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Dear Parents of Trivium East Scholars,
We are eagerly preparing for our winter concerts at Archway Trivium East! This post contains details about location and arrival times for each grade. Please note that my website has a "concert dress code" tab- please click on this tab for info on concert dress code. Our Winter and Spring Concerts are a required portion of each scholar's music grade. If you feel that you may have an excused reason for missing the concert, please email me as soon as possible so that we can determine if the absence is excusable. Thank you for your support with this! --Ms. Sassaman [email protected] K-2 Choir Concerts: Day: Monday, December 3 Location: King of Kings Church 3095 N 140th Ave, Goodyear AZ 85395 arrival times and concert times Kindergarten: concert at 5:00pm, scholars arrive at 4:30pm 1st grade: concert at 6pm, scholars arrive at 5:30pm 2nd grade: concert at 7pm, scholars arrive at 6:30pm 3-5 Choir Concerts: Day: Tuesday, December 4 Location: King of Kings Church 3095 N 140th Ave, Goodyear AZ 85385 arrival times and concert times 3rd grade: concert at 5:00pm, scholars arrive at 4:30pm 4th grade: concert at 6pm, scholars arrive at 5:30pm 5th grade: concert at 7pm, scholars arrive at 6:30pm Dear Parents of Trivium East Scholars, This Saturday there is a free open house with the Phoenix Boy's Choir. If you have a boy in grades 2nd through 6th grade who loves to sing, this is an excellent organization led by some of the Phoenix's top music teachers. More information is here. www.boyschoir.org/sing?fbclid=IwAR33PY91cPExPIv4Af5RwKzBNA_H-2NQ2DhNm-8LDY_FRBqJJFMPOZOhpHk Another outstanding organization with excellent teachers is the Phoenix Children's Chorus, which is for both boys and girls. Information can be found here. Although their audition date is during our concert week, they are flexible. If you are strongly interested in this or in observing a rehearsal, please let me know and I can get you more info.
phoenixchildrenschorus.org/join/audition-information/ Dear Parents of Trivium East Scholars, Here are some grade level overviews of the work our scholars have been accomplishing this first quarter of music. It has been delightful to welcome our first and second grade scholars into the music room, and they have enthusiastically been discovering many instruments as well as singing and movement activities. In first grade, we explored our voices while chanting chants with our high and low voices, and we chose each time whether to perform them at a fast tempo or slow tempo. We discovered non pitched percussion instruments such as egg shakers, rhythm sticks, and hand drums while assigning each group a different musical phrase. With this activity we began to develop our understanding of musical phrases as well as musical group work. We sang songs in circles while a student leader tapped a steady beat around a circle during our song Bee, Bee, Bumble Bee. We developed our concept of steady beat versus rhythm, and labeled our first two rhythms of quarter notes and eighth notes as meaning one sound on a beat, and two sounds on a beat respectively. Our first graders beautifully read rhythmic patterns with our rhythm sounds ta and tadi, and worked with partners to create representations of standard rhythmic notation for these notes. While my model for our students includes heartbeats underneath each note, It struck me as creative and meaningful when I noticed a few groups choosing to place the steady beat (heartbeat) through the center of each note. The popsicle sticks in this example represent the stems and beams of quarter notes and eighth notes, and the pattern we see is the first phrase of our folk song "Rain, Rain, Go Away."
In second grade, one of our favorite warm up songs has been "Peas Porridge Hot." During the rest of each song, we sometimes added a beat of sound while playing the xylophones. Sometimes, while I played a xylophone sound, we decided as a class which motion we'd like to add. Sometimes we chose to hop during the xylophone sound. Sometimes we decided to pat our legs. My personal favorite was when we decided to blink together as a class during each xylophone sound. For our work towards music literacy in second grade, we reviewed our ta tadi rest rhythms, and we introduced a new solfege note- la. We now have a skip pattern (so and mi, a high sound and a low sound) as well as a step pattern (la is a step higher than so). We sang many songs including these patterns, labeled our patterns, and began sight reading standard notation on a musical staff that include these three notes. In third grade, we sang songs and built musical communities while introducing a new solfege note "do" to our repertoire of notes we can read, write, sing, and create with. While learning our song "Apple Tree" that features patterns with la so mi and do, each third grade class successfully played a singing game that goes with the lyrics. Four students create a canopy in a forest with their arms, while the rest of the class forms a circle and walks under the canopy. At the end of the song, anyone under the canopy becomes a part of the canopy. Our third graders joyfully worked together with playful spirits and good sportsmanship while singing and working together on this activity. With our new note "do" comes an added task while placing our notes on a five line musical staff. We learn that "do" is the first scale degree of a scale, and are learning how to identify our known notes based on where "do" is on a staff. Fourth grade is also working on patterns including our tetrachord la so mi and do. we developed an awareness of "la so mi do" patterns in our folk song "Rocky Mountain," used our bodies to show the melodic contour of the musical phrase, and worked on our ensemble skills through the addition of xylophones and conga drums to this song. After learning about the staff placement rules for our tetrachord, we worked with partners to identify a collection of 8 patterns. I would sing a pattern, and they worked together to choose which pattern they heard me sing. I was introduced to this concept in college- melodic dictation. Our fifth graders have formed a strong basis and understanding of how rhythmic and melodic patterns work, and are meeting