Updated: 3/24/20
Dear Horace Mann Families,

I hope that everyone is well and staying safe in these uncertain times. I certainly miss all your students, and hope to make music with them again soon in person! In the meantime, I have a couple of at home musical activities for your children to keep the music going! Below are some ones I’ve picked out for this week.

Music is for sharing! Please feel free to share any music you’ve been making at home with me, or reach out with any questions that come up from any of these activities. Enjoy!

-Ms. Lotz

Kindergarten
1st Grade
  • Rakes of Mallow Folk Dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZxoE2Rj49I&t=71s
  • This is the folk dance we were about to learn in class. It is a lot of fun! You can try this with your student as it is in the video, or make up your own moves! As we learned in class, there are two different parts in this song, the A part and the B part. What moves could you do for the A part? What different moves could you do for the B part? 

2nd Grade
  • Che Che Koolay (or Kye Kye Kule): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIdp_Nj0tgk 
  • This call and response song from Ghana is great song to sing at home. Students can learn the song by echoing the video. They can also learn one of the instrument parts on an at home instrument or using body percussion (clapping, patting, stomping). For a translation of the song, go to: https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=3215

3rd Grade
4th Grade
  • Jazz Listening: https://americanhistory.si.edu/smithsonian-jazz/education/groovin-jazz-ages-8-13
  • In class, we just started exploring the world of jazz music. We learned a little about the origins, and started learning the song Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho, a jazz standard. The website above has some great listening examples of the many types of jazz music. Which one is your student’s favorite?

4th Grade Chorus
4th Grade Instrument Classes
  • Band Students (flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, baritone horn, percussion) 
    • Students should continue to practice the following songs in Accent on Achievement: Eagle Summit March, Frère Jacques, and any other song that was recently assigned (different depending on instrument)
    • Students can also continue to learn any song in the book, and use the CD to play along with (https://okmmusic.weebly.com/method-book-practice-tracks.html)
  • Orchestra Students (violin, viola, cello)
    • Tuning: By now, it’s most likely that your student’s instruments are no longer in tune. To help tune your student’s instrument, you can go to this website that has all the correct sounds for each string: https://www.tunestrings.com/
    • Students should continue to practice the following songs in Essential Elements: Frère Jacques, Lightly Row, and any other song recently assigned (different depending on the instrument)
    • Students can also continue to learn any song in the book, and use the CD to play along with

5th Grade 
  • Composition fun: https://www.lotzmusic.com/gr-5-resources.html
  • On the 5th grade resource page, there are a lot of fun websites where students can make up their own music. This week, your student can play around with some of those websites to see if they can make anything that they may want to use in their composition project. Next week, I’ll send out some steps you can do at home to create your own composition.

5th Grade Chorus
5th Grade Band
  • Students should continue to practice the following songs we’ve been practicing for our concert: Bravado Tango, Star Wars, and Ghost Busters (https://www.lotzmusic.com/5th-grade-band.html)
  • Students can also continue to learn any song in their Accent on Achievement book from last year, and use the CD to play along with 
  • SmartMusic- stay tuned for an email about this amazing online practicing program

Horace Mann Orchestra
  • Tuning: By now, it’s most likely that your student’s instruments are no longer in tune. To help tune your student’s instrument, you can go to this website that has all the correct sounds for each string: https://www.tunestrings.com/
  • Students should continue to practice the following songs we’ve been practicing for our concert: Velocity, Road to Lisdoonvarna, and Star Wars (https://www.lotzmusic.com/horace-mann-orchestra.html)
  • Students can also continue to learn any song in their Essential Elements book from last year, and use the CD to play along with