October 6, 2009 Welcome to Mrs. Paga's music website! 1st & 2nd Grades: Working on pitch, rhythm, and singing! Final product will be some spooky pumpkin carols, which they will sing at the Boo Bash in rounds, with instruments, and with movement! 3rd Grade: This is an amazing group of singers, and they will be working hard the next few months to prepare a special song for our Grandparent's/Veteran's Day; they will take the lead in small group choirs to lead our Masses; and they will soon begin preparing music for the Christmas program, where they will back up our Drama and Music Choir in the larger choir numbers. HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT FOR THIS WEEK: Memorize the words to all of the Armed Forces Medley of songs! Song sheets will be sent home Wednesday (Oct. 7). 4th & 5th grades are doing "Mallet Madness" and will begin playing recorders in the next couple of weeks. Many of these students are going to Discoveries now that Mrs. Giordano has that program going full swing. She and I will work together to ensure all students are still able to participate in big programs, such as 4th Grade's Veteran's Day program, and 5th Grade's participation in the Christmas Program. On a more day-to-day level, there is really no way to make up the time they miss, so they will simply be "excused from class," and this will be noted in their grades on Edline. 6th, 7th, & 8th grades/World Music Project info: ASSIGNMENT #1/ALL CLASSES: An interview with another person about music and their feelings about it, was due this week. If your student has been out sick, all interviews must be turned no later than their regular class day next week to receive credit. If your student has been ill and missed a lot of class, contact me individually if you feel your student has special circumstances that would affect this deadline. If you need a copy of the questions for this interview, it is posted on Edline. ASSIGNMENT #2/6th grade only: Make a maraca and bring it on Tuesday for our Hispanic Heritage rehearsal! Instructions for making a maraca are posted on my Edline site. I hope to bring speakers into each class to talk about the music of their own culture, so if you are one of our families that has moved here from another country, please consider coming to talk with your child's class, and possibly another middle school class. I will be contacting many of you, but feel free to be in touch with me at any time to talk about how you can help, especially if you have not heard from me! Gwen Paga Music Teacher