Mrs. Jones’ Blog

I can’t believe we’ve made it through 3 weeks of school already!  Time flies when you’re having fun.  :)  Thank you to all of the students for your hard work.  We’ve been learning about high and low, playing instruments while keeping a steady beat, reading music, exercising our voices to get the most notes in our vocal range, Do and Re, freeze-dancing, squishy musical chairs, treble and bass clef notes, computer presentations . . .

Choir - Thank you for leading music at the all-school masses.  I really appreciate your leadership, dedication and sharing your talents.  We’re off to a great start.  Just a reminder that choir is open to any student in grades 2-8.  No audition is necessary - just a love of singing.

I’m very excited to begin another school year at St. Raphael’s.  I hope everyone had a great summer and is ready to get back to singing, dancing, reading, writing, composing, listening and playing instruments.  For all you 2nd - 8th graders who love to sing, we would love to have you in our choir.  The Angel Song & Joyful Noise choir will meet on Thursdays after school starting September 11th.  We will meet in the Ed’s room and walk over to the church choir room for rehearsal.  Parents may pick up their child(ren) at 3:15 at the Marian Hall entrance.  We will be singing at Friday all-school masses as well as one weekend a month mass and any other special occasions that may arise.  See you on Tuesday!

Thank you to the 3rd & 4th graders as well as the band students for a great performance on Tuesday, May 20th.  We really came together to present a fabulous show.  You should be very proud of yourselves and what you accomplished.

Choir - Thank you for all of your hard work this year.  It has been great working with all of you and I look forward to seeing you next year for bigger and better things.

8th graders - I want to wish you the best of luck as you move on to high school.  Take what you’ve learned here at SRS and do the very best you can with what God gave you.  Keep in touch!

See you next fall!

3rd & 4th graders have been working hard to prepare for their Tuesday concert.  Our theme is “Bein’ Me.”  God made each of us very special and we need to do the best we can every day.  We will present a dress rehearsal for the school at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20th in the school gym.  Students may be out of uniform if they are wearing their concert clothes (fun, springtime clothes that show off your personality - out of uniform rules apply).  The evening concert begins at 7:00 p.m.  Students are to sit in their assigned spots on the risers and wait for the program to begin - being on their best behavior.  Thank you for all of your hard work.  This will be a great program and I look forward to seeing it all put together.

Students in grades 5-8 are finishing up their guitar unit.  We have continued to work on holding our instrument correctly and playing it to the best of our ability - getting better each class.  We have worked on a variety of tunes from the “Star Wars Movie Theme” to “Amazing Grace” to Miley Cyrus’s “See You Again.”   It’s great seeing and hearing the improvement over the last couple of weeks.

PreK-2nd graders are working on different activities which help reinforce their singing voices as well as reading music and playing instruments.  Do they remember driving the Greased Lightning car with rhythm sticks?  How about walking with a partner during “Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do”?  We played drums and triangles on “An American March” and have recently played Bingo.  Did your child play Music Styles Bingo or Rhythm Bingo with instruments?   Ask them.  We’ve got some great musicians here at SRS!  Keep up the good work!

Choir - just a reminder that we are singing this Sunday, May 18th at the 9:00 a.m. mass.  Please report to the church choir room by 8:30 a.m. to warm-up our voices, hearts, and minds.  This is our last Sunday to sing.  Thank you for going the extra mile this year to share your musical talents that God gave you.   You’re wonderful!

Students in K-8 have been listening to several American Composers. Ask them about Aaron Copland’s “Hoedown,” or “Variations on America” by Charles Ives. Do they remember “Scherzo” from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story?  How about “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson?  William Grant Still’s “Afro-American Symphony” was full of call and response, and we finished our unit by listening to one of the great female American composers - Amy Beach, who wrote “Piano Concerto.”  Students in grades 5-8 had a listening test over these composers (hopefully they took good notes) as well as some general music theory that they reviewed in Jeopardy.  Students in PreK-2nd grade are working on rhythms by using their names.  3rd & 4th graders are preparing for their 5/20 program.

I can’t believe it’s April already! Let me go back and thank the 5th - 8th graders for their hard work on “My Planet, Your Planet.” You did a fabulous job and I am very proud of you. I hope you believe what you were singing about. Every little thing we can do like turning off water, lights and TVs when we’re not using them can help save energy. God put us here to take care of our planet, so if we can reduce, reuse and recycle we’ll be doing Earth a lot of good!

Another thank you to the PreK-2nd graders for their work Tuesday in your program “Go Fish!” Your singing was sensational, your speaking parts were wonderful and your costumes were fantastic! I am very proud of you!

3rd & 4th graders are working on their program which will be presented on Tuesday, May 20th at 7:00 p.m. in the gym. We will be singing, dancing and playing our recorders. The band will be presenting their concert this evening, too. It looks to be a great evening for all involved! More details to follow.

Next Tuesday, 3/11 is the 5th-8th grade spring program in the school gym.  Students have been working hard, preparing a show called “My Planet, Your Planet.”  The Show Choir will start the show with 2 numbers they have worked on, then all students in 5th-8th grades will join them on the risers.  Students are asked to wear green.  Pants should be khakis, jeans or green/brown camouflage.  Students may wear their concert clothes to school the day of the program as we will present a dress rehearsal in the gym that afternoon for the rest of the school and any parents that wish to join us.  Feel free to contact me at school if you have any questions or concerns.  This concert will be graded, so attendance is mandatory for all students.

Minnesota Youth Symphonies Summer Music Program broadens musical perspective, develops musical skills and feeds the imagination in a fun, casual setting. Classes are open to students in grades 1-12. Click the link for more information.

www.mnyouthsymphonies.org 

Choir - Please note that we are singing this Sunday, February 17th at the 9:00 a.m. mass.  Please report to the church choir room by 8:30 a.m. to warm-up our voices, hearts and minds.  Please wear your uniform.

Thank you to all students in grades 5-8 for working so hard on your technology projects.  I will be sharing parts of these projects as parents are waiting for your March 11 program to start.

Students in PreK-4th grade are integrating technology this week.  We are up in the computer lab working on the Dallas and New York Orchestra websites.  These are on my de.licio.us site.  Have your student check it out if they have free time.

I received information in the mail about summer programs at the Shell Lake Arts Center in Shell Lake, WI. Programs include rock band, jazz ensemble & combo, classic jazz combo, alternative style strings, sculpture, middle school concert band, high school concert band, painting, piano accompaniment, show choir, trumpet, guitar & bass, dance, saxophone, horn and music theatre. Click on the link below to learn more information:

www.shelllakeartscenter.org