Tuneful Beatful Artful - Elementary Music

Our elementary music educators are working hard this year to focus student achievement in music around the theme "Tuneful, Beatful, Artful".  Our educators had the opportunity to work with Dr. John Feierabend at Leadership Academy in June and have incorporated much of his research and success in music education into their classroom lessons for our kids.

Dr. Feierabend working with our elementary music educators at Leadership Academy

 Our students are working on becoming tuneful, beatful and artful so that as adults they can participate in the music that is in their lives. Adults who are tuneful are able to sing lullabies to their babies, sing "Happy Birthday" to their children and friends, and sing for services and/or ceremonies. Adults who are beatful can rock on the beat while singing that lullaby, dance at their weddings or at their friends' wedding, and can clap their hands in time with others at a sporting event. Adults who are artful are moved by music and seek out venues to share artful experiences with others in concert halls, and in community bands and choirs or by listening to NPR. Artful adults enjoy being moved by music. Children who learn to be tuneful, beatful, and artful before they leave elementary school will grow to be adults who benefit from what music can offer. Those who go on to sing in choirs or play an instrument will do so in a more musical manner. Those who choose not to sing in choirs or play an instrument later will still be enriched by being able to share music in their daily lives.

Our students are enjoying a musical workout where they are working on the following:

• Pitch Exploration
• Echo and Call and Response Songs
• Simple Songs
• Child Created Songs called Arioso
• Movement Exploration
• Movement for Form and Expression
• Movement with the Beat
• SongTales

Educator Mrs. Graben singing a SongTale to one of her classes.

Students exploring space through movement exploration with their educator Mrs. Dake

Throughout this week I have heard the following feedback from our educators: 

• "Heard from a student while doing the move it segment 'I need to find a recording of this for home!'"
• "My ESL kiddos can echo sing, students and teachers have been in tears hearing these children volunteer to sing solo."
• "The kids and I are having so much fun in music this fall. The kids are really starting to share their voices".
• "Wow!  This is incredible, I have 5th graders singing in class that haven't sung before."

Educator Ms. Holman singing a Call and Response song with her students.

Educator Ms. Bondy working on a Beat Motion activity with her kids as they chanted the Rhyme "Who Took the Cookie".