each new pattern with confidence. They worked together as a class to create word chains based on quarter, eighth note and sixteenth note patterns. They sightread a variety of patterns including these rhythms as well. For melody work, they are working with major pentatonic scales which include la so mi re and do. To highlight their work with these patterns, our fifth graders worked together as a class to write patterns on a five line staff that derived from known folk songs. To close out our quarter work with our pentatonic scale, they read unknown pentatonic scale patterns from my model of Curwen hand signs. One of our patterns was directly from Antonin Dvorak's New World Symphony. Once we discovered the pattern we sightread was from this symphony, we listened to this masterwork with a greater understanding. And of course, each grade level is making strides toward learning our winter concert songs. The foundation we have built in our first quarter will carry us on an exciting journey of discovery as we prepare more for our winter concert next quarter. Thank you for your love and support, and for sharing your scholars with us at Archway Trivium East. I look forward to more community building and music making in Quarter 2! Ms. Sassaman, 1C and Grades 2-5, Archway Trivium East Dear Families of Trivium East Scholars,
A big thank you to the scholars and families who made the trek to Choir Night at the Diamondbacks this past Friday! Our scholars truly represented Archway Trivium East with excellence, as we joined other schools across the valley in performing our National Anthem on Chase Field before the game. It felt magical to me, and the joy on our scholars' faces showed that it was a special moment for all of us. I could not have asked for better support from families, scholars, teachers, and administration. Thank you again. Another highlight of our week last week was 4C being visited by a Great Hearts camera crew. We asked what they would like to hear, and we proceeded to all share our National Anthem as well as many variations of Rocky Mountain, both sung and played on xylophones and conga drums. We talked about how it is an honor to get to share our music with others, and were happy to have the opportunity to do so. We have many objectives in music class. We work towards musical literacy through learning our rhythmic and melodic elements, we learn how to sing in tune, we learn about our heritage through folk songs, we build musical communities, and we prepare concert songs. Along the way, it is wonderful to have the opportunity to share the gift of our music with others. Ms. Sassaman http://bit.ly/atebaseball
When purchasing tickets, please remember that you also need to purchase a ticket for your scholar, even if they are singing. Tickets will be delivered in Friday Folders in sealed envelopes with your scholar's name on it, on September 14. We have reserved seating in section 142, which is the lower level outfield. Dear Trivium East Families,
Our Club Sign Up is ready to go! Some clubs fill up fast, so be sure to sign up promptly once you know you'd like your scholar to join. Club list: http://archwaytriviumeast.greatheartsacademies.org/academy-life/co-curricular-programs/ Club sign up: https://archwaytriviumeast.configio.com/ShoppingCart.aspx?com=productlist&cid=388&srch=t I'm excited to announce that this year I will be collaborating with Mrs. MacLeod as we work to expand our drama department. Together we are teaching Theater and Music Club Grades 3-5. I will also be teaching Theater and Music Club Grades K-2. Our expansion this year includes an additional club- set design! Ms. Martin will be offering a Set Design Club for grades 3-5 in which scholars will design sets for the performance of both Theater and Music Clubs. Ukulele Club is also offered for grades 2-5. In Ukulele Club, Scholars will learn how to play the ukulele as well as xylophones. Our semester performances feature both instruments. Scholars borrow school-owned ukuleles that they are allowed to take home and practice. Here is a description for what will be covered in both Theater and Music Clubs. Please email me with any questions you have about music related clubs or the sign up process. If you have questions about Set Design Club please email Ms. Martin. Theater and Music explores the intersection between theater, music, and movement. In this club, students will explore the foundational elements of performance theater and will learn how to enhance a theatrical performance through the musical mediums of song, poetry, and percussion instruments. The theme for all fall Performing Arts clubs will be Classical Fairytails and will culminate in a winter performance in December. Ms. Sassaman Music Teacher, 1C and Grades 2-5, Archway Trivium East Dear Families of Trivium East Scholars,
It is with pleasure that I welcome you and your scholars to our new school year. We are starting off our year with procedures to navigate around our exciting music room with order and joy, and in our first week we are exploring beat, rhythm, and in tune singing with name games. Grades 1-3 are learning each other's names by performing the name game "Up The Ladder" while grades 4-5 are learning each other's names, (as well as an animal, sport, food, or musical instrument that they like) with the name game "Jump in, Jump Out." Throughout the year in each grade level, our scholars will work towards music literacy by learning new rhythms, solfege (which explores the qualities of pitches within a musical scale), and a variety of music terms. Some of the ways that we experience music are singing, musical activities, pitched percussion, and non pitched percussion instruments. We also learn about Classical music through studying composers' lives and actively listening to their music. Each year, the highlight of our music curriculum is our concerts. Each grade level comes together as a choir and performs a winter concert and a spring concert. I look forward to making music with our scholars in this new school year. Sincerely, Melissa Sassaman Music Teacher, Archway Classical Academy Trivium East, 1C and grades 2-5 |
Ms. SassamanDoctor of Musical Arts, Oboe Performance, Arizona State University Archives
March 2020
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