Observation Day 2

Melanie Paul, General Music/Chorus Teacher

Arrived- 8:15 AM

• Mrs. Paul rehearsed with Staff Chorus for Concert this evening
  - Singing two pieces: Blowing in the Wind by Bob Dylan and Turn, Turn, Turn by Pete Seeger
• Eight members of staff chorus- four on each part
  - Mrs. Paul plays guitar and sings harmony
  (rehearsed until 8:45)
  Setup for Spring Concert(performance for school in gymnasium)
• assisted Mrs. Paul in setting up electrical equipment(speakers, microphones, etc)
• also assisted students with any questions they had prior to performance for school
  Spring Concert Performance
• sat behind risers, in sight of Mrs. Paul, to assist her with any possible technical problems during performance
• Concert band performed first- four group pieces and one brief solo
• slight break to set up for chorus
• Staff Chorus performed their two pieces
• Chorus performed six pieces, one with movement, each with small group ensembles/solo
  After Performance
• took Mrs. Paul's Fourth Grade class while she struck her equipment, and talked to them about the concert, and certain musical elements
  First Grade General Music Class
• uses Quaver- internet music program from yesterday.
  Used Garage Band type program, working on a song already in progress
  talked about solfege patterns and how they can be incoporated into the song they made on Quaver
• read them a book that told the story of “Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me”, then taught them the piece with Rote Song Procedure
• Then, she formed a circle with the class, and did a dance while singing. Also played a “Follow the Leader” of sorts with them
• Students get out of hand, stopped singing, were yanking on each other, etc
• sits them down and asks why that wasn't successful- they say that they weren't using a “safe body”, were “being really loud”, not “being respectful”
• tells the class that she hopes that next time they can be more successful
• they leave in silence
  LUNCH
  Third Grade General Music
• Started with Quaver- wasn't cooperating techinically
• read students a book that was the lyrics of a children's song, as a review
• created a song about salami, something they referenced in the book
• will use the Garage Band app to add on to their song
• adding new elements as they progress through the piece

Fourth Grade Chorus

• tells students that today will be a relaxing day, because of the concert tonight
• tells them what a great job they did, but to not become too cocky
• gives them each a certificate and a pencil
• discusses the FisherCats game they are singing at, June 11^th, and the logistics of that
  - let them out early, so we had about twenty minutes of a planning period. Lost earlier planning period due to in-school concert
  Third Grade General Music-Recorder
• Each student is required to learn recorder- different levels in terms of difficulty/advancement
• Levels= belt levels in Karate(black, brown, blue, etc)
• Helped students individually with their progress
• Mrs. Paul tests them on each level- was calling them forward if they hadn't been tested in a while