December was an incredibly busy month! Throw a blizzard right in the midst of this hectic season and things become crazy. However, we did survive. The preschool, pre-k and Kindergarten program did get to happen as planned. Losing several classes definitely was a detriment as far as adding instruments goes. Our only time to practice on stage was the day of the actual program! The performances went amazingly well considering everything. Learning a Spanish carol without having any written music for it was a challenge.
"Christmas Magic", performed by gr. 1 & 2, probably benefited by being postponed. The 2nd graders had a harder time remembering their lines than I expected. In the end, the performances flowed very well and I thought the children really came through. I appreciate the comments that about a dozen parents took the time to share with me. I would be lying if I said that programs aren't very stressful for me. They take an enormous amount of time and energy. I'm deeply appreciative to my co-workers for their help during those final days before the performance. I also felt the choir really started the show off in a strong manner. They sang out, watched me and did well on their harmony sections.
Today I had the dubious honor of portraying John the Baptist (J the B) in our final Advent prayer service. I flew into the sacristy to change and then down through the church to reappear in the back of Church with a few seconds to spare before coming down the aisle singing "Prepare Ye". Overall, I think the skit went well. A few of the students called me J the B during the day which made me laugh. (Gee, they knew it was me despite the costume.)
Merry Christmas!!
-Mrs. Koch
Monday, December 21, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Last week was an extremely busy week for the music dept.! On Tuesday morning, OLG first graders and kindergartners were each recorded for the DuTrac sponsored radio spots. The first graders sang "Away in a Manger" from our upcoming Christmas program. The kindergartners sang "Merry Christmas/Feliz Navidad". Recording is an exhausting experience. Miss Wightman was recording us, which we really appreciated. We both wanted the best possible recording, but weren't expecting perfection. However, we had a few false starts. I made an obvious mistake once on the piano. Hopefully everyone will be pleased with the end result when they get to hear our youngsters. Our broadcast times are the following: Dec. 4 @ 2:35; Dec. 12 @ 6:35 a.m. and Dec. 19 @ 7:35 p.m.
Also on Tuesday, all first and second graders received parent letters to take home. These letters outlined the costume suggestions for our Christmas program which will be Dec. 14th at 2:00 and 7:00. The second graders received their speaking parts as well. I'd like all speaking parts to be memorized by the end of this week.
I received a wonderful email from Mrs. Hill over Thanksgiving break! She is willing to make all the sashes for the first grade boys who are soldiers. She is also donating all the material! If you have a soldier in your household, be sure to express your appreciation!
The Kindergartners all will be singing in a short Christmas concert on Tuesday, Dec. 15th at 6:30. They will be joining the preschool and pre-K children's program. Both OLG K classes will sing together.
I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving!
Teresa Koch
Also on Tuesday, all first and second graders received parent letters to take home. These letters outlined the costume suggestions for our Christmas program which will be Dec. 14th at 2:00 and 7:00. The second graders received their speaking parts as well. I'd like all speaking parts to be memorized by the end of this week.
I received a wonderful email from Mrs. Hill over Thanksgiving break! She is willing to make all the sashes for the first grade boys who are soldiers. She is also donating all the material! If you have a soldier in your household, be sure to express your appreciation!
The Kindergartners all will be singing in a short Christmas concert on Tuesday, Dec. 15th at 6:30. They will be joining the preschool and pre-K children's program. Both OLG K classes will sing together.
I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving!
Teresa Koch
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
OLG Music - 11/18/09
Our November song of the month is "Now Thank We All Our God". I've told the students it's "an oldie, but a goodie". The hymn has endured for over 300 years! When I attended a John Angotti (a Catholic composer and performer) concert at Wahlert last month, he spoke of how important it is for our children to know traditional hymns, so that inspired me to use "Now Thank We All Our God" since it is so appropriate for Thanksgiving. It is a little more difficult for the younger children to learn, but we'll get there.
We've had the pleasure of having a Loras student be with us for about a month now. Andrea Rouchka is a music ed. major who will have spent 20 hours with us by Dec. 7th. She's mostly observed our music classes, but has joined in some of our activities and will teach one of the Pre-K classes a song next week. It is always exciting to work with future teachers and show how special and rewarding working with elementary children can be! Andrea told me she has really enjoyed her time in our school.
We've had the pleasure of having a Loras student be with us for about a month now. Andrea Rouchka is a music ed. major who will have spent 20 hours with us by Dec. 7th. She's mostly observed our music classes, but has joined in some of our activities and will teach one of the Pre-K classes a song next week. It is always exciting to work with future teachers and show how special and rewarding working with elementary children can be! Andrea told me she has really enjoyed her time in our school.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
OLG Music - 11/5/09
Since my last blog entry, grade 3 attended the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra performance at Five Flags. It was an excellent concert! The third graders seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience. Our seats were right up front which is really too close to be able to see all the instrument families, but we got a great view of the string section, the cello soloist and Maestro Intrilligator. We are preparing for the final test to wrap up the symphony unit.
In other grades we are transitioning from Halloween and fall songs to songs that use more instruments now that we have established more of the skills needed to transfer to the instruments. Soon we’ll be learning Thanksgiving songs and beginning preparations for the Christmas program that grades K-2 will be featured in.
Thank you to all the parents who came and spoke with me at conferences. It is a pleasure to have a chance to speak with parents and students about what we’ve been accomplishing in music class and how well their child/ren are progressing.
