge hit! Thanks to all those who participated and helped out. I had a lot of great feedback sent my way from everyone.

Part of being a good performer is providing an evaluation (review) of your performance. Here is the 3rd grader’s evaluation of their performance.

Mrs. Ladwig’s Class

Positives:

1. Everything was memorized.

2. Every song was sang with good pitch and good singing posture.

3.  All the speaking parts were loud and clear.

Some things to improve on:

1. Mr. Clarke could figure out how to keep Casey better in tune while the gym.

2. Some people had a “bored” expression.

3.  Our tempos were slightly faster than when we rehearsed because Mr. Clarke  was  way too excited.

 Ms. Kiery’s Class

Positives

1. We had a large audience to perform for

2. There were many Veterans who attended

3. All the speaking parts were memorized and were spoken loudly and clearly

4. While singing blended and balance perfectly

Some things to improve on:

1. Mr. Clarke could have asked the audience to please stand for the pledge of allegiance.

2. Our rehearsals could have been more productive and organized.

3. Our pitch could have been a little more solid.

Mrs. Moersch’s Class

Positives

1. Everyone worked very hard and well together to put on a spectacular show.

2. Everyone left feeling confident and accomplished.

3. We had actual Veterans invited to our concert and they attended.

Some things we could improve on

1. Our speaking parts could have been said at a slower tempo.

2. There were some students who were unfocused during the performances.

3. We should a little bit more time on our warm ups.

Ms. Bowman’s Class

Positives

1. We all sang well together, blending balancing perfectly.

2. We respectful to our classmates while they performed.

3.  The speaking parts were clear, and together. Good listening was used.

Some things we can improve on

1. We could have focused a little better on certain pitches

2. Mr. Clarke could have had our exact spots set up before our performance to make things a little more smooth.

Have a great week !

Weekly Update

Hello Parents, Students and Friends of Link School! We have come to the end of yet another productive week. Here is what has been going on in Music at Link.

The 6th Graders continue to work towards perfecting their song for their performance on November 2nd. The D.A.R.E graduation performance will be a great success, especially if we all continue to work as hard as we have been. Thank you to all 6th graders and teachers for your hard work and support!

5th Grade has a mini-quiz during the coming week. A review sheet went home with each student at the end of the week this week to help them review for it. However small, this does count for a grade-so please be studying.

4th graders are ordering recorders up until November 10th. A letter went home with each student with instructions. If you lost the letter please ask me for another one. The information in the letter is here on the blog:

Dear 4^th Grade Parents and Students,

As part of our music curriculum, students will be playing recorders.  The recorder is an instrument closely related to the flute and has been played since the middle ages. Recorders are relatively easy to play and are a perfect way to introduce children to playing a wind instrument.  Recorders are excellent for teaching students how to read music and which will greatly enhance our curriculum. 

I will be ordering the recorders from MPI.  The cost is $4.00 and includes a zippered case, neck strap, and cleaning rod.  The recorders come in various colors, which your student selected in class, and will be theirs to keep forever.

Please send $4.00 (cash or check) for each recorder ordered.  Please mark the envelope with your child’s name, room number and “recorder payment.” 

If your child already owns a recorder, please check the appropriate box below and send the bottom of this sheet with your child to school.

Please return this form with payment to the classroom teacher by November 10, 2011.

Please feel free to call or email me with any questions.

 3rd Graders have continued to work towards their performance on November 10th this week. Every class has shown great musicianship and dedication towards our performance. I am sure we are going to have a spectacular Veterans Day concert! I am very proud of all of you and thank you for all of your hard work!

2nd Grade continues with music lessons from our curriculum. We worked with some Orff instruments this week as well as some sining-and of course there is always time for some musical games.

1st Grade continues to work towards our curriculum as well. we started working towards a quiz that is coming up very soon for the 1st graders this week and will continue with this next week as well.

I hope everyone has a safe, fun, warm and relaxing weekend!

-Mr. Clarke

Weekly Update

Hello Students and Parents!

It has been an excellent week for music at Link School!

 All the 3rd grade classes are working extra hard at learning the songs they will be performing on November 10th. I am already extremely proud of them and the work they have been putting in to our performance!

In other news, starting next week (October 17-21) all 4th grade students will be getting a letter to take home explaining our next step in 4th grade music: RECORDERS! On the bottom of the letter sent home is a portion that needs to be cut off and returned to me either with payment or with the box checked indicating that the student already has a recorder. Recorders are 4 dollars and once they are purchased will belong to the student forever.

When we start recorders, which will be during the second trimester, the recorder will be required to stay at school for the first two (at least) weeks. After that the students will be free to take the recorders home and practice on their own time. This ensures that while introducing the students to the recorders, they are always available to use and not accidentally left at home during the critical first few lessons.

6th grade continued to work on “I Will Dare” for the D.A.R.E graduation performance on November 4th. We will be singing along to a backing track and have choreography which we will start working on next week (October 16-21.) Thank you to all the 6th graders for working so hard on this!

The other classes are progressing through our music curriculum extremely well too! 1st graders are currently working on body percussion in class, 2nd grade is working on using percussion instruments to perform rhythms, 5th grade is learning about different styles of music and their form, and 4th grade is working towards reading and writing music in preparation for their upcoming recorder unit.

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful weekend!

Mr. Clarke

Welcome to Music

Parents and Students,

I would like to take this opportunity, now that my website is up and running, to introduce myself:

My name is Andrew Clarke and I am the new general music teacher at Link School this year. I recently graduated from Elmhurst College and have been playing music in some way since I was 3 years old. Music is a passion of mine and my mission and goal is to inspire this passion for music in the students at Link.

I will be updating this page, at the least, once a week. Please come here for important announcements and reminders.

The 3rd graders at Link have a performance in the gym on November 10th 2011 at 7pm. We will be singing patriotic songs and honoring our Veterans that evening. 3rd grade students must arrive by 6:30 to warm up and get in to their places. There will be an assembly during the day for the students and teachers at Link.

A packet of information went home on Tuesday (November 4th) with a letter from me explaining wardrobe etc. for the performance. Attached to that letter were two copies of a formal invitation to use to invite Veterans you may know to the show. Also attached to that letter were copies of the speaking parts the students should be working on (if they volunteered and were assigned the parts) and the lyrics to the songs we are singing that ALL 3rd grade students should be practicing and memorizing at home.

If the letter sent home has been lost, below you will find all the information needed regarding the November 10th performance:

What: 3^rd Grade Veterans Day Concert

When: November 10^th, 2011

Where: Link School Gym

Time: 3^rd graders must arrive by 6:30, the show will start at 7pm

Attire:

Boys:

White or black shoes

White, blue, black or red pants

Red, White or blue t-shirt or collared shirt

Please no writing on the shirt unless it says “link school” in some way on it

                Girls: White or Black shoes

Red, white, blue, or black skirt/dress/pants

Red, White or blue t-shirt or blouse

                    Please no writing on the shirt unless it says “link school” in some way on it

Any piece of attire that combines red, white and blue is perfectly acceptable as well. Ladies may wear red, white or blue hair accessories.

Attendance at the performance is required for all 3^rd grade students at Link Elementary. If there is a scheduling conflict please contact me via email or phone to discuss the matter.

Have travels and an excellent weekend over the next 4 days eveyone!

-Mr. Clarke