About

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Communication is very important to me! Please feel free to call or email with questions or concerns.

1727 N. 3rd St.| Bismarck, ND | 58501 | amber_augustadt@bismarckschools.org

Tel: 701.323.4210 |

Kindergarten-1st

Kinder began the month of November with a musical study about bears! We've been practicing singing question & answer phrases using the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" and also used the book "Hibernation Station" to find rhyming words. We've also learned the songs/games "Big Brown Bear" and "No Bears Out Tonight." Next week we'll continue this unit by learning about the steady beat & rhythms in the nursery rhyme "Teddy Bear."

1st has been working on adding instrument parts for the song/tongue twister "Fuzzy Wuzzy." Next week we'll learn the rhythms, pitches, and game for "Grizzly Bear" while introducing the dynamics of piano (soft) and forte (loud).

2nd-3rd

2nd continues to amaze me each class time with their hard work & dedication to practicing for their musical, "The Share Bears." Students were assigned parts this week & the program letter with all the details will be coming home next week (the week of Nov. 16.)

3rd completed their Treble Clef art projects, which are now displayed in the hallway outside the music room--you have to come check them out! We've also continued to work on learning to read the notes of the treble clef staff. Next week we'll be incorporating some Thanksgiving activities into our music class time as well.

4th-5th

4th What a fantastic program performance these students gave! "Americans We" was awesome! We'll now continue with our recorder unit and then begin learning about the composer George Friedrich Handel.

5th learned the Shaker melody "Simple Gifts," along with a little bit of history about the Shakers. We then listened to and did an analysis of 3 different performances of "Simple Gifts," including the version used in Aaron Copland's symphonic piece "Appalachian Spring." Some great ideas & discussions have been had, and I'm so proud of what critical listeners the 5th graders are becoming! This unit is part of the new National Arts Standard's Model Cornerstone Assessment, and is definitely a positive challenge for the students.

Notes from the Teacher

As Thanksgiving rapidly approaches, I'm reminded of how thankful I am to be your students' music teacher. It's a wonderful thing to spend my days teaching children the joys, benefits, and connections to life that music has to offer!