Aly Evans's Classes:
The music department is moving and grooving! This year we welcome our new music teacher, Mrs. Susan Larson, to the IC. Mrs. Larson has already brought lots of great ideas to the team, including the establishment of a Musician of the Month. This month the students are studying Black Violin, a violin and viola duo from Florida who use their music to challenge stereotypes and bring hip-hop/classical fusion to a wider audience.
This month the music students are using small instruments like rhythm sticks and boomwhackers, singing, and learning the routines and procedures to be successful in music class. The theme of the 5th grade concert will soon be revealed, and we hope that the students will show you the groovy circle dance we taught them that goes with the '70s classic, "September".
Susan Larson's Classes:
We are so proud of our students for how they are embracing our whole school theme "We Rise By Lifting Others" in our music classes by working together toward our music goals. All grades have been jumping right into singing, movement, listening, literacy readiness and playing classroom instruments. For those participating, orchestra has begun and it is so exciting to be learning brand new skills. During their time at the IC, all general music students rotate through instrumental units including drumming, ukulele, recorder and guitar.
This year we are introducing a new activity in all grades called Musician of the Month. Each month we will feature a new artist or performing group and embed their music into standards based activities. Our hope is to inspire all students to be life-long, active music-makers through featuring diverse musicians who act as musical role models. Our September featured group is the string duo, Black Violin, who fuse hip hop and classical music to challenge assumptions and share a musical message of hope and unity. Listen along to the music we are using in class by following our MHIC Musician of the Month Spotify playlist at this link or by scanning the QR code below. As each new artist is introduced, we will add more selections to the playlist, so check back often!
