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Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
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Music

Gloria Dei Early Childhood Ministries uses the Musikgarten curriculum to enrich the your child's musical experience. Children six weeks through six years of age enjoy singing favorite songs as well as learning about rhythm and composition, various instruments and the sounds they make. Movement adds to the learning and enjoyment of the music curriculum. Children develop listening skills as they explore lyrics, pitch, tone, dynamics, and tempo.

                 "I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted, the LORD                                   is  my  strength and song.”

 

April Music Notes

April is the month for new life on the Earth and new life in Jesus!  We will learn praise songs for the upcoming resurrection celebration!  Easter is in April, and we thank Jesus for His precious life given for us!

Our concept focus in music for the month of April is long and short.  We will listen to the contrast between legato music (sounds connected smoothly) and staccato
music (short and choppy sounds).  We will be celebrating springtime animal families and April showers!  We will waddle like ducks and hop like rabbits to the music!   

Infant/Toddler:  In music class we often use a visual component to accentuate the concept focus for each month.  For short and long, we will use scarves to float along with the smooth music, and we will shake maracas or listen to sticks play with music that is short and choppy.   

At home, try this!  Our little ones are fascinated with mirrors!  Develop self-awareness by choosing a mirror activity with baby:

v Sing
Where’s Your Nose [Eyes, Ears, Fingers, etc.]” to the tune of Where Is
Thumbkin?
 as you point out and name body parts.

v Make hand gestures in front of the mirror for “hello”, “uh-oh”, “all gone”, and
“goodbye.”

 

PS2/PS3/PK4:  We are going to sing about April showers, umbrellas, and ducks in puddles!  We will also have parachute fun, soaring in the air for legato sounds, and short, fast waves for staccato sounds.     

At home, try this!  If you have an umbrella, encourage your youngster to stand under, behind, and to the left and right of the open umbrella. Then sing this rainy-day song together!

My Umbrella (tune: I’m A Little Teapot)                                                         Here’s my new umbrella, wide and high.                                                                  It keeps me cozy, warm, and dry.                                                                            If the rain starts falling from the sky,                                                                    Just open it up and I’ll stay dry!


PK5/Kindergarten: We will learn about legato  and staccato  in April.  Legato music is very smooth and our scarves will help us to feel the connected notes in music.  Staccato notes are very short and detached, and we will use our sticks to play along with the choppy sounding notes.

We are talking about spring families and instrument families, too!  We will be introduced to the wind, string, and percussion families this month.  The violin, guitar and autoharp are three stringed instruments we will get to see and play.  We will play drums, the glockenspiel, and resonator bars from the percussion family, and listen to the flute, trumpet and recorder from the wind and brass section. 

At home, try this!  You can make your own instruments at home! Drums or shakers can be made out of empty oatmeal canisters or paper towel tubes with beans sealed inside. Use rubber bands to string a tissue box for a strumming instrument, and blow across the top of a  soft drink bottle to make your own wind instrument (even better, see how the pitch changes when you add different levels of water!)

Sing a new song!                                                                                               AmyWarner                                                                                                             ECM Music