It has been an emotional week on our campus. Mrs. Viertal’s death was so unexpected. The music room and art room are adjacent to one another, so I often stopped by to speak to Mrs. Viertal on my way to and from my room. Her presence is deeply missed. I hope she knew how her caring ways were treasured by others. She taught all three of my own children and I hope she knew how much we valued her and appreciated her dedication to Catholic education and her nurturing the artist in each of our children.
In other grades we are transitioning from Halloween and fall songs to songs that use more instruments now that we have established more of the skills needed to transfer to the instruments. Soon we’ll be learning Thanksgiving songs and beginning preparations for the Christmas program that grades K-2 will be featured in.
Thank you to all the parents who came and spoke with me at conferences. It is a pleasure to have a chance to speak with parents and students about what we’ve been accomplishing in music class and how well their child/ren are progressing.
It has been an emotional week on our campus. Mrs. Viertal’s death was so unexpected. The music room and art room are adjacent to one another, so I often stopped by to speak to Mrs. Viertal on my way to and from my room. Her presence is deeply missed. I hope she knew how her caring ways were treasured by others. She taught all three of my own children and I hope she knew how much we valued her and appreciated her dedication to Catholic education and her nurturing the artist in each of our children.
Monday, October 19, 2009
OLG Music - 10/19/09
It has been a busy two weeks in our music classes! The Holy Family choral festival was last week. Our fifth graders participated very well and represented our school very nicely. It was a very full day which culminated with a wonderful concert that evening!
When we had our monthly reading celebration, there was enough time left, that while all the students were gathered together, we watched the segment of The King and I that featured our song of the month, I Whistle a Happy Tune. It was good for the students to get to see what I had tried to explain to them about the movie. Most classes are finishing learning the final sections of the song.
During our culminating Hispanic Heritage Month activity last week, I was Rita Moreno when the teachers dressed up and were in their character for the day. Rita Moreno is an award winning Hispanic American actress who is the only woman to have won these four awards: the Tony, Oscar, Grammy and Emmy. Ms. Moreno also was in The King and I! I showed a clip from her award winning performance in West Side Story where she is singing and dancing to the song America which extols the great things about living in America compared to Puerto Rico where both her character and Rita Moreno herself are from.
This week we are beginning to sing Halloween songs. The third graders go to the symphony orchestra performance on Friday at 10:40. We are so excited to finally go. We will be getting ready for conferences by filling out music conference sheets too. Please stop by to see me at conferences next week if I am not in another conference!
When we had our monthly reading celebration, there was enough time left, that while all the students were gathered together, we watched the segment of The King and I that featured our song of the month, I Whistle a Happy Tune. It was good for the students to get to see what I had tried to explain to them about the movie. Most classes are finishing learning the final sections of the song.
During our culminating Hispanic Heritage Month activity last week, I was Rita Moreno when the teachers dressed up and were in their character for the day. Rita Moreno is an award winning Hispanic American actress who is the only woman to have won these four awards: the Tony, Oscar, Grammy and Emmy. Ms. Moreno also was in The King and I! I showed a clip from her award winning performance in West Side Story where she is singing and dancing to the song America which extols the great things about living in America compared to Puerto Rico where both her character and Rita Moreno herself are from.
This week we are beginning to sing Halloween songs. The third graders go to the symphony orchestra performance on Friday at 10:40. We are so excited to finally go. We will be getting ready for conferences by filling out music conference sheets too. Please stop by to see me at conferences next week if I am not in another conference!
Monday, October 5, 2009
OLG Music - 10/5/09
Greetings!
The music room at OLG is being transformed! Our goals are now pumpkins and there are many fall and Halloween decorations up. My students are always so observant about how the room has changed. It is fun to see what they notice. We are learning fall songs and will learn Halloween songs in a week or two.
Our new song of the month is "I Whistle a Happy Tune" from the King and I. This is a longer song, so it will take a couple weeks for the classes to learn all of it. We will be talking about the lyrics and how we can pretend we're brave and then in doing so how we can actually lose our fears. We hope to watch a clip of the movie during the month too. Last month's song of the month "Open the Eyes of My Heart", was so popular with all of the OLG students that it is hard to find a new song to follow it!
Grade 3 students will be going to the symphony on Oct. 23rd at 10:40. We continue to learn about the instruments in preparation for our field trip.
Next Tuesday (10/13) our fifth graders will go to Loras College for the afternoon for the Holy Family Choral Festival. We have some awesome singers in 5th grade! They have been able to sing one of the songs in harmony already several times.
The music room at OLG is being transformed! Our goals are now pumpkins and there are many fall and Halloween decorations up. My students are always so observant about how the room has changed. It is fun to see what they notice. We are learning fall songs and will learn Halloween songs in a week or two.
Our new song of the month is "I Whistle a Happy Tune" from the King and I. This is a longer song, so it will take a couple weeks for the classes to learn all of it. We will be talking about the lyrics and how we can pretend we're brave and then in doing so how we can actually lose our fears. We hope to watch a clip of the movie during the month too. Last month's song of the month "Open the Eyes of My Heart", was so popular with all of the OLG students that it is hard to find a new song to follow it!
Grade 3 students will be going to the symphony on Oct. 23rd at 10:40. We continue to learn about the instruments in preparation for our field trip.
Next Tuesday (10/13) our fifth graders will go to Loras College for the afternoon for the Holy Family Choral Festival. We have some awesome singers in 5th grade! They have been able to sing one of the songs in harmony already several times.